BACKGROUND
“I grew up in Chicago, and have lived in Chicago all of my live. I always had an interest in music, arts, and science. I went to the University of Chicago. I studied microbiology and dabbled in music my junior and senior years. I have been doing both since. Right now, I have been making R&B soul songs. That’s what I listen to and what kind of comes out when I’m writing. I have some recordings on Spotify right now.
For the next year, I am going to be working in a research position with the microbiome. I will also be preparing for medical school. While I’m working, I’m hoping to also travel and work on a lot of music. I really only found out in the past two years that I really love making and recording music, so I want to pursue it as much as possible before going to medical school.
My research in microbiology is mostly focused on bacteria and viruses. I want to study how the bacteria in our gut affects us as people. It can influence our allergies, the food we crave, and the diseases we catch. This can help people with diseases feel more comfortable, and hopefully eliminate them. There aren’t many women in the field, so I am excited to go into it. There are no cures for allergies; you just have to grow out of it, so it’s interesting to learn about them. The bacteria in your gut is fine tuned to you, so different foods affect different people.
In high school, I was on the fencing team. In college, I continued fencing; however, it was only club fencing. They didn’t have a team. I started teaching lessons and got admitted into a program at the University of Chicago to teach programs for fencing to children at schools in Hyde Park. Fencing gives kids the competitive advantage for applications, and it is fun!”
BEING POWERFUL
“What it means to me to be powerful has changed over the years that I have been going through college and life. It has been being able to make an impact big or small. I also have a fencing business, and I have been working with schools to help kids get interested in it. I love watching kids discover fencing and helping them pursue it. It is cool to be involved in the area. It is a great feeling meeting and teaching new people, especially if they love fencing. One of my first clients was 70 years old. She was so passionate, funny, and a great person.
A sense of being powerful comes from the struggle that you go through. I had a lot of crazy family issues during college and finishing college. Despite those, they made college so much sweeter. I haven’t had a relationship with my father at all during my life. During my second year of college there was a big court thing that my parents went through. My dad was attacking me in court based on my grades and saying that I didn’t need to be a doctor. I love my mother to death. She raised me by herself, but she is very strict. She didn’t come to my graduation because she didn’t like that I dyed my hair silver.”
MY LEATHER JACKET
“My favorite clothing item is a leather jacket. It is a leather jacket from Paris. It is black with neon bright colors on the back with spikes on the shoulders. I think jackets like that are so fun and you can do so many things with them. When I wear this jacket it makes me feel kind of like Maleficent meets Grace Jones. I bought it at a store near the Champs-Elysees. The brand is Nevada Love.”
