A TRIP Into My Life by Phoebe Ting

Hi everyone! My name is Phoebe Ting, and I am a junior at Bensalem High School. I have lived here my entire life with my parents and my sister, and I love it here!

So a little bit about me… As described by all my friends, I am the most talkative and energetic (and probably loudest) person you will ever meet. My newest hobby is scrapbooking, which allows me to appreciate all the moments and people in my life. While scrapbooking, I love to jam out to music. My current favorite artists are Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and Doja Cat (although Noah Kahan has been on repeat lately). I also love reading in my free time; romance books are my guilty pleasure. Another fun fact about me: I’m obsessed with doing all the New York Times puzzles every day. Oh! And I’m trying to start learning how to crochet! And the final fun fact: I’m multilingual.

At school, I am the captain of the varsity swim team, which is what I spend the majority of my time doing… Seriously, I’ve been swimming since before I could walk. I love the self-discipline that comes with the sport as well as the time I get to spend with my friends. I’m also involved in the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Mathletes, and the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS). Through conducting experiments and presenting my findings to judges, PJAS has majorly influenced my decision to pursue a career in STEM and join the TRIP program. I am also passionate about giving back to my community as I’m a member and served as the secretary of my school’s Community Service Club. I enjoy combining this passion for helping the community and my love for creativity in student government, where I plan and design school events to boost spirit and morale. Additionally, as a part of my school’s mock trial team, I currently portray a food critic blogger, which is VERY on-brand for me. I enjoy trying out new restaurants -- though, Chipotle will always be my comfort food. Outside of school, I am a certified Emergency Medical Technician, which allows me to have a hands-on application and real-world experience of topics I’ve learned in school. I also volunteer in a children’s hospital in my free time where I can connect with people in my community by doing the thing I love to do most: talking. I am also looking forward to combining my love for swimming and helping others by teaching swim lessons to kids.

Although I know I want to pursue a career in STEM, I’m not entirely sure what I want to do, so I’m grateful that TRIP gives me the opportunity to explore my interests. I’m looking forward to this experience to be able to design an independent research question and carry out an experiment. For my kickoff experiment, I will be measuring how Valerian and disrupted circadian rhythms affect sociability. Although we’ve only had one week of class so far, I can’t wait to see what the rest of this program has in store for me. I’m already having so much fun, and I can’t wait to learn more!