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At Dominican University, as a neuroscience major,

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I've had the opportunity to be a part

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of the neuroscience lab,

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or the Slug Lab, where I can study behavioral changes

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and gene expression in our model organism, Aplysia californica.

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The cutest sea slugs. The cutest sea creatures.

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So we went to Washington, DC.

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We actually presented research and I

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gained practical experience presenting research

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to various crowds at the Society for Neuroscience.

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I've always been very fascinated in the brain.

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Ever since I was a kid, I used to go

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through all these science magazines

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and I really enjoyed any part about the brain.

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Through the help of the professors here in the neuroscience

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program, I was able

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to get an internship at Rush University Medical Center in

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Chicago, where we edit brain scans

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of patients with epilepsy.

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And we use AI to finalize those edits

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and we compare the scans against control patients in

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hopes of finding a cure or treatment to epilepsy.

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I would say that Dominican really allows you to do

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what you want, and I know that sounds corny,

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but, for example, I'm a STEM major,

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but I'm also doing a theology minor.

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So just the fact that you can do a lot

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in a small setting, I think that that's pretty great

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because it also helps you understand more about yourself

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and know more about yourself.

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So if I would have to describe it to someone,

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that doesn't know Dominican, I would just say

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that it's a place full of opportunity.

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So I really wanna go to grad school,

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and I wanna be a researcher.

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So I think that this experience in the Slug Lab,

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it boosts my confidence in being

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able to do research in the future.

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Because I think after the summer I was just reflecting

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and I was like, wow, I can do this.

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As a first generation student, especially,

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I didn't really know everything about

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what research entails.

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This opportunity in the Slug Lab changed my perspective on

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how exciting it is to do research.

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And even though it's a little bit scary

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in the beginning, you get sucked into it

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because it stimulates your curiosity.

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You just want to, you, you wanna learn more and more.