Traditional religious teachings and scientific disciplines continue to be the focus of centuries of debate. High school junior Eliana Shin shares how she reconciled the seemingly opposing principles of science and religion through her intersectionality as a Catholic STEM student. Eliana Shin is a junior at Saint Francis High School, where she is an editor for the newspaper and Mindframes.

Outside of school, she works part-time at a tutoring center and enjoys expressing herself through music, performing as principal cellist with the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. In her free time, Eliana loves to read crime novels, play cards, and edit funny videos. She drew inspiration for her TEDx talk from working with DNA sequencing and cell engineering technology, as well as her experiences as a Catholic. This intersection sparked her interest in moral philosophy in relation to life science. Eliana hopes to bridge the gap between traditional values and modern ventures in health science.