Architha Dhavala

Growing up, senior Architha Dhavala wanted to be an airline hostess. Her family often traveled during her childhood and Dhavala thought it was fun to dress up in air hostess attire. However, as Dhavala got older, she started to stray away from her earlier passion and instead became fascinated by biotechnology, a field she says that her younger self would have never considered.

“I was more looking at the fun and the cool things, and I think in kindergarten, [I] wouldn’t really know what biotech would be,” Dhavala said. “So I don’t think I would have been interested in it at all. Actually, I would have just [said] it would be a boring major.”

As Dhavala grew older, her declining interest in becoming an air hostess stemmed from her traveling less, and her desires were gradually replaced by a growing fascination with biotechnology. After taking classes such as AP Biology, watching captivating dystopian science movies and connecting biology with her computer science knowledge, Dhavala eventually settled on biotechnology as her aspiration going into college, leaving behind her air hostess days.