Due to my academic accomplishments and interest in Science, I was selected to join the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program in 2007. This program, along with a special scholarship, offered special courses, events and opportunities to excel in studying Science and Engineering fields. 

During my freshman year, I was mentored in a small group by a WISE upper-class student. In weekly study sessions, we reviewed lecture topics and practiced important concepts. 

In my sophomore year, I participated in a WISE course that enabled students to rotate through several laboratories on campus including the marine biology, physics and cancer biology laboratories. 

I also served for four years on the event planning team for the WISE program's Annual banquet honoring graduating students, alumni and Stony Brook University faculty.

Throughout my time at Stony Brook, the WISE program held many events featuring faculty in STEM fields where I was able to learn about research being conducted on-campus and network with lecture professors. Through these opportunities I was able to secure a summer research internship in 2009, in the Evolution and Ecology Department performing plant DNA extractions and other procedures.