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1. Tell me about yourself.

Something that I have always been, as a student, kid, friend and family member is overachieving. I come down hard on myself when at first I don't succeed but I think that this is one of my best qualities. My ability to be self critical and hard working have never failed to help me do my best and it has established my work ethic as well as my desire to create meaningful and compassionate relationships with the people I love.

2. I want to major in Chemistry because:

when I look back on my life I want to know that I have touched and left a positive impact on the world I'm leaving behind. I believe that the future of my generation's world lies in the hands of cutting-edge scientific discoveries and if there's a will and a way, I'm going to find it and fix major global issues along side other scientists all working for the same thing- a better world.

Girl Rock

Shania Twain, Sheryl Crow, Susan Tedeschi and Carol King. You know those songs that make you just crank up the volume and scream your lungs out? Its girl rock. The music that gets you PUMPED, ready for anything and then Man! you feel like a woman. Like any other genre, girl rock has its own language. The underlying, driving bass and beat with a hardcore lead guitar line and on top of it all that strong, trumpetting female vocal. The best songs to get dressed to for a night out, the best cell phone ringtones, the best sing-along shower songs, and the only thing I want to wake up to. And then, they even pop up in dreams when you're telling your ex-boyfriend to get over himself when all the sudden you jump on the table and you're belting If it Makes You Happy! Happens all the time. Clearly its my favorite kind of music but its not exactly the coolest thing to tell people when they ask, but you know, I wear it proud. I guess it all started back in Middle School when Mr. Seymour showed us all the beauty of rock and roll, the emotion behind it and the way you have to push yourself to keep up with it- stay on top of it and its never left me since. Now tell me somebody knows what I'm talkin' about.

Stretch In Between 2

Oh (insert curse word). Insert, insert, insert. I'm so nervous. Just pitched my idea to the big guy. My delivery wasn't what I wanted it to be but you never know right? (Insert). Who am I kidding. This is the biggest break I'll ever get the opportunity to snag and I, very possibly, could have just blown it. I have worked so hard for this. I climbed my way to the top, digging my nails as hard as I could, into whatever I could to keep my balance and it all comes down to right now. If I get this, I'll be so close to getting what I've always dreamed of- CEO. Making a stand for women everywhere and giving them more chances than I got. In this business its not easy being a girl. But I've made it this far and I'm not going to stop until I get there. I swear that if I don't get this I'll keep trying. Of course it won't be easy to invest everything into my career. I may not be able to have the family I've always dreamed of but my entire life I've been an overachiever and I'm not about to let it become my weakness. Its the biggest strenght I've got. As for love? I guess it can wait. But the way Mark from marketing looks at me when I wear my black pant suit? Who knows. Uh oh. Here he comes. Okay. Deep breaths.

Stretch In Between 1

This morning was the warmest its been all winter. Thank goodness. I hate when its so cold it hurts to get out of bed. I'm almost 28. 28! Alaska has served me well- getting away from everything else and having time for the research I want to do. I think I'm close to a break through. So far I've been able to contain the cells and stop them from growing, and I'm about to test what I think could be the world wide cure for cancer. If it works, it could very well lead to the development of a cure for AIDS and HIV as well sending the scientific world into a whirlwind of discovery. But this is definitely not my last stop. You'll see me on the cover of Scientific American, National Geographic and Newsweek, you bet. Thats right. After this I'll travel the world, pursuing my interest in archaeology and paleontology- discovering bones of people and animals past and learning about whole new worlds, ancient civilizations and their intricate technologies. After that? I'm going to figure out a way to fluently communicate with animals. And after that I will go to the moon where I will set up a lab station studying the relationship between the universe and an atom, finding the reason why all of us are here in the first place and telling the world how the universe works, how big it is and eventually I'll travel to the edge of it where I'll find the things that no one could even dream of. So I better get started. Trial One. Wish me luck.

Albert Einstein

This rather famous picture of the genius himself is, to me, a reminder that there is never only one side to a person. If someone as ridiculous as sticking their tongue out like this can come up with the atomic bomb; the most powerful force discovered; then theres hope for me too. It reminds me that although you may think you know a person, you can never be sure you know them, that a person's claims to fame really doesn't reflect their personality and to take a deeper look when meeting someone and to not be too quick to judge. My entire life this picture has been around in the schools, hanging on the science teacher's wall or the weird collage in the English room and yet every time I see it, it cracks me up. Who would've thought? And so we learn of Einstein's untidiness, chronic lateness and forgetfulness but we still manage to value him above many as a pioneer for American scientific achievement. Not only does the picture make me think of everyone else's layers, but also my own. In a way, this picture assures me of always being myself and not feeling as if I have to commit me and my personality to one stereotype. Thanks for everything, Albert.

Elementary School Teachers

In Duzine and Lenape it was sooo cool if you were in the advanced reading group. So, I thank my elementary school teachers for pressuring us at such a young age and teaching us the importance of reading so early. But besides reading about advanced subjects and aloud in groups what really made me love reading was DEAR time. Drop Everything And Read. What could get better than that?! Of course now there are 'more important' things to do in school but I'm going to try to bring it back all the same. DEAR time was just plain awesome. Stopping for 20-40 minutes to grab a good book, sit on a bean bag in a corner and just enjoy reading? School will never be so fun again. But besides DEAR time, Mrs. Weiss, my 1st grade teacher taught me to love reading through writing my own stories. I made my own picture books about the adventures of Cannon and Moo-Moo, (aka my rabbit and my favorite animal) and I still have the set to this day. I would go searching for new ideas and my favorite is probably the one about when they went to the moon, inspired by Wallace and Grommit of course. But I loved writing my own books and making up new stories and spent all of my DEAR time that year reading for more. So thanks Mrs. Weiss, and thanks school district. Lets bring DEAR time back.

My Grandfather

Every summer my family visits my grandparents in Buffalo, NY. Of course they never had Disney Channel, ABC Family or Nickelodeon but they always had plenty of books. After awhile sitting around in someone's house gets boring, so I would always start to wander off with a good book I'd found on the bottom shelf. The car rides were excruciatingly long as well, 5, 6 sometimes 7 hours long. Just the journey there was always a reading experience in itself. But like I said, a good amount of the time there too was spent reading. My grandfather would always ask what the book was about, note a children's book review he'd read in the Times and every visit we'd take one extra long walk to our favorite book store on Elm Street. The coffee shop right next door gave it its charm, but its magic came from the book shelves themselves. Filled to the brim with mysteries, biographies and A-List books (my favorite at the time, unfortunately) it was the best place to get carried away in. So throughout the year my sister, brother and I would be sent books that we'd told our grandfather about with the Elm Street bookmarks stuffed inside. Thanks Grandpa.

Ode to Harry Potter

Thank you, J.K Rowling. You can't imagine the impact Harry Potter has left on my life. How many times a day do you think I wish I could apparate? And how do you think I felt when I turned 11 and blew out the candles and no owl came busting through my window? And of course whenever there is a natural disaster, I think Voldemort is behind it. And yes, when I turn 18 I want the dark mark tattooed on my wrist. When I went to my friend's lake house over summer one year I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, everyday, and canoed to the big lake to read Harry Potter and since I've made it a tradition to re-read the series every summer. Why not? Each time I fall in love a little bit more with Harry, wish a little bit more that I was Hermione and I would kill for a pet owl that brought me letters. Of course the movies aren't as good, but I still wait in line at midnight every time. My most desired fantasy is of course a ticket to a quiditch game and my daily vocabulary includes Patronus, dementor and at night, walking into my room, yes. I say 'Lumos.' But I'm not ashamed, not at all! I'm a proud Harry Potter geek and my pick up lines have even gotten me places if you know what I mean. I'm a Harry Potter nerd and I want to put my basalisk in your chamber of secrets.

Libraries

I love libraries. I don't really know why, but I am fully capable of spending 48 hours in a library. Actually, I want to be trapped in one over night. Its probably because I love the smell of books, but theres something about being surrounded by knowledge and information-- and having the power to know it all. I learned to ride a bike without training wheels early and on my own time. I wanted to be able to ride my bike to the Gardiner library (where I first participated in story time) whenever I wanted. I would take out a new book and walk across the street to my favorite stream and be able to return the book and take a new one out in the same day. Elting Memorial Library on the other hand serves an entirely different purpose. Its actually one of my favorite places to go with my boyfriend. He loves reading as much as I do so once we each find something to sit down with we find a good corner read, occasionally sharing something aloud and holding hands the entire time. Cheesy, but its definitely one of the reasons I love libraries. And finally, the school Library. Ask anyone who has seen my locker, I love free book day. Sometimes it gets a little out of control. The book shelves in my room are stocked with reference books; atlas, encyclopedia, french-english dictionary etc, and the free book carts at the library make it so easy to love being bored at my house. They also, incidentally make wonderful last-minute gifts. Theres usually something for everyone just hope they didn't just clean out the mathematics section.

Leaning to Read

I originally found the joy of reading on my kitchen floor reading countless story books to my rabbit, Cannonball. My favorite was Duncan and Dolores, the story of a girl and her cat whom she tortured with dress up time, tea parties etc. and in reading the story I did the same to my own bunny. When I was learning to read I attended story time at the Gardiner library with my mom, her friends, and their infants and there I found my love for all of Eric Carl's picture books. The bright, clever illustration always kept me engaged and I clearly remember being simply astonished at how much that caterpillar could eat. Golden Books quickly became regular bed time stories of course, and as tradition, every Christmas Eve my sister, my brother and I would read The Night Before Christmas keeping the magic of the holiday alive. Besides in story time or to Cannon, my aunt's cabin in northern New York was my favorite place to read. The spring break I discovered Junie B. Jones was the most sleep-deprived week of my life. After my parents had fallen asleep I would sneak out to the living room or deck overlooking the most beautiful lake and stay up long enough to see the sun rise, wishing I could be like Junie B. and say whatever came to my head, wanting to be her friend so bad. I was a fast reader, always in the elite group in elementary school and I enjoyed it, just as I've always enjoyed learning. Memories of reading are not simply just that, but cherished flashbacks that helped shaped me as who I am today, and a large role in my childhood.