Ten years ago, I was named a Junior Olympic All - American water polo player and on track to play competitively in college and beyond. Today, I am an MD/PhD student pursuing a PhD in Bioengineering at Caltech. My journey towards science was non - traditional - it began with falling in love with water polo. Although my parents pleaded with me that they did not immigrate from Korea for me to pursue athletics, all I wanted to do was swim and compete. Every day was another opportunity to improve th rough intense training, and the process of becoming more skilled was immensely gratifying. I received multiple awards as a result of my hard work, and I was honored to be named captain by my peers. My goal was to lead our team to another Southern Californi a title. During this tournament, which would include my last games as a high schooler, we played a grueling match against a strong Mira Costa team. With 4 seconds left, they scored on a broken play to take the lead, and I watched helplessly as the ball sa iled into the net. Tears started streaming down my face even before the match was over. I replayed every possession in my head for the next few weeks, but I could not take back my mistakes or beg for an additional quarter. Upon reflecting, I realized that losing was not the greatest pain. Instead, I regretted most the moments when my focus waned and my effort dropped. This experience taught me that opportunities are precious and not to be taken for granted. Around this time, my grandparents fell ill, which drastically changed my goals and future trajectory. My grandmother suffered a stroke leading to paralysis and soon after my grandfather bravely began battling cancer. Growing up, my parents worked long hours to provide for our family, and as a result my g randparents had been my primary caretakers. Suddenly, it was my responsibility to care for them. My Korean heritage taught me the value of family, but this only worsened the pain when my grandparent s ’ health quickly declined, and they passed away in what s eemed like a flash. Seeing the importance and fragility of human health motivated me to become a physician. Although I was fortunate to be recruited to multiple universities to play water polo, I chose to attend Johns Hopkins because of their strong premed ical training. Once I arrived in Baltimore, I faced the harsh reality that I was woefully underprepared for an education in science. My parents had not finished college and no one in my family worked in a STEM field, so I incorrectly assumed that high sch ool classes would be inconsequential for my future plans. As a result, my first semester at Hopkins was filled with frustration as I juggled academics and water polo. I fell behind in every class and lost confidence in myself and my ability to achieve my g oals. After reflecting, I made the tough decision to end my collegiate athletic career to completely focus on my studies, honor my grandparents, and work towards my new dream. Although water polo could not directly facilitate my studies, it did train me t o believe that I would improve with practice. As I focused intensely on new science topics, I refused to give up when challenged or fatigued. My science knowledge steadily grew, and I had the opportunity to TA Organic Chemistry Lab and Tissue Engineering, where I passed on my knowledge to other students. I also sought out biomedical research opportunities and dove into the first position offered by Dr. Samuel Yiu. Although I was inexperienced, my goal was to be as useful to the group as possible. From clean ing glassware and organizing equipment to demonstrate my reliability with smaller tasks, I went on to performing real experiments. By the end of my time in Baltimore, I had worked in three separate labs in which I helped develop new technologies to address corneal tissue donor shortages and improve early - cancer detection. These experiences helped me grow as a young scientist and demonstrated the power of research to solve some of the world’s most pressing biomedical challenges. As a result, I decided to pur sue MD - PhD training to become a physician - scientist who not only treats patients, but also uses research to solve pressing challenges in the medical field. I was fortunate to be admitted into the UCLA - Caltech MD/PhD program, and I eagerly accepted the opp ortunity to continue my training at home in LA. During my preclinical training, I saw a young patient suffering from a congenital disease struggling to explain her current symptoms to her physician. She and her parents did not speak English fluently and th ere wasn’t a translator immediately available. I was shocked to learn that many medically complex immigrants struggled to organize their healthcare information and communicate with physicians. To address both issues, I recruited a team of medical students to develop a low - cost, illustration - based journal, and created a patient panel to develop products alongside families to best address their needs. This project was the springboard to create a health technology incubator with a vision of creating interdisci plinary teams of students to design creative solutions for clinical challenges. We have supported eight teams in two short years, and our student - led organization has grown exponentially. For our work, we were awarded the American Medical Association's See d Matching Grant to help train the next generation of physician innovators while enabling students to make positive impacts in the clinic. The pain of my grandparents ’ passing gave me the gift of direction, and my American upbringing taught me to love the process of improving. I have learned to take my daily struggles and challenges as opportunities to grow. These beliefs have guided my new American journey, and I will continue to rely on them as I work towards becoming a neurosurgeon - scientist. My goal is to heal and innovate, but I also plan to use my experiences to inspire others to overcome their own fears and self - doubts in pursuit of their goals.