Difference between revisions of "Team:elan vital korea/members"

MEET ELAN VITAL KOREA

Our team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to
a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

MEMBERS

I'm Hyun Min Park. I would like to term myself with the word ‘diversity’ as I am interested in various fields not only in science but also in engineering and liberal arts. And also have diverging characteristics.

I am an easy­going student who loves to play basketball after school, loves to read books whenever time is available, and loves to take a nice cozy nap Huat lunch break.

However I am a person with enthusiasm when necessary. I am a passionate debater who never gives up; I am a person who respects logic, law and justice. And I am an active participant in group project.

I’m a senior who is willing to dedicate myself to upcoming events of IGEM and further research of this remarkable field known as ‘synthetic biology’. To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to deal with such field until I met my outstanding teammates who were already quite familiar with synthetic biology, and lacked knowledge. But the research we have conducted meant so much to me as a first complicated bio­lab experiment that I indulged myself into. It was interesting. I even considered it as my future career.

The past few months in participating in the team were valuable to be and I am willing make progress in our research.

My name is Sophie Lee and I am a member of the Elan Viatal IGEM team of South Korea. I am currently a senior at Miss Porter’s School, located in Farmington, Connecticut.

My main intellectual interests are in literature, social sciences, and languages, and I am seeking to study clinical psychology in the future. To me, science and social sciences seemed like very different fields that have an impermeable wall between them for a long time.

However, I eventually realized that in order to study psychology, I needed to gain research skills as well. Science and social sciences could be interdisciplinary. I had become interested in science through chemistry and biology, and I thought I would bring in what I learned in those science courses into the social sciences area, which is why I decided to participate in the 2015 IGEM competition. Research skills and the ability to conduct experiments are crucial to the study of psychology. I could use all aspects of my interests in different fields of study to enhance my future aspirations.

IGEM has been a valuable experience to me. I was able to work in a real laboratory environment and learn how to work with my teammates to work through hardships. I also discovered that science could be applied to people’s lives directly in the name of human development. I hope to use what I have gained as a participant in the 2015 IGEM competition to fulfill my goals in the future.

My name is Ji Hoon Kang. Since I was young, book has been good friend of mine. Through diverse books, Icould have learn knowledges in various fields, and also learn to think “critically”, while comparing my one opinion to that of the authors.

Developing this ability for years, I was able to get into the Global Leader Program at Bugil Academy. This program was the place where I was enable to boost my critical thinking ability, with rigorous everyday discussion­based classes, such as Argumentation & Ethics and AP European History, and diverse extracurricular activities, including Model United Nations club and investment club. With these experiences in high school, I believe that I have gained some knowledges in Sociology.

However, I hardly had any chances to apply my critical thinking ability in science fields. It was Team Elan Vital that offered me a chance to achieve my aspiration, while I was lamenting my lack of knowledges in science fields.

With this experience, I was able to gain overflowing knowledges about how bio­labs are conducted, and also the importance of well structured design in terms of experiments.

Although I am not an expert in Biology unlike all other teammates are, I believe, or, hope, that I had contributed to the team with endless yearnings for knowledge and effort. Again, I would like to thank all my team members for their hard work in the project.

My name is Brittany Lee and I am currently a sophomore at Yongsan International School of Seoul. During my spare time I enjoy listening to music as it helps me relieve my stress and let out my emotions. I also really enjoy taking long walks in the city as there are so many beautiful places in Seoul. Another passion of mine is traveling. While living in Hong Kong for three years, I had a chance to visit many unique places. I love seeing new locations and people.

Ever since I first encountered the subject of biology in 8th grade I have been interested in various areas of biology. I was introduced to iGEM by a friend that I have been friends with for over 10 years and I am very glad she told me about this opportunity.

When our team first met all together, I felt very awkward because we all go to different schools and have never met each other before. However, as we spent more time with each other we got a lot closer. The members were all very welcoming and helpful in many ways. Although the long lab sessions and meetings were tiring, I'm glad I joined because I was able to gain knowledge and many new friends.

Like I mentioned above, I love going to new locations and meeting new people. IGEM has been able to give me joy in those areas. I have never been to Boston so I am looking forward to it!

My name is Nu Ri Choi. I’m a sophomore who likes not just biology and science, but also football and rock music. I’m a big fan of Manchester United and Eintracht Frankfurt, the first of which I have been supporting since I was nine, and has been the cause for much passion and joy. As of for music, I love the Foo Fighters and Lifehouse. I love playing guitar, which I’ve been playing casually as a hobby since I was in sixth grade.

I also am an avid debater, and I will represent Korea at the National Speech and Debate Association Summer Tournament in 2016, as well as coming in the top three in numerous national tournaments.

Currently I live in Seongnam, Korea, a suburban city in the vicinity of the capital Seoul, where I go to school. Before that I lived in the Philippines, where I attended Brent International School of Manila, which helped me adjust not only to a world of different cultures and people, but also to an English­based education. Having spent my whole life international school, I’ve studied a more American­style curriculum of science, and I believe that has helped me get a lot more exposure to the science I needed to know in order to contribute to this project.

I’ve been studying biology for about three years now, and I started preparing for iGEM since last August, meeting up with other teammates at the lab and getting some hands­on experience.

Learning synthetic biology was something new and amazing for me, and the concept of modifying life was fascinating. I’m looking forward to participating in iGEM this year, and I hope that our group not only does well but also learns a lot from this experience.

My name is Seungmeen Choi. I am a member of the Elan Vital 2015 Korean Science Research Team. I am a freshman currently attending Seoul Foreign School. I am the youngest member of the team. My favorite hobby is photography. This is why I took a role as a photographer for the team. When I first joined the team, I felt very uncomfortable. This was because I was the youngest and I didn’t know how to start a conversation. However as time went by, the awkwardness faded away as my team members took care of me and started talking to me.

I did not have a lot of experience and knowledge in molecular biology when I first joined the team. However, throughout the course of experiments and research, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge throughout the year with my teammates and instructors.

I joined this club in August 2014 because of a recommendation from a previous member of iGEM last year. Coincidentally, the night before I was given the option to join the team, I had a dream where I ate a lot of medicine because I was sick. To me, this path seemed like destiny.

Being a part of ‘Elan Vital’ was a choice, which I took, and I don’t regret it at all. During the course of completing the project, many sacrifices were made but it was worth it on the long run. I feel like I have acquired a lot of social and scientific knowledge.

My name is Soo Ji Lee. I can introduce myself with two things: a violin and books. Since I was 8, I have played the violin. With a lot of effort, now I can play it well, so I usually relieve my stress by playing the violin. And I also love to read books and it became the motive energy to be curious to various fields, such as history, literature, science and math. I got a huge amount of background knowledge through books and it became a big help to me when I participated to the Igem-project as a member.

Unlike other members, I have never been to foreign countries or international school. So this project was another challenge for me. Though I have learned and used English since I was young, but I had more difficulties compared to other members. And what I have learned through the books supported me in many ways. It was easy for me to learn about bio-labs and I could understand this project exactly. So I could figure out the solution when our team faced the difficulties.

This project gave me an unforgettable memory. I did the lab experience for the first time, and I had some great team members whom I work with in the lab. I could cooperate with them by sharing each one's idea. This experience taught me not only scientific knowledge but also the methods how I can work with other members by communicating with each other. Though there were tough moments, but every moment was a priceless time to me.