| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My most fond memory was going to an amusement park and overcoming my fear of roller coasters. I was so afraid of falling to my demise. On one of the first few rides, I had a blast and at the end I realized the seatbelt wasn't fully engaged. I learned that day that redundancies are great and if you have those in place you shouldn't worry about a single point of failure. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I closely identify with one of my aunts. We both liked spicy food and every time she saw me, she gave me a hot sauce bottle. We both liked changing the flavor of food and she always listened to me when I had problems. She's been such a big influence on me, and I believe she's why I'm empathetic. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I admire determination and persistence. I really enjoy stories, fictional and nonfictional, where the protagonist overcomes an obstacle despite the odds. I like to apply this to my life and believe that I can reach for what I want, even if I have disadvantages. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | The funniest thing to ever happen to me was reuniting with my friends just before graduation and roasting our experience at university. Some of it was exaggerated but I was glad to see my friends in person one more time after such a while away and to see us all happy making fun of the 4 years we spent doing problem sets. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If I had to limit it to one continent, I'd like to visit Europe for the first time and check out several cities and sights in Portugal, Spain, France, and the UK. It's interesting there's another side of western culture I've never explored yet and to reunite with a couple friends while there. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | When the time comes, I'd like to pass on to my kids that, yes there are environmental factors you cannot control, but you are ultimately responsible for what happens in your life. If you want to do something, don't let the critics prevent you from chasing it. Go and live the life you want. |
