About Me! by Maha Vijayakrishnan

 I wanted to apply to TRIP to figure out if research is the right field for me. I wanted to learn how to properly conduct an experiment and share my results to an audience, which I know TRIP will help me discover. 

Hey everyone! I am Maha Vijayakrishnan. I live in Wayne, PA (it is nearby King of Prussia) and I go to Conestoga High School, which is about 50 minutes away from Philadelphia. As many of you here, science also plays a major role in my life. Everyone in my family is heavily invested in the field of science or  technology, so it is something that I have been exposed to everyday growing up. Nevertheless, I have developed a passion for learning about the human mind and how it works, so I am thinking about going into the medical field or becoming a research scientist. To me, it is fascinating how in some ways humans can share so many similarities but also have a lot of differences. Exploring questions such as how thoughts and memories form and how we are able to experience emotions and empathy pull me into the field of psychology. They make me want to enter into this profession and use this knowledge to help others and myself. I wanted to apply to TRIP to figure out if research is the right field for me. I wanted to learn how to properly conduct an experiment and share my results to an audience, which I know TRIP will help me discover. 

---

In my free time, I love to take on volunteering because it gives me something to do in my free time and teaches me how to adapt to the outside world. I mainly volunteer at the hospital because I enjoy talking with patients and other volunteers. If I am not at the hospital, I am either tutoring kids at my house or at the middle schools. I love to share my knowledge with others. Once I learn about a topic, I like to discuss or share what I learned with others. One time, I spent most of a car ride home from New York continuously talking with my cousin about the heart and recent advances in the science field. My passion for learning and discussing information drives my passion to share it with others. However, I want to learn how to share information formally to the public, which I hope TRIP will teach me. I also swim and play basketball in my free time and if I am not listening to music (Khalid is my favorite) I am either watching TV (The Office and Parks and Rec) or going on walks with my friends which is my favorite!