Research is very special for me. It is unequivocal that it has irrevocably changed my life, and it is my hope that by sharing my story, I might be able to demonstrate its transformative power … As a 10th grader, I couldn’t see past the street culture that my school community was awash with. Scientific research was just something in a textbook � drugs, gangbanging, fights, and pregnancies were the demanding reality in front of me. However, I had historically been a good student. I liked exploring far away ideas in my mind and exerting some measure of control over my life. Things were coming to a head, though, and events dictated that this year was to be a crossroads. It was with the encouragement and support of a science teacher that year, Mr. Jason Brennan, that I entered the UC Davis Teen Biotech Challenge. He saw something in me that I doubt anyone else could have at that point in time. Through TBC, I landed an internship with the UC Davis stem cell program.

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