Anyeonghaseo (hello)! My name is Alicia, and I grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. In elementary school, I had many friends from South Korea. They introduced me to their favorite K-pop songs, and they shared their lunches, chocopies, and Korean traditions with me. After two years, my friends had to go back to Korea, and I was very sad when we had to say goodbye.
I also love science! In high school, I had a chemistry teacher who exploded balloons into fireballs and created color-changing reactions. I was excited to learn more, so I studied chemistry at Boston University. In college, I helped create tiny labels that showed doctors where all the bad germs were hiding inside their sick patients. This lets the doctors know which medicines to use to kill those germs and make their patients healthy again.
After I graduated, I spent two years in a research lab at M.I.T. There, I helped create a vaccine made from tiny needles! I also made tiny edible packages that can deliver extra vitamins to people in their food. At my M.I.T. lab, I met scientists from Iran, China, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, China, and Vietnam. I learned all about their home countries, and they shared their traditional snacks and dishes with me.
