All About Me! by Annabelle Jin

Hi everyone! My name is Annabelle Jin. I'm a rising junior and I go to Moorestown High School. I love learning about biology and the life sciences. When I was little, I would spend hours reading about wildlife, cats, bugs, and everything in between. At one point I had two fish tanks, two guinea pigs, and cockroaches from my basement. My love for animals has expanded to include a passion for medicine and human health. I am fascinated by anatomy and physiology, from the way that nerve signals pass through the heart to make it beat to the way that myosin and actin interact to make our muscles move. I especially love learning about women's reproductive health, and I participated in the Penn Academy for Reproductive Sciences, a program that taught me so much about women's reproductive system and endocrinology, infertility, epigenetics, and more. It was my first real exposure to a lab environment, and it encouraged me to pursue more research opportunities, which is why I'm attending TRIP! In my free time, I like to play the piano and love to travel. I recently had the chance to go to Peru, where I pet more llamas and alpacas than I could count (they’re so fluffy and adorable!). 

My interest in reproductive health is inspired by the global youth-run nonprofit called Period, which provides access to period products for those in need and strives to reduce the stigma and taboo around periods. Many women living in impoverished or homeless situations are not able to afford period products, and are forced to use unsafe and unhygienic methods of taking care of their periods, such as paper bags and other refuse. When I found out about this, I was astounded. Here was one of the most major issues that homeless women face, and yet no one was talking about it due to the stigma that periods carry. Feeling very moved and passionate about bringing these issues to light, I decided to start my own chapter of Period. With Period at Moorestown, I have spread awareness about period poverty throughout my school and community, and have held drives and fundraisers to donate period products to shelters in Camden and Philadelphia.

I am also the treasurer of my school's Urban Challenge Club, a volunteer club dedicated to helping out in food kitchens and homeless shelters in Camden. I am an officer in my school's Math Club, where we compete in competitions against other math teams in the region. 
Overall, I’m so excited that I have the opportunity to attend TRIP! I have already learned so much, from anesthetizing the flies to sorting them by gender. I can’t wait to get started on my first experiment, which will test the effects of folic acid and high temperature on female fertility. Stay tuned for the results!