As a freshman, I enrolled in an introductory bioengineering seminar, where my professor showed a video of a paraplegic woman who was able to control a neural prosthesis that enabled her to independently take a sip of coffee. I was struck by how incredible it would be to have the technical and computational skills to contribute to a similar project that could better the human condition and restore normal ability to patients in such a critical way. Shortly thereafter, I began looking for research opportunities where I could learn more about the field of neural engineering. When I joined Dr. Yale Cohen, a professor of bioengineering and neuroscience, in the Auditory Research Laboratory, I found that I was not only learning a great deal but also becoming truly invested in what I was doing. My lab experience strengthened my belief that neuroscience and brain-computer interfaces have the potential to vastly improve the quality of available medical care; this is my primary motivation for obtaining a PhD in this field.