Hispanic Heritage Month

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Josue Ceron

Prior Education: San Francisco State University

Current Program: Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology

What motivates you to do science?

I like to believe that I have always had a natural curiosity in exploring the rules that govern the world around us. I keep my mind active by learning new things, and I think this formed the base for what would eventually blossom into a scientific career. As an undergraduate student, I joined a bacterial genetics lab where I had to learn how to read scientific articles as well as how to reinforce my basic knowledge in biology in addition to learning technical skills. I was also forced to improve my time management to better balance school and research. I met these challenges head-on, and I discovered that conducting research was something that I could see myself doing for many years to come. Asking questions and finding answers that no one else has reached is extremely rewarding for both myself and the scientific community. I realized that in addition to pursing a scientific career, I wanted to be able to provide research opportunities to students of similar origins. My graduate training will give me the expertise to achieve my career goals and will potentially provide resources so I can assist future first-generation college students by providing research opportunities that could lead to more future scientists.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

Hispanic Heritage Month to me represents a time to pay homage to the people that came before and also represents a way to keep their stories alive for the generations to come. Progress in culture and science is a collaboration of a variety of different people; there is no one single factor that drives us forward, and this is a great way to highlight Latinos/as/x that have influenced all aspects of the world, even if their names are not common in every household.