Outside of science, I believe in using the opportunities I have to impact communities and people like me. I grew in a working-class neighborhood on the eastside of Los Angeles, where I attended public K-12 education before I moved to the Ivy League. Upon my arrival in college (and beyond), I quickly realized how fortunate I was to be there, but also how few opportunities there are for people from my community to gain access to the recourses that the privileged and wealthy have at the finger tips. Determined to pay my good fortune forward, I try to dedicate heart and grit into positions/projects that I believe will create positive impacts and increased opportunity for others in society. So far, this effort has manifested itself in: