Using science for service
MIT senior Sofia Essayan-Perez, majoring in brain and cognitive sciences with a minor in applied international studies, has founded an educational nonprofit, conducted neuroscience research, and tutored MIT students. The common thread that binds these disparate interests: They all stem from hardships that those around her have faced. Essayan-Perez was born in Boston, but spent her formative years moving among Chile, Nicaragua, the United States, and Canada, as her parents, both researchers in the social sciences, took on international projects. This diversity of experiences and environments has shaped Essayan-Perez’s nuanced view of the social disparities and scientific challenges she aims to tackle. Using science for service When she was just 12, Essayan-Perez was struck by the lack of infrastructure supporting math and science in Nicaragua, where some of her relatives lived. “I observed that rural schools lacked science books and lab equipment,” she says. “That really got to me, as someone who was...