User:09jvilla

My name is Jennifer Eugenia Villa - named Jennifer after my mother and Eugenia after my paternal grandmother. I'm a proud Cuban-American born and raised in Miami. I'm currently a freshman at Duke living in Jarvis.

Life in Miami is fast-paced and exhilarating, but it has its relaxing moments as well. When I'm out of the classroom, you'll most likely find me on the golf course hitting balls or playing a few holes. I was introduced to the sport at age 10, hated it for the first few years (Saturday morning golf clinics at the local course would always conflict with my favorite cartoons!) and have since developed a love-hate relationship with the game (with slightly more emphasis on the "love" part at this point). Golf has taught me a great deal about myself, especially how to deal with my overly perfectionist nature. No round of golf exists in which every shot was perfect.

Besides golf, I love being on the ocean. My house is right on the bay, which means you'll frequently find me hopping waves on jet ski, anchoring the boat at a sand bar, or tubing with my friends. Miami is a place where you can be active 365 days of the year and I love to take advantage of that. I've been paintballing, rock climbing, fishing, and parasailing. Still look forward to learning to surf! At Duke, I'm thinking about taking up club lacrosse. I'm always up for a new challenge. Sometimes, even my vast reserves of energy run low though. That's when you'll find me splayed out on my bed reading or grabbing a smoothie and taking a walk around the neighborhood with a friend. As far as academic interests, I'm studying biomedical engineering, hoping to focus on cellular, molecular, and tissue engineering. I think that once we understand disease on a cellular level, we'll be much more prepared to combat it on a macroscopic level. Hopefully, I can squeeze in some bioethics, genomics, and public policy classes in there as well. I'm not only interested in the science behind genetics but also the philosophical implications of our discoveries.

There is so much to learn in this world and so much yet to be discovered! I'll only ever be able to know the tiniest fraction of it, but even that can't curb my enthusiasm. During the next four years, I look forward to a host of new experiences and challenges that I've never faced before. Can't wait to see where I'll be at the end of it all!

New Facility Propels Korea to the Fusion Forefront, Dennis Normile, Science Magazine, published 20 February 2009, accessed 2 September 2009 (Grand Challenge)