Quote 1: What was your dream job when you were little?
"When I was little, my dream job changed a lot, but I was really into the idea of being a baker. I liked the idea of like baking all the time, but then I found out, you have to get up at like 4am to be a baker. So I was like, I don't want to do that. [...] I love baking. Yeah, I love to bake. I like to cook also. I think it's kind of science, like baking is kind of sciency. It's like a lot of measuring, you're following a recipe, which is kind of like following a protocol or following my experiment design. So they're kind of related."
Quote 2: Did you expect to be where you're at right now?
"I was never that interested in science, to be honest.When I was a kid, (I) didn't really see myself like going into a scientific career until I was pretty late in high school. I think I was a junior. I was your age, basically, and that's when I kind of first got interested. I went to a museum and I saw this amazing exhibit on the human genome and I was like, 'Wait, this is really, really cool!' Like I had no idea about the genome and all these fun facts about all the DNA in your body can stretch to the moon and back 17 times. And so, I got really excited by that. So I was like, "Okay, maybe this is something I want to explore more." And that's kind of where I thought I might want a career in science. Either in medicine or research. And then I ended up going in the research direction."
Quote 3: What is a quote that has stuck with you for your whole life?
"One that has always stuck with me that I really resonate with is a quote from Albert Einstein. He said, 'I have no special talent, I'm only passionately curious.' In the quote he (means), 'I have nothing special that anyone else doesn't have, I just have passionate curiosity. I'm interested in things.' And I think that really stuck with me because in science a lot of times it's easy to feel imposter syndrome. It's easy to ask yourself, 'Am I really smart enough?' That's not true. If you're here, you're smart enough to be here for sure. The idea is not about who's the smartest, it's about being excited and passionate about the question you're asking and trying to find answers."