Star Trek Personal Statement

What began as a simple childlike fascination with space and aviation when I watched my first episode of Star Trek as a young girl, has followed me through the years, subtly influencing my choices throughout my studies. To me, the engineers in that series were the true heroes; no matter what happened, they were always able to draw out a “little more power” or come up with the creative work-around (albeit at the last second) that allowed the crew to collectively maneuver themselves out of whatever tight spot they were in and achieve their mission goal. I became enthralled with the idea of pushing technology, and the human body, to its limits, and soon found myself enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania as a bioengineering major and center of their women’s basketball team. While I was fortunate enough to receive many personal accolades during my time at UPenn, the two that are most important to me are winning the Ivy League Championship and being named a Sports Ilustrated on Campus Glue Gal - an award given to a handful of people across the country who "do all the little things" and …show more content…
With each team I joined, I encountered a unique set of challenges to “adapt and overcome.” I faced these challenges head on, taking language lessons in whatever country I was in (achieving French certificate UF2 (Belgium) and LFB2 (France), and striving to integrate myself into the local community in whatever way was possible. I volunteered at an orphanage in Ukraine, led English conversation classes in Belgium, trained younger basketball players in Slovakia, arranged for the Israeli National Team to run “Sports Day for the Blind” at their Olympic Institute, volunteered at a local hospital in Israel and joined regional bands (flute player) wherever I