Sitting in the auditorium of the Cherry Creek High School, I felt a sudden apprehension in the pit of my stomach. After a long and tumultuous journey, I was here at last. I, along with two of my friends and teammates, had spent the better part of the year preparing for the ACSL National Computer Science Competition, and we were about to learn how we fared. As the contest organizer started announcing the placement of the teams, I squirmed in...

“No! Don’t touch that!” I instantly retracted my hand, face burning with embarrassment, while my father lectured me about the dangerous chemicals in his laboratory. From an early age, I became fascinated by the mysterious nature of research, by the way scientists could create new technology and medicine seemingly out of nothing. Whenever I had the chance, I would watch as my father placed different liquids onto “tiny monsters” (a term I later understood as bacteria) while observing them...