During the past few years, I explored and discovered my passion to become an experimental physical chemist. From my experience, I realized that the support from family and society is immensely important for prospective researchers to live out their passion. As a female physical chemist who pursues an academic research, I will strive to pass on intellectual inspiration to young students and contribute to making a more inclusive scientific community.
Among the students who went to a public girl's high school in Korea, I was one of the few who pursued basic scientific research. The STEM field has been historically male-dominant, and social barriers against women still largely discourage female participation. I was among twenty percent of the …show more content…
I was impressed at how some professors cared to help me improve academically when I approached them. During my research in a chemical biology lab, I had comprehensive experience as a scientist, from designing projects, performing experiments, giving presentations, to writing proposals for research awards and fellowships. Also, I have initiated class honors projects that were geared to my specific goals, such as exploring my research interest or learning independently by reading a large number of journal articles. I learned to appreciate well-developed, insightful lectures because they significantly impacted my learning style and academic interests. Also, I reached out to graduate students to get advice from their experience, and learn about their projects to see what it would be like to be working in different fields of chemistry. The academic experience and interactions in college were critical in my decision to pursue an academic research as a physical …show more content…
I participated in an undergraduate chemistry student organization and some outreach activities. As the meeting chair of the student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the University of Illinois, I organized chemistry lectures for an undergraduate audience. I actively participated in weekly tutoring sessions in the group and the public promotion of chemistry through events, lectures and booths. For the "Reaching and Educating America's Chemists of Tomorrow" (REACT) outreach program, I developed a 60-minute classroom session for third grade elementary students with simple experiments, demos, and worksheets explaining solid, liquid and gas states of matter. "Tap In" was an outreach program at a local middle school, where I was paired up with a student to help him or her work on reading skills, homework, and class projects. This experience was especially meaningful because most of the mentees were considered underrepresented in STEM fields. I realized that building close relationships with the children is essential for making positive influences in their
Among the students who went to a public girl's high school in Korea, I was one of the few who pursued basic scientific research. The STEM field has been historically male-dominant, and social barriers against women still largely discourage female participation. I was among twenty percent of the …show more content…
I was impressed at how some professors cared to help me improve academically when I approached them. During my research in a chemical biology lab, I had comprehensive experience as a scientist, from designing projects, performing experiments, giving presentations, to writing proposals for research awards and fellowships. Also, I have initiated class honors projects that were geared to my specific goals, such as exploring my research interest or learning independently by reading a large number of journal articles. I learned to appreciate well-developed, insightful lectures because they significantly impacted my learning style and academic interests. Also, I reached out to graduate students to get advice from their experience, and learn about their projects to see what it would be like to be working in different fields of chemistry. The academic experience and interactions in college were critical in my decision to pursue an academic research as a physical …show more content…
I participated in an undergraduate chemistry student organization and some outreach activities. As the meeting chair of the student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the University of Illinois, I organized chemistry lectures for an undergraduate audience. I actively participated in weekly tutoring sessions in the group and the public promotion of chemistry through events, lectures and booths. For the "Reaching and Educating America's Chemists of Tomorrow" (REACT) outreach program, I developed a 60-minute classroom session for third grade elementary students with simple experiments, demos, and worksheets explaining solid, liquid and gas states of matter. "Tap In" was an outreach program at a local middle school, where I was paired up with a student to help him or her work on reading skills, homework, and class projects. This experience was especially meaningful because most of the mentees were considered underrepresented in STEM fields. I realized that building close relationships with the children is essential for making positive influences in their