I am a third year chemical engineering major at the University of Florida, pursuing a minor in Material Science and Engineering. Chemical engineering became my passion when I walked into the first chemistry class in high school. Discovering that every thing around us, from the clothes on our backs to the paper in our books, was made of the same atoms and molecules was what drove me to want to understand the interactions that happen in our daily lives. In addition, I see myself as cut out for engineering, having a problem-solving and detail-oriented mindset from a young age, I yearn to solve problems and design solutions. I chose to work at the bowling alley in my first year of college because I was entranced by the complexity of the pinsetter machines; they are similar to an old car in the way that they function completely mechanically; there are no computers behind the lanes. The hands-on experience I gained from working on those machines made me have a greater appreciation for the craftsmanship and manufacturing process; mass producing a machine that can reset a lane 1,000 times over consistently is a huge challenge. This experience has given me the teamwork skills necessary to succeed in a collaborative environment, as well as the technical knowledge to deal with 400-pound machinery without losing a leg. I was very intrigued by a presentation about the engineering behind nitro Pepsi. Seeing a real-world example of a chemical engineer at work, and the product that their work helped produce, was eye opening for me. I finally felt like all the classes, studying, and hard work could actually amount to something real. I was actually excited about the work that I might do when I get out of school, rather than wearing a hard hat and steel-toed boots to work every day.My research in Dr. Narayanan's fluid instability lab has been eye opening, as the concepts I learned in introductory chemical engineering classes are applied to space-grade applications and experiments. I have greatly enjoyed creating parts for the experiments in SOLIDWORKS, and look forward to gathering data that may become useful for publication. I hope to combine my love for engineering and chemistry in an internship role this summer. I recently have become interested in food and beverage, as well as other research and development positions. I want to know the chemistry behind the food we eat, and how flavors are created without using original source material.