Hello! My name is Zeynep Elshaer and I am a sophomore here at UCF. I am currently studying Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Spanish. I graduated in the class of 2017 from Lake Brantley High School, which is where I established my foundation and love of STEM fields as well as Spanish language. One of my favorite classes that I have taken so far at UCF is Anatomy with Professor Samsam. It is one of the most challenging courses I have ever taken, but it is also material that I feel that I will remember and use for the rest of my life. Just being able to understand the intricacies of all the parts of the human body is so interesting and beautiful.

I wanted to become a STEM ambassador so that I could have a way to share my love of the STEM field with students and hopefully inspire them to get interested in STEM careers. I also feel that as a woman in STEM is a part of my duty to ensure that young girls have female role models in the field that they could look up to and see themselves as. When I was in high school and in the start of my college career I had various female teachers in many if not most of my STEM related courses and I feel that this impacted me greatly in choosing my own path. Additionally, I want to be able to show kids that they could make a career in the STEM field anything they want. For example, I mix my love of Spanish and medicine everyday when working in the hospital or in my interests of practicing medicine abroad.  When I am not studying or at school, I love to have board game nights with my friends, watch Friends, or go to poetry slams at my favorite coffee shops.

If I had to give one piece of advice its to follow what you want to do and don’t let anyone tell you its unattainable.