To Clover Park High School senior Hana Page, the most important purpose in life is to obtain the best education possible and use the education she acquired to help others and improve society. Hana has experienced her fair share of obstacles, but she uses each obstacle as self-development opportunities. She was raised by a single parent mother and is the first in her family to attend college.
Hana is determined to pursue her passion for math, science, problem-solving, and helping others. She has always enjoyed math and science, but her interest in these subjects grew as she took on the most challenging courses at her high school, attended the Mathematics Academy at the University of Washington’s College of Engineering during the summer before her junior year, participated in Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) where she conducted various science experiments and competed in numerous contests, and attended the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) at MIT during the summer before her senior year. Through these various opportunities, Hana was able to confirm her interest in pursuing an education in bioengineering and becoming a biomedical researcher and eventually a college professor.
Hana is active in her community. At her high school, she is the president of the National Honor Society and Knowledge Bowl, project leader of MESA, co-captain of the varsity golf team, and peer tutor. In addition to being active at her high school, Hana has been taking college classes at Pierce College since the beginning of her junior year because she has exhausted the challenging classes offered at her high school. At Pierce College, Hana serves as a tutor for college students, a member of Phi Theta Kappa –a national honor society for two-year colleges-, and the Lead Student Ambassador. Hana also enjoys tutoring and mentoring her community’s students and encouraging them to achieve their dreams. Specifically, many students in Hana’s community are students from minority and low-income backgrounds and typically do not have family members who have attended college. Therefore, Hana is even more determined to encourage these students to do their best in school, pursue their dreams, and attend college.
Hana has been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania and plans to pursue a degree in bioengineering. At UPenn, Hana plans to explore her passion for learning and cancer-related research. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, Hana plans to pursue an M.D. and Ph.D. through the national Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) so that she can continue to conduct biomedical research while teaching college students. Most importantly, Hana plans to continue to encourage and support minority and low-income students from under-represented communities to pursue their dreams and attend college. Ultimately, Hana hopes to use her education and strengths to help empower others in unfortunate circumstances so that they too can achieve their dreams, improve society, inspire future generations, and continue this cycle of constant inspiration and achievement.
