A personal
interest statement.

I am a rising senior at the University of Florida studying Microbiology and Cell Science. What first drew me to this field, and what keeps me in it, is a genuine fascination with the microscopic world and the outsized role it plays in everything from human health to the food we eat.

My strongest interests lie in microbiology itself, and especially in microbes and the growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR is one of those problems that lives at the intersection of basic science, medicine, and global health, and the more I learn about it, the more compelling I find it. I am most engaged when I am thinking about how microorganisms behave, adapt, and resist, and what that means for the people and systems that depend on keeping them in check.

I am still figuring out exactly where my career will take me, and I have come to see that openness is a strength rather than a weakness. Instead of forcing an early decision, I am using these final stages of my degree to explore, stay curious, and pay attention to the moments when I feel most absorbed in the work. A recent study abroad program across Europe sharpened that instinct and reminded me how far a curiosity about microbiology can reach, from a fermentation facility in Budapest to the World Health Organization in Geneva.

What I bring to whatever comes next is a real passion for the subject, a willingness to learn in unfamiliar situations, and the kind of curiosity that does not switch off when I leave the lab.