This is a photograph of my poster project I presented after my research internship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in 2018. I created this poster by compiling all of my research into a clear and easy to understand representation to educate graduate students and doctors. I selected this artifact because I am extremely proud of it. When I did all of this research I was only 16 and a junior in high school. I am extremely grateful that I had such a memorable and educational opportunity so early on. By working on this project, I realized my love for research, and how different it is than a typical science class. I also learned the importance of working with a team. If there was one lab member responsible to autoclave the pipet tips, and they failed to do so, the whole lab would not be able to function effectively until that task is done. Each of us had a lot of responsibility, and it was up to us to ensure that we all did our roles. This skill transfers into almost every aspect of life, such as in college and with relationships. This work was challenging and throughout the process I made some mistakes, however, I learned that there is no effort without error. The biggest personal takeaway I learned from this experience is in any experience, hard work and tenacity always pays off.

This is a poster advertising an event that I spoke at with  Advocates for Women of the World (AWOW) that took place on November 16th. I selected this artifact because it represents the first time I have been able to be a panel member in a discussion about mental health. I have attended and helped set up events where the psychologist that I intern for will speak, so it was exciting to be able to start speaking as well. Through this experience I learned the importance of community. By coming together and having a discussion about a topic that is heavily stigmatized in many cultures, and being able to share my advice and opinions about the topic was rewarding. I apply this same principle of the importance of education and community in my role in Mindversity. As diversity chair for this organization, I try to facilitate a sense of community in our organization, especially for these individuals who are statistically less likely to get mental health treatment, making them feel less alone, therefore encouraging them to openly talk about mental health, and get professional help if needed. In other endeavours, my experience speaking here allows me to bring forward good communication skills and the ability to deeply connect with and help others by relating my experiences to what others are going through.