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Just try to be a good team member. And
appreciate the experiences and the

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people that you encounter along the way.
The advice I would give to younger me is do

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hard things and do work on important
things. So, work on things that you think

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matter. To do the best I could at
everything, which is something I try to

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do anyways. And just to continue to
pursue my passions. To actively seek out

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and look for and find the one thing in
the world that motivates you more than

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anything else. It's okay to dream big.
You're gonna only truly be satisfied if

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you pursue things you're passionate
about. Try new things, try doing new

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things, meet new people. That will just
kind of help you get out of your comfort

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zone and always just kind of stay open
to learning new things. I would tell a

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younger me to just stay curious, learn as
much as you possibly can,

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ask questions, don't be put off when you
don't understand something, just keep

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that curiosity alive. That it's important
to always love yourself and the people

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around you. And know that failures are
part of the process of growth. And if you

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want it bad enough, you will get to your
destination. I think I would tell a

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younger me never to close the door on
yourself. I think it's really easy when

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you're somebody who has big dreams and
goals to kind of talk yourself out of

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pursuing those things, and luckily for me,
I've had the right nudge from the right

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mentor every time I was about to do that.
You know I got told at one point in

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college, "You should be doing more of this
or more of that." And it wasn't what I

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wanted to do. And I didn't take that
advice and I'm glad I didn't. You should

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do what you feel passionate about and
that doesn't just need to be the

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only things that you think will get you
towards your goal. If you like playing

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sports, play sports. Like sports were a
big thing for me and sometimes I had

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people tell me,
"Hey, that's taking time away from other

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things you should be doing." But, it was
really important to me and I think

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helped me get here in the end. So, I think
just do whatever you love doing and

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you'll find that because you're doing
something you love, you'll be passionate

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about it and you'll succeed. If I were to
talk to my 18-year-old self and give him advice,

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it would be to focus on fewer things and
not try to do absolutely everything. Just

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try and focus on a few things and do
them incredibly well. Strive to have a

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better work/life balance. That's a really
hard thing to do in the military and in

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this profession and something I still
struggle with today. So, I think if

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older me said to younger me, "This is
important." Maybe I would have listened more.

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The experiences sometimes get watered
down when you get busy or by other

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things that make you nervous along the
way. And so, to really step back and

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appreciate the experiences.
Especially the really unique ones that

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maybe other people don't get to
encounter. If I were to give some advice

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to a younger me, it would be to find
mentors early. There are a lot of people

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who are interested in your success and
want to see you do well and have the

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resources that you may or may not have
that will allow you to pursue your

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interests and follow your passions. The
advice I would give to any young person

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pursuing this career or a STEM career is
that it's really never too early to get

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involved. I was so surprised every time I
asked somebody, "Hey, I have, you know, no

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experience in this particular thing, but
I would love to give it a try. Would you

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give me a shot in your lab or your 
research team or wherever?" And how often