Chapter 1: Roots by the River

I spent my formative years in a town nestled alongside a winding river, a popular getaway for Chicago residents in search of nature and tranquility. On weekends, crowds would disembark from the Amtrak in the morning and return by night, drawn by the allure of the area.

This river serves as a natural divider, distinguishing between retail spaces for tourists and residential areas for locals. During summer storms, the river swells dramatically, inundating basements and forcing the town to retreat from its picturesque banks. However, by fall, the waters recede, and boats return, eager to enjoy the last rays of sunlight before winter sets in.

Thus, the river in my hometown acts as a yearly metronome, alternating between serene flows and furious floods. This rhythm mirrors my own life, oscillating between my passions for science and writing.

As a teenager, my evenings were often spent reading by the river's edge. Reading and writing were the only pursuits that felt truly effortless during those years. Despite struggling in high school, particularly in math and science, I was accepted into the University of Iowa to study journalism. However, during the drive west, my older brother urged me to join a lab and engage in hands-on projects to distract me from my classes.

Though I was hesitant about science due to past negative experiences with educators who doubted my capabilities, I decided to give it a shot. I believed that engaging in research might be more stimulating than the rote memorization I had experienced in high school.

Within my first week in Iowa City, I reached out to several professors, and one welcomed me into his research team. Soon, I was immersed in studying insulin signaling and heart disease in genetically modified mice, acquiring skills in areas like fluorescent microscopy and histology.

The excitement of the research quickly captivated me; I found joy in examining minute cells and conducting PCR to analyze the animals — it felt as though I was contributing to meaningful work. A few months later, I changed my major to biochemistry, dedicating the next four years to the lab, often forgoing my summers. I would bike across the Iowa River on weekends, eager to return to my research.

While I pursued biochemistry, I was also fortunate to be part of a vibrant literary community. My daily route took me past the home of Kurt Vonnegut and the renowned Iowa Writers' Workshop, inspiring me to explore my dual interests.

Outside of the lab, I took to writing in the evenings, finding immense satisfaction in crafting narratives. One of my early articles, titled “Iowa’s dwindling bee population is part of a larger, frightening trend,” was published in a local magazine, Little Village, and addressed the alarming use of neonicotinoids in rural Iowa.

However, after a period, the lab work became monotonous. I found my pipetting tasks repetitive, conducting the same experiments countless times. My curiosity was piqued by synthetic biology, which I viewed as a natural progression from biochemistry, infused with an engineering perspective. Unlike the established biochemistry techniques of the past, synthetic biology offered a canvas for creativity. With no synthetic biology labs at my university, I took the initiative to co-found the first iGEM team at the University of Iowa in 2017.

After completing my undergraduate studies, I ventured across the Atlantic under a Fulbright scholarship to Imperial College London. There, I dedicated a year to developing innovative CRISPR techniques for yeast engineering as part of my graduate studies in synthetic biology, leading to several publications and a patent, all while maintaining my nightly writing routine. Each evening, I would hurry home to my apartment near Russell Square, drafting emails to scientists and handling Skype interviews for my articles. What started as a pastime blossomed into published work across various platforms.

As my time in London concluded, I began a PhD in Bioengineering at Caltech but ultimately decided to leave at the start of the pandemic. This choice was fraught with uncertainty, as I transitioned to a new career path without the safety net of financial stability. Now, I'm pursuing a Master’s in Science Journalism at New York University. After spending seven years in the lab, I had relegated writing to the evenings. Moving forward, I plan to reverse this trend, engaging with scientists and brainstorming fresh research ideas while revisiting my teenage aspirations in journalism.

In June, I returned home for a family visit after several years away. The river was swollen, with nearby trails submerged under three feet of water. One day, armed with an umbrella, I ventured to the flooded banks. Standing on a bridge beneath an overhanging train track, I observed the rushing waters battering the concrete pillars. The normally tranquil river had gathered its seasonal force, sweeping away delicate flowers and uprooting trees. There, on that bridge, in the rain, I witnessed the renewal of my hometown.

Soon, the waters will recede, visitors will return, and new life will spring forth once more.