There’s a moment in a titration (a chemistry lab technique) where everything looks the same, clear, and unchanged. You keep adding drops, waiting for something to happen, but the solution stays clear. And suddenly, with one drop, the entire solution changes color. It’s a very precise process that takes time and requires patience and attention to detail. Looking back, my learning at the University of Washington feels like that process.

 

For a long time, I was waiting for clarity, for confidence, for a class or an assignment to signal that I belonged in the spaces I had worked hard to enter. But over time, through classes, experiences, and reflection, I’ve started to see those small drops accumulate into something more. My education has not been about a single defining moment, but about a series of moments and experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom, that have changed how I understand science, care, and who I want to be.

 

I remember my first quarter sitting in chemistry, feeling intimidated and questioning whether I was cut out for hard science. Then when I received my grade, it wasn’t just validation of my effort, it was the first time I truly believed that I was capable of succeeding. 

 

But belonging didn’t mean certainty. In organic chemistry and again in biochemistry, the uncertainty and pressure grew. I struggled with the discomfort of not knowing. It taught me that growth doesn’t always look like success in the moment. Sometimes, it looks like continuing even when you’re unsure. I stopped approaching material as something to memorize and started seeing it as something to understand. Mechanisms became stories. Processes became interconnected. And even with that growing appreciation, I still felt a pull toward something more, like majoring in biochemistry didn’t fully sit right.  

 

That “something more” became clearer when I transitioned from biochemistry to Public Health-Global Health. It wasn’t a rejection of science, but an expansion of it. I realized that a future in healthcare has a foundation that's broader than the hard sciences. Healthcare systems are shaped by systems, access, trust, and lived experience. My SPH core classes allowed me to realize that knowledge isn't enough. If it is not communicated effectively, if it is not trusted or understood, it cannot make the impact it is meant to.

 

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My understanding of care itself was deeply shaped by HONORS 221: Lovework. That class challenged me in a way that biochemistry or microbiology didn’t. It asked me to think about love not as a passive feeling, but as an active, intentional practice. It shifted how I see my relationships, my work, and even my future. I stopped asking “what do I want to be?” and started asking “who do I want to be?” My desire to build strong knowledge in the hard sciences and pursue a career in pharmacy hasn’t changed, but alongside that, I’ve come to value becoming the kind of healthcare provider who makes people feel heard, cared for, and treated with genuine attention rather than just seen as another patient.

 

As I look toward the future, I see my education as a prescription in progress, one that continues to be refined. What draws me to pharmacy is not just the science behind medications, but the moment when a patient holds a prescription in their hand. There is often fear in that moment. Uncertainty. Questions that are not always asked out loud. I want to be someone who recognizes that pause, who listens carefully, and who responds with both knowledge and empathy.

 

This portfolio is organized around three interconnected ideas: learning, connecting, and caring. Learning reflects the academic foundation I’ve built and the ways my understanding has evolved. Connecting highlights the relationships, communities, and experiences that have shaped who I am. Caring represents sharing knowledge in ways that are accessible, meaningful, and impactful.​ 

 

Because ultimately, what I’ve learned is this: the most meaningful impact does not come from simply knowing more. It comes from making that knowledge matter, through connection, through communication, and through care.