🌿 The Neighboring Girl Who Beat The Odds 🌿

Hello! I am Sophia Charlotte Montgomery - your local synthetic biology researcher with big dreams and a life history almost broke me. 😊💔

I was the weird girl from a small town where everyone thought STEM was a part of a plant. I would have preferred petri dishes over flimsy prom dresses any day. 🧫👗 My family of origin didn't even understand why I went into STEM science; they thought a woman should be in every profession except a lab. "Why don't you just marry a rich man instead of wasting time with bacteria?" 🙄 I knew it was science, even when some months we couldn’t afford to turn on the lights and I had to study by candlelight.

I was 17 when I got into a top university... then I dropped out after a year because of my mom's medical situation. Out of necessity, I worked three jobs (barista, tutor, and my failed Etsy sticker shop 💀) to help with her medical bills while studying. I slept in libraries (and I ate instant noodles for months) and cried more than I care to admit. Despite the strife at home, there was one interesting thing I persisted with—every night I would sneak into the campus lab with respect to the "sneaking" part—even if I was too stressed for school, I still wanted to feel like a scientist! 🔬✨

And then... I did it! In my dorm bathroom (shhh), a DIY biohack project of mine went viral. Suddenly labs were clashing * to fund me. Now? I make microbes during the day and post dumb* lab fails at night. A little passion, a little desperation, and a little courage ended up being a crazy comeback. 💪

Despite everything, here I am. Not much has changed; I am still that girl next door. Now I have a PhD and a burning need to prove that there is no background too humble, no dream too crazy! Oh, and I will never stop making puns about DNA helices! 🧬😉