My name is Daeun Chun but most people prefer to use my American name, which is Grace. I am attending Benjamin N. Cardozo and will be a senior this fall. As a high school student nearing the matriculation into a college, I believe in the importance of preparing for the future, and I feel that expanding my education is crucial. Even when I was younger, I never underestimated the value of education. This is mostly because of my family. I am the youngest child out of three children. I have a brother and sister who are 11 and 9 years older, respectively. Growing up, I never saw my siblings fool around a lot. They were role models in the aspect that they would usually sit at their desk, studying for their SATs or just reading books. They always had a calm and mature presence when it came to school but changed into a goofy older sibling when I asked them to play. Seeing them differentiate studying from playing allowed me to learn that a student must be focused and diligent when doing their work. However, my siblings weren’t the only inspiration for taking my education seriously.

As mentioned before, my family is part of the reason why I value education and just like my siblings, my parents have also influenced my perception of schools. They were born in a time period where education wasn’t as accessible as it is now. Both my parents were born a decade after the Korean War, our country was slowly recovering, but also was suffering from poverty. Education wasn’t free at the time, and it was costly for families to send their children to school. Given the fact that Korea is a patriarchal society, my mother had to sacrifice her education for her own brother. She worked from the age of 13 in order to help her family to support him, thereby allowing at least one member to get a formal education. When my mother reached her late 20s, she then was able to support her own formal education. However, she was mature enough to realize how difficult it was for a woman of her age to learn what she should have as a child. Though my parents both took a religious education in the end, they experienced first-hand the scarcity of education and, therefore, value the significance such education brings to the holder. Therefore, with both parental factors and sibling influences, I realized that my easily accessible education should never be taken for granted.

In high school, I began to wonder more about the career path that I would choose. I am struggling in this decision, because I have many interests and hobbies. I wanted to pursue a career that includes many of my interests so that my job would not be merely work. Currently, my interest in dentistry with a focus on a career as an orthodontist. This idea started in my freshman year of high school, when my braces had just been removed. My mother suggested becoming an orthodontist, and I found that not only did I not hate the idea, I was actually intrigued. Hence, with a clear goal in mind, I gained more motivation towards learning and felt excited about learning to pursue a specific occupation. With a clear goal, I started to formulate a plan. I wanted to go to undergraduate school without needing to pay hundreds of thousands for tuition, since post-graduate studies in dental school will be more costly. My siblings confessed that they wished they had attended Queens College, since it is close to our home and has a great honors program called the Macaulay Honors College. I was convinced by my older siblings and looked towards Queens College as one of my top options for undergraduate work. Then, when one of my teachers put out college programs and opportunities, I saw that Queens College was doing a STEM Research program every Saturday online. Hence, I joined the program because I knew this experience would give me a peak of what a college student is typically expected to do. As the program came to an end, I was informed that there were internship opportunities. It was clearly a beneficial situation for me, I could have a productive summer, work as an intern for a college that I am interested in, gain more scientific knowledge, and build upon my experiences. Therefore, I applied for all of the internships available, since I believed that building my knowledge on any subject, whether biology, chemistry, or physics, would be useful.

To be frank, chemistry was my last choice in terms of the subject area that I wanted. It is not because I dislike chemistry, I believe that chemistry is incredibly helpful and interesting. However, the circumstances in which I learned chemistry was not favorable. I was taking chemistry in my sophomore year in 2020, but Covid-19 suddenly started, making all NYC schools shut down. Both teachers and students had not expected the rest of the year to be online and no one was prepared. Therefore, I felt as if I had to teach chemistry to myself just by looking at notes and solving problems. The frustration of online schooling was only stressful, and chemistry became the subject that I found the most confusing. Therefore, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about a chemistry internship at first because I felt that I was lacking knowledge in that subject and was worried that I would only be a burden. However, I changed my perspective and saw this as a better opportunity to work on the subject that I felt the weakest in. Hence, with this chemistry internship, I look forward to working on my weakest subject, so I can be more well-rounded in the sciences. Though it may be challenging, I want to have great knowledge on all aspects and fields of science.

As a student, my duty and my job is to be passionate for learning no matter the subject. I am fortunate enough to have an education, a supporting family, and have so many role models around me. In addition, I was lucky enough to have access to college programs and internships, especially from one of my first college choices. Hence, with my goals and aspirations in mind, I want to devote my time and efforts to this internship. Even if I feel confused and frustrated due to my limited knowledge of chemistry, I look forward to expanding this knowledge. Thus, through this chemistry internship, I want to improve my understanding of chemistry, experience what is expected of a college student, and acquire new scientific knowledge.