In high school I was always drawn to the sciences. I originally planned to go into biology – I loved learning about nature. However, I quickly changed my mind once I was in university level chemistry courses. I really enjoyed taking the knowledge and principles that I learned in class and applying them to solving problems. I was drawn to inorganic/catalysis research, where I was able to see a real-world use of the science I was doing in the lab. I also had some fantastic mentors in my undergraduate that recognized my love of problem solving and generating new ideas for doing things that really encouraged me towards graduate school. As I am a first generation college student, this encouragement went a long way to helping me realize that I could be successful as a scientist. I love problem solving and figuring out how things work so I can design better performing catalysts.