Hi. My name is Jaret Fensterstock, and I am a freshman at the University of Miami. Ever since I can remember, I have always had a passion for science. It was always my favorite subject to learn about throughout my elementary, middle, and high school years. When I was much younger, around 2nd or 3rd grade, I remember being so fascinated when learning about rocks and minerals, that I bought a rock tumbling/polishing kit, and learned, from Youtube, how to make my own sugar crystal. These were the first times I ever pursued science outside of the classroom. A few years later when I was learning about rocks and minerals in middle school, I invited my friend over to my house after. Instead of playing video games, watching television, or playing sports, we got shovels, went to my backyard, and started digging for rocks. Later on that year, I injured my knee and was on crutches for a few weeks. As a result, I was not able to go outside during recess. I had to adapt to this by finding things to keep me busy during the last 25 minutes of my lunch period. Out of sheer boredom, I began flipping through the pages of our agenda book that I have never opened before when I came across a page that contained The Periodic Table. I immediately began to find the elements that I was familiar with, such as Gold and Silver, but also realized that 90% of the elements I have never heard of in my life. I soon found myself reading the names of every single element, and over the next 3-4 weeks, I spent the last 25 minutes of every lunch period memorizing the whole table in order. Looking back now, these moments are what made me realize that I wanted to do something science-related with my life and career.

At the University of Miami, I am majoring in Microbiology and Immunology. With all the recent buzz and controversy surrounding the COVID-19 virus, I realized that the field of microbiology is not widely understood by the general public. With my lifelong passion for science and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, I realized the world needs more people who research pathogenic microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, etc.

Outside of school, my hobbies include playing hockey and snowboarding. I have played competitive hockey my entire life and currently play for the UMiami club hockey team. Unfortunately, there is not much in terms of snowboarding in south Florida, but I have been snowboarding since I was 5 years old, and usually go on trips with friends and family on long weekends and over breaks.

I have not had much experience with writing outside the classroom, and it has never been my strongest or weakest point. I have always found it quite boring, except, however, when I am able to write about topics of my choice. For the past two years in my high school English classes, I was able to write two research papers on topics of my choice. Two years ago, I decided to write mine on vaccination, and the benefits it can have on individuals, as well as society. Last year, I wrote mine on the benefits that psychedelics such as Psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA can have on treating certain mental illnesses. While writing these papers, I realized that it was not writing itself that was boring to me, but just what I was writing about. When I saw that I had the opportunity to take ENG107 and write about science throughout the course, I knew I had to take advantage of it.