Natalie Kuldell (00:03):
Hi there. Nice to see you.
Ria Kothari (00:05):
Nice to see you too Dr. Kuldell.
Natalie Kuldell (00:08):
Glad you could join us today. Thank you for coming on to talk a little bit about your experience with bio builder and what you’re busy doing and, and looking forward to maybe we can just start by having you introduce yourself, your name, where you school little bit about what you’re interested in.
Ria Kothari (00:28):
Yeah, so I’m currently a junior at Dobyns Bennett High School, which is in a small town in east Tennessee. And I really enjoy learning about science and I’m also in the band and I play the Trumpet. So that’s kind of the main thing outside of academics that I’m doing.
Natalie Kuldell (00:48):
Dobyns Bennett High School has an incredible marching band. So congrats. I know that you guys have recently gotten some accolades for all that. So yeah, those things are, are pretty busy. So so you’re interested in, in all sciences or a particular branch of science.
Ria Kothari (01:08):
Well, I mean, I obviously don’t have experience with a lot of diverse fields, so I’ve just mainly experienced like biology, chemistry, and physics, but overall I’d say the entire expanse of science is very interesting, cause it’s like all so interconnected. So if you like biology, you like chemistry, you like physics, it’s all, it all goes together. And I really enjoy like the building blocks of it. So I took chemistry before I took biology and I really enjoyed like the parts of it and coming together and then how that related to the biological processes. And I just really love the interconnectedness science. So if you just like one aspect of it, you have to like the rest of it.
Natalie Kuldell (01:53):
<Laugh> that is so smart. I have to admit that when I was in high school, I don’t think I ever would’ve said something as wise as all that. I would’ve seen them as quite separate, but you are, you are a hundred percent, right. There is no natural boundary between chemistry and biology and physics and, and math and all those. So that’s fantastic. And so maybe I can ask have you always been encouraged to follow science and pursue science? What is your background? What is your, you know, what led you into interest in science?
Ria Kothari (02:28):
I mean, I’d say from the beginning, my family is just more STEM oriented. Like my mom’s a chemistry teacher and my dad is an engineer he’s worked with like computer science and chemical engineering. So just from the beginning, I’ve been exposed to science and to do science, just because there’s like a lot of ways that you can go career wise and just as the way the world is going, like women are more encouraged to keep looking at stem. So I think from the beginning, I was interested in, like I was told I have to go into STEM, but I think going into high school, it actually became more of a me thing. Like I was interested in science. And before that, I was just kind of going along with it. I didn’t really understand much of anything now that I’m in high school and I’ve been exposed to actual science. Like I know what it is. I’d say that I, I really know that I want to go into science. I like enjoy other subjects, but so much of other subjects are interdisciplinary. And I think I just like the research aspects of science and the way it all goes together. So I, from the beginning, I was kind of told I have to, and now it’s a personal choice.
Natalie Kuldell (03:48):
Yeah, boy, that sounds like it comes from the right place. I think that’s wonderful. I know some of the teachers from Dobyns-Bennett High School and I know how wonderful they are, but maybe you can speak to some of the programming. I know you’ve had some BioBuilder programming as part of your, your time there. Maybe you can speak to some of your experiences in high school that might have encouraged you now as you’ve sort of identified as a, as a future scientist.
Ria Kothari (04:15):
Yeah. I genuinely think that BioBuilder was a turning point in my experience with science. So in my freshman biology class, my biology teacher, Ms. Lafollette, she introduced us to BioBuilder and she was always really, really dedicated to cultivating an interest in science regardless of your background. So she was trying to find different ways for us to explore science because typically a freshman biology class is more just like a credit. You kind of just do busy work all the time, but she connected with you and got bio builder. And I think that’s, I saw science in a different light once I saw BioBuilder cause before it was like memorizing facts. I didn’t see the application. But then with BioBuilder, we were introduced to synthetic biology. And what science can really take you to do? I think the main thing was it can like actually solve world problems.
Ria Kothari (05:14):
Like it’s, you’re not just learning science and then that’s all you ever do. You’re actually gonna make an impact on the world, synthetic biology and the like, and so I think seeing how science can actually directly be applicable and just the wide variety of things I can do, it’s not just memorizing things. It became more like a career focus. Like I’m actually going somewhere with a goal. I’m not just taking classes. And so I think that teacher experience BioBuilder is really what started my interest in science. And whenever I took later classes I had in the back of my mind that this is something I can do, science can actually take me somewhere. And then just the personal interest in science and enjoying the subject itself just made it all come together.
Natalie Kuldell (06:05):
Amazing. I, I can’t tell you how happy that makes all of us who work within BioBuilder to hear this is exactly the kind of impact that we hope to have it wonderful to hear from you that, that it has, and that it does. So I know you’ve done some additional things related to science. There’s a, a Governor’s school or something that you were a part of. Do you wanna talk about that?
Ria Kothari (06:30):
Yeah, so I had the opportunity to go in what’s called a Governor’s School. So I went on campus at a local college and it was, I was offered like several colleges in Tennessee, but the one I chose happened to be locally. And basically the goal was to give you kind of a college experience. We were taught by college professors and we were taught biology and statistics at a college level. It was kind kind of similar to like the AP courses, but it was in that college setting. And then we had it also a component of research. So we like directly did experiments that maybe you didn’t have the opportunity to do at school just because of the format of like high school. So this, it sort of gave you like the college experience as well as a specific science experience. And so basically I just like furthered my knowledge with biology and statistics, but the main thing was we were also exposed to things that you can’t really be exposed to in a classroom.
Ria Kothari (07:31):
So like you, I remember came and spoke to us several other influential people in science and like engineering and medical fields. They talked to us kind of like the career things and how science itself has impacted them. So it really just focused on putting like science and math, biology and statistics for like a later goal. So you kind of just got to experience science in a way you can’t get in classroom and we could directly apply it to experiments. Like I was like, ha worked with like fly lava and respiration. And I built my own like manometer and everything. So it was a very hands on experience that kind of deepened your appreciation for science in a way you can’t get otherwise
Natalie Kuldell (08:19):
By that’s fantastic. It sounds like exactly the kind of program that most of us would love to have had those of us who are, are science oriented would love to have had that in high school. Do you wanna give a quick shout out to which university it was that you were on campus for?
Ria Kothari (08:36):
Yeah, it was East Tennessee State University. So it’s actually like a half hour from my high high school, which is really cool because just where I’m from. There’s no like really big colleges. We, most of the big colleges are in like Knoxville and Nashville and we’re nowhere near that. But east Tennessee actually provided like a really cool opportunity. It just shows you that it doesn’t matter if you’re like in a big rich area, you can still have a very monumental experience.
Natalie Kuldell (09:02):
I think that’s right. ETSU is a fantastic university. And I’m so glad that they had that experience for you. So looking ahead, what, what do you see going forward your junior now? I don’t wanna put too much pressure on you, but are there things that you’re aspiring to going forward?
Ria Kothari (09:21):
Well I definitely wanna go to university and, you know, just keep going on my learning process. And I think career wise, I’m looking at the medical field. So going into, pre-med just kind of, I know I wanna to go into science and I just find that the body and those types of processes as just more interesting, maybe compared to like a more engineering based, more like hard like that. So I just kind of think that medical might be more interesting. I don’t wanna tie myself down to like practice or research, but I think that when just ourselves like our bodies and humans and then the interaction of science is specifically interesting. And I wanna look into that in university and beyond. Yeah.
Natalie Kuldell (10:07):
There, there is a lot to do a lot of great questions to ask and it sounds like you are very well positioned and very well well poised to do that. So impressive and so wonderful. Great to hear BioBuilder played some role in your continuing interest. Wonderful. To hear that Northeast Tennessee is providing you with these opportunities to continue and deepen your interest and pursue these innovations. I guess before we wrap up, are there any sort of final bits of, of wisdom or, or thinking, or, you know things you’ve learned along the way that, that you think would be helpful to share?
Ria Kothari (10:47):
I mean, I think that the biggest thing that when you’re learning and trying to find what you enjoy is being open to it. I think if it wasn’t for like, BioBuilder showing that there’s like something more besides just like the classroom, then I might have not really had the appreciation for science that I can. I think the biggest thing that when we’re going through high school and maybe even college, I wouldn’t know, but we just see it as like a thing we have to do, but actually ex trying to be excited about what you’re learning, that you can do more with it. There’s something you’re gonna benefit from it. I think that makes learning so much more enjoyable regardless of the subjects it is in. And I think that’s a big thing for me. And I hope that everyone has the opportunity to be able to enjoy something like that.
Natalie Kuldell (11:37):
I, I think you are a hundred percent, right? Every student deserves meaningful education, whether that’s in science or the arts or any, any part of their educational experience, it really should be connected to personally meaningful endpoints for them. You are a great model for that. Thank you so much for having this conversation.
Ria Kothari (11:59):
Thank you so much for letting me be part of it.