Linda ccori

Since I was very little, my mom put me into math, and I was that kid who would prefer to do math than any sports. I was usually good at math in school and used to go to contests. When I started taking chemistry, I ended up being good at that too. I went to my first chemistry contest when I was young, and even though I didn't know much about it, I ended up getting fifth place. That got me to learning more about it. Since then, I started liking chemistry even more, because when people tell a kid that they are good at something, they will actually try to be better at it. I knew my major had to be with math and science, so I picked chemical engineering back home in Peru. I was always involved with classmates, taking leadership positions as a representative student in my college there. I found an opportunity to come to the U.S. first in a work and travel program, arriving in Ohio to improve my English. There I saw Procter & Gamble, this big company that does manufacturing and science, and they export products to Peru. I never thought I would actually see the building. It was one of my dreams to work in something as big that gets to the life of so many people. I looked at what they were looking for in their hiring team, and found out the first thing you need is an American degree. On the train back from Ohio to New York, all I could do was look for scholarships or a way to go to school in the U.S. I reached out to many schools and programs, and one offered me to transfer to the U.S. and accept most of my credits, but in chemistry instead of chemical engineering. I took that opportunity and moved to the U.S. just like that, with one semester left in Peru. My mom wasn't happy about it at that moment, but it changed my whole life. The school was Campbellsville University in Kentucky, a small town. I found a partial scholarship that was like half the price and included everything. I took as many credits as I could to be done as soon as I could, and finally graduated in 2023. After that, I started working for the Department of Environmental Quality in Oklahoma as an organic chemist in the GC section, which is gas chromatography. I did the same job for the environmental lab of Kentucky as well before this. They offered me the same job, just better paid and more opportunities, because I wanted to go to graduate school. I ended up going to grad school here as well, doing my master's at University of Oklahoma.