I have always been a keen observer of simple day to day scientific phenomenon. As a kid growing up in the rural province of the Philippines, I'm always surrounded by nature and all things that grow such as the rice fields and water buffaloes. My early observations of simple scientific phenomenon includes noticing that distinct smell in the air after a brief period of rain on a sunny afternoon and accidentaly tasting a sour coconut sap that have been sitting in the *kaban for a few days.

During my years in elementary school, science have always been my favorite class. I looked forward to every kind of science projects and experiments our teacher handed out to do. I remember one particular science experiment in which I have to grow green beans and draw the different parts that will germinate from it. I remember, I got so into it that I not only drew the different parts of the bean sprouts but I also experimented on different mediums on which the green beans could germinate. My science teacher took an interest in my work and selected it to be shown at our school's science fair. I did not win anything from it but that experience made me curious about and explore other scientific phenomenon even more.

When I was in tenth grade, my family decided to move to the U.S. to live. Aside from experiencing being overwhelmed to a different culture and environment, my motivation and curiosity for scientific exploration also dwindled. I didn’t even sign up to any science classes during my senior year in high school. Instead, I took culinary classes and right after graduation I went to a culinary school. I learned lots of things during my six months training in culinary school. I never knew that the food and restaurant business is a very hardcore and creative industry. Working in the food business taught me how to work under pressure, patience—lots of it—and teamwork. Science seems to be a distant memory during these years of my life. I was earning a decent income, I could buy stuff on my own, and I’m starting to feel independent. The feeling, however, of discovering and learning something new is something I never kind of experience during my years in the food business.

One night, I rode the subway and I noticed an ad for the New York Public Library. The ad contained a quote from Isaac Newton and it read: “I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” I pondered on this quote for quite some time and I even took a photo of the ad with my camera phone. Finally, after a few trips to the New York Public Library and reading several biographies about Isaac Newton, I got it. I realized that I’m not ready to give up learning and making new discovery. I do miss the thrills of observing and analyzing after all.

So now, I’m enrolled at LaGuardia Community College and I’m in the liberal arts math and science program. I would like to take this opportunity to take as much science courses as I could fit in my head and hopefully take it further to a four year college or university. I’m especially interested in chemistry research. I’m currently reading a scientific article about water structure and its anomalous behaviors and properties. Who knew that water, as simple and ordinary as it seems, could have so many interesting properties? There are sixty-three!

*kaban; a storage room for drying rice.