2829 Porto St.

SW Albuquerque, NM 87121

October 8, 2018

Dear Laboratories and Research Admission Committee,

As a child growing up, I was focused in the moment. I never looked into my future
to see what I wanted to be, and I wasn’t too interested in school. In my childhood
years, my family and I used to live in Juarez, Chihuahua Mexico. My mother
would pay my sisters and I 10 pesos, which is equivalent to around one dollar, for
each A we got in our report cards. This is what started to motivate me to do better
in school. Although one dollar is not a lot, I would be able to buy a breakfast
burrito.

When I had just turned 9, I was diagnosed with cancer and moved to El Paso,
Texas. During my three years of treatment, I started thinking about my future,
which is ironic because at that time I didn’t know if I would have one. I would
think about the future because I would see friends not make it and I would wonder
if that would be me. It was then that I started to think of what I wanted to be. I first
thought of becoming a doctor to help other patients, but that wasn’t enough. A
doctor follows a certain path for a patient to get better, what if the medicine or
chemo given doesn’t help? There’s nothing else the doctor can do because he can
only use what is given. I’m interested in the research field because I want to go
beyond what is given. I want to development new studies to improve technology
and medicine.

I have achieved a new status where I’m no longer a cancer patient, but a dedicated
UNM student interested in the research field. I graduated from high school at the
age of 16 with a 3.9 GPA and continued my education at The University of New
Mexico. In my years in high school, I was the team leader for JV Cheerleading.
Although I wasn’t the team leader at the beginning of the school year, my skills of
team work and communication were seen by my couches and appointed me the
team leader. In my AP classes, my professors would be impressed in how much
effort and dedication I would put into my school work and would give me rewards
for my extraordinary work.

As of now, I work in Advanced Materials Laboratory for Sandia National

Laboratories. This job has opened my commutations skills and has taught me
crucial essentials to run a laboratory. I operate instruments such as PXRD, SEM,
EDS, FTIR, ATR and know how to analyze the data given. During the summer of
2018, I gave a presentation on research I conducted to synthesize tungsten with
other elements for NASA applications. This opened my ability to do preliminary
data analysis, communicate more efficiently orally and in writing, and maintain
confidential information. I continue to grow more skills and become more efficient
in the ones I already have working for Sandia National Laboratories and I continue
to love and be dedicated in the research field to improve the options the doctors are
given to help their patients.

Sincerely,

Perla A. Salinas | 101762543