My path toward a career in biomedical science has always been driven by something real. Watching my mother manage Type 1 diabetes her entire life, and later seeing my grandmother face Alzheimer's Disease and a brain tumor, gave me a reason behind the work that goes beyond academic achievement. I am not just completing a degree. I am building toward a career that I hope will one day make a difference for people who have the same kinds of diseases that have shaped my family.

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My immediate goal after graduating from UCF is to work as a laboratory technician in a clinical, diagnostic, or pharmaceutical setting. I want to take the foundation I've built in coursework and lab work and apply it to real patient-centered problems. I also want to continue developing the skills I haven't yet had the opportunity to practice in an industrial or hospital environment, because I know that field experience is the necessary next step.

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Longer term, I see myself heading or proposing a research project focused on hereditary disease or tumor biology. I am drawn to the idea of being part of work that pushes understanding of how and why these conditions develop at a genetic level. I haven't ruled out returning to school for a PhD, though I want real-world experience to shape that decision rather than making it out of obligation.

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What UCF has given me is more than a degree. It has given me the language to understand the diseases I have seen affect the people I love, and the technical tools to one day contribute something meaningful toward them. I intend to keep climbing, keep learning, and never stop being a student of this field.