I will never forget the look of longing on my grandfather’s face as he stooped over his walker, unable to participate in our annual family Thanksgiving football game. His Parkinson’s disease had progressed to the point that he no longer had proper control of basic motor functions. Over the years, as I watched his disease progress, I began to question the inner workings of the brain from a network- and mechanistic-perspective and was overcome with the desire to advance our understanding of the brain. This questioning ultimately led me to leave my well-paying position as an R&D engineer for a fellowship at the University of Florida to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering, where my work will address the gaps in knowledge associated with the neurological mechanisms of learning and attention.