My name is Julie Anne Hoeflinger (pronounced Heff-ling-er). A bit of basic background on myself, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ottawa Hills High School in Ohio in the spring of 2017 with a 4.25 GPA. My parents are both doctors (my mother a forensic pathologist and my father a neurosurgeon), and counter to what one might be led to believe, I originally wanted nothing to do with medicine. The pathway I am currently pursuing isn’t too far from it, but I always though I would steer clear of health and sciences completely. Yet time after time the brain and it’s intricate complexity drew me in and left me in awe. Therefore, I finally ignored my fear of failure listened to my intuition – neuroscience was the track for me. As cliche as it may sound, delving into the pure unknown of the brain itself is what rattles my bones and activates all my interest. I hope to eventually design medication for depression and anxiety. My future entails a great deal of research and I could not be more excited. I’m a hard worker and always push forward. Despite obstacle after obstacle knocking me off my feet, I always get back on my feet again until I reach the endpoint. To draw on this, some of my best experiences in high school were not Homecoming or graduation. A couple of the most defining and crucial moments for me were the couple of times when I received relatively poor grades on exams. At these moments, I could’ve very well chosen to give up and leave my grade as it was. Finding the inner strength and grit to not only carry on but to push twice as hard as before, that is what significantly helped define me as a person and make me who I am today.