Welcome Back to Fall 21' :-)

 Hello STEM/TRAIN Scholars, 

For many that are new/returning back to the STEM/TRAIN program this semester, welcome! It feels so good to finally be back and seeing many of you in person again! I feel like my first year at ASU was such an odd experience as we all spent the past year through Zoom meetings and stuck at home. While we are still in the mix of a pandemic, I hope many of you have been staying healthy and well!

This will be my third semester in the STEM/TRAIN program! WOAH... I am actually in disbelief with how time has flown by since I first joined the program back at Phoenix College. It's almost like a bittersweet feeling as my fourth semester approaches but I am excited for the new journey that awaits me. And for many of you that are new, this program will teach you a lot about research, networking, what to expect with your future studies, job hunts, etc! oh and not to forget to mention, the amazing mentors! I spent my first two years at Phoenix College doing a whole lot of Research in Microplastics, working in labs with Dr. Beth Polidoro, collecting/creating data analysis on what I have gathered, to presenting at many different conferences. Doing all of that made me aware of the passion I really have with data! I am now pursuing my Major in Applied Computing with a Minor in Business Data Analytics. I am hoping to go into the Data Analyst Field and who knows, maybe I will want to go towards my Master's in Data Science. 

One of the many questions for our first blog post is what is my current online presence? That's a really great and simple question that requires to sit down and reflect, cause truly what is my online presence? Other than having an Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to socialize with friends and family... it might not be so appealing for a corporation when they ask to look into that. It truly is filled with memes or important political posts that advocate for Global Justice. In other words I do have an LinkedIn where I have even some of my ASU STEM colleagues on and it is super exciting to see them grow and expand their professionalism and skills! 

I hope to hear all from you and the research you guys will be doing throughout the STEM/TRAIN program! 

Best, 

Francisco