September 2020

 1. What are your professional goals, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years into the future? What will accomplishing these goals let you do? How will accomplishing these goals impact those around you and what will it make possible for those in your community? 

2. What are societal challenges that matter to you that you think it's important to deal with now? What do you think are the challenges that will matter 10 years in the future, and 20 years in the future? How do you think these challenges will be addressed, and what will need to happen to make sure that they are?

3. What is something that makes you optimistic about the future, and why? This could be something big and impersonal (improving price of Li-ion batteries) or something small and personal (a new pet). Please describe how it feels to focus on this thing that makes you optimistic, and discuss whether you think it is a good idea to be intentional about being optimistic. 

One year from now I would like to be working in a lab and assisting research projects while gaining experience. Five years from now I want to achieve being published several times. Ten years from now I would like to be the head of my own research team. Accomplishing these goals will of aided me in experience, allow me to create a name for myself in the research community, and be able to be the one who decides what we are researching. By accomplishing these goals it will allow to be efficient and able to apply my experience and knowledge to better helping those around me with illnesses and being able to heal them quicker and improving the quality of life of many families. 

One major societal challenge that matter most to me would saving our planet and by that I mean make a change in climate change and just overall taking better care of the Earth instead of destroying it. Ten years in the future we will still probably be faced with the issue of equality and that includes both race and sex. Twenty years in the future I believe we will be faced with an influx of technological advancement that could lead to misunderstanding between generations. I feel like the equality issue will be addressed with severity and by then something will have to change and fast because if not it could bring chaos induced by frustrations. With the influx of technology I am not sure the problem will even be addressed unless people try to protest technology and it would take a large amount of people to make a change on something so controversial. 

Something that makes me optimistic about the future is that the newer generations are more accepting and inclusive and because it can address many problems and come up with ways to actually solve them and overall care will be better. This brings me a sense of happiness and justice because with the newer generations acting this way, more questions are being asked and demanding answers to solve problems and expose the wrongs of people, businesses, and the government. I think it is a good idea to be intentional about being optimistic because its like any skill and for it to work you should practice it often and this could help it become a reality.