Now that I have reached the end of my second year at OSU, I’ve found that I’ve grown both academically and personally. My freshman year was all about discovery and trying new things, as well as getting acclimated to college life and being on my own. After having a year under my belt, I was able to focus more on finding my niche and solidifying how I can actively work towards my future goals while in college. The summer before sophomore year I began doing research in the Experimental Hematology Lab at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and I continued to be heavily involved in research throughout this past school year. I’ve become very passionate about the research I do on sickle cell disease and this helped me confirm that I am on the right path in terms of my future goals. I even changed my major this year from biology to molecular genetics because I believe it aligns better with my goals and interests. I will continue to work towards going to graduate school and pursuing a PhD program. This school year was very challenging for me both personally and academically but I think because of that I’ve grown more this school year than I have any other year.