ODU Personal Statement

My interest in science started at a very young age, somewhere between age six and eight. I was just interested in how everything worked, always curious for more information. I became very interested in cancer around age eight and created a theory that you could take blood out of the body, introduced cancer to the blood to generate an immune response, and then inject the blood back into the body to gain immunity to cancer. After learning more about cancer years later in school, I had no idea how immunity worked, but that didn’t stop my curiosity. I’ve only became more curious over the years, with me eventually landing on yet another cancer immunity theory, modifying the human genome with viruses. I had thought about this before I even knew about CRISPR, so discovering the technology in my high school textbook made me realize that I want to pursue a future in virology. Virology reminds me of my initial interest in cancer, there’s just so much to discover. There are so many types of viruses out there and different ways we could possibly fight them or use them for our benefit. My dream is to become a pioneer in the virology realm, whatever that entails in the future. I want to create vaccines and cures for viral diseases that kill millions of people every year, fight cancer with viruses, and more.

I entered high school knowing that I would pursue a degree in the biology field before I had settled on virology. I made sure I took every single biology and chemistry related class I could to fill my brain with the most knowledge before I started college. Once I graduated high school, I immediately lined myself up at Tidewater Community College to be on course for an associate degree in science that would eventually lead me to getting a bachelor’s degree in biology at Old Dominion University. I achieved my goal of taking all the general education classes at TCC before I went to ODU, so that once I was at ODU, it was all science courses. While furthering my education at both Tidewater Community College and Old Dominion University, I have also been working a part-time job to build my skillset as a team member and pay for college. I have developed interpersonal skills with both my coworkers and customers, as well as leadership skills when I’ve been needed to lead tasks or help in areas that were outside my department.

I want to continue with expanding my knowledge on microbiology and virology. A bachelor’s degree won’t be enough for me, and neither will a master’s degree, but both are necessary for me to eventually get my Ph. D. I want to continue at Old Dominion University to eventually get my master’s degree and hopefully find a college that will help me achieve my final level of college education. I plan on working within my field once I get my bachelor’s degree in biology and want to climb the ladder in my field as I further my education. I’ve had this dream for awhile and I can’t wait to see where this path takes me in the future.