Personal Statements

As a woman who was born in the Philippines and raised in the United States, if I were to join the field, I think my background plays a significant role in all my decisions. Living two parts of my life in completely opposite sides of the world has had a profound impact on who I am today. Although various of ideas such as the central dogma of biology have been established, there are various of information we still do not know. Due to my experiences, my research focus would most likely be evolution as well as genetics, as the differences I have experienced growing up aligns with the central idea of that field. As a child, I was surrounded by people who were just like me. Thus, I had never really questioned anything beyond the little bubble I lived in. After moving the US, I realized that there were numerous of possibilities out there that I had not even considered. As I grew up, I have always had the question of how humans are the way they are-- how, despite how similarly we are internally, we are all extremely different people externally. This leaves me with the question of, how similar are we, really, internally? How has evolution created such a diverse group of life, yet we are all created the same way, no matter what race or gender we are? Just are there are differences in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, there are differences in each individual. Yet, we all hold the same compartments needed to survive. These differences and diverseness throughout life has left me questions I still want to answer.

Modern society has allowed individuals of all races, gender, and sexual orientation to open themselves freely than before. However, the field of biology has still lacked this modern approach due to the information instilled within the textbooks. One way to promote diversity and inclusion is actively recruiting individuals from different backgrounds. This allows people with different experiences to come together and share their ideas, each from their own perspective, allowing everyone to feel welcome and valued despite their backgrounds. Another way is to educate students at a young age about different people that have contributed to the field. Rather than rinse and repeating the same information, including people such as Flossie Wong-Staal into lectures would assist in promoting the diverseness the field has somewhat excluded. We can also address the systemic barriers that hinder individuals from experiences such as educational and research opportunities, career paths, and so on. From this, another way is to simply acknowledge the areas that this field, as well as any other fields in general, lacks. By acknowledging the faults and inadequateness of the system, we can slowly improve on bringing in diversity and inclusion within the field. After all, there are numerous of individuals who have the potential to change the world, and a simple change in is the system is the key to unlocking those hidden talents.