The Blessing of the Bane

I came into high school wanting to be an engineer but was unsure of what being one
entailed. Actually, physics and engineering somewhat frightened me: jumbled wires and
crisscrossed structures were seemingly unfathomable objects. However, by the end of my
freshman year, I had become an avid member of my US First Robotics team and the physics nerd
of Science Olympiad. My mind became a motley of wires and computer codes and the year after
I found myself filling other fresh minds with the same information. Soon enough, engineering
became a necessity. When I was met with an inability to buy something, I would build it. Music
had always moved me, but I could never afford an instrument. To please my internal amateur
Mozart, I built my own xylophone and began teaching myself how to play it. In my junior year,
I had designed a device that utilizes the motion of water to push a submerged kite which turns a
motor in reverse to act as a generator, thus creating another way to decrease humanitys carbon
footprint. Engineering became a mode of expression, a lifestyle.
Then I began researching my fathers disease beta-thalassemia and became passionate
about hematology. I became conflicted and unsure of which path to follow: hematology or
engineering. Unable to reconcile my feelings for both, I decided to combine my passions and
pursue the field of biomedical engineering. With advances in engineering, the future of medicine
will become inextricably tied to the future of technology. In such a future, an engineering
education will put me in the forefront of my field, and enable me to gain a more complex
perspective on my research. The bane of my fathers existence is now the blessing of mine. With
my engineering ability and my passion for hematology, I will make my own legacy out of the
very thing that burdens my dad.
Engineering at Princeton is not the only thing that appeals to me. Surely, I do wish to

immerse myself in the Chemical and Biological Engineering curriculum since it will allow me to
combine my love of hematology and engineering through application. However, it is innovation
that I truly seek. It is not only innovation for the sake of innovation that I search for -that is the
primary goal of those who only seek fame and fortune it is innovation for the sake of humanity.
Growing up with a father burdened by a crippling disease, I know firsthand the emotional
necessity of cures and innovations. And it is through the B.S.E. program at Princeton that I can
not only follow one major, but also understand many other sciences by undertaking certificate
programs. Via this program, I can intertwine multiple sciences and see nature as a symposium of
science. This will put me at the forefront of my field just like I wish to be, enabling me to make
a blessing out of the bane of my father.