Me: “I’m not applying to the School of Pharmacy after I graduate. I have no idea what my plans are; I just really like research.” My mom: “WHAT?!?” The day I told my Puerto Rican parents that I was not pursuing my dream job, and that I was confused about my future career plans, I knew their hearts sank. They thought their only child was lost and this was not what they had envisioned for me. I started my B.S. in Chemistry with the intention of completing the required 80 credits to apply to the School of Pharmacy. I was biased with the idea that being a doctor, or a pharmacist, or being involved with healthcare was the only way you could help patients get well. At the moment it sounded like a great idea. The starting salary wasn’t bad either. Growing up in Puerto Rico, I was exposed to extremely traditional views of the type of life a young Latina should pursue. All around me, I observed the important female figures in my life get married and become focused on taking care of their children. I wanted a different life. When I graduated from college, I moved to New Jersey for graduate school. And now I’m here, doing all I can to become a toxicologist in neuroscience. As you can imagine, humans are exposed to pharmaceuticals and environmental chemicals every day, both deliberately and inadvertently. The interaction of these chemicals in the body can alter the activity of different organs in ways that can cause injury or disease. Even though it has a high metabolic rate, the nervous system is most susceptible and at great risk of damage caused by environmental factors and toxins. Due to this, I became interested in understanding the molecular changes in pathological states and neurodegenerative disorders in the hope of developing novel therapeutics. Being a Hispanic woman in science, I have faced difficulties that have made me conscious of inequalities and of the importance of supportive mentors. I’m happy to say that I have had the support of three amazing female scientists at Rutgers: Drs. Cheryl Dreyfus (my thesis advisor), Lauren Aleksunes (my program director), and Evelyn Erenrich (director of my first fellowship). All of them have made sure that I receive proper guidance and have helped me grow as a scientist and as a leader. This has probably been one of my greatest accomplishments. They faced similar struggles and challenges in their respective fields. This has motivated me to work harder and has made me truly passionate about scientific education and community outreach. Since then, I have taken an active role in introducing underrepresented students to the biomedical sciences. I have participated as a panelist in speaking on summer research programs and how students can maximize their experiences, and more recently, I became a member of the recruitment team in minority conferences, such as ABRCMS. I am a young woman, I am Hispanic, and I am also a neuroscientist. There aren’t too many of us out there. And it is my goal to increase accessibility to higher education and to be a role model for young scientists that are underrepresented in biomedical research. By sharing my passion for science and my own graduate school experiences as an iJOBS blogger, I will be one step closer towards my goal. I look forward to informing and motivating new scientists on the different career options in science as I explore them myself.
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