Nutrition and exercise play a huge role in my life. For that (and much more), I am forever grateful for my parents who truly led by example and taught us how to be both mentally and physically healthy. We were raised in an environment where if we felt anxious before school we did not take a pill to calm down, but instead flipped upside down and held headstands so more blood and oxygen could flow directly and steadily to our brain. If we were tried or groggy in the morning, we did not eat Fruit Loops or Pop-Tarts and then run to school on a sugar rush; we instead walked around the house on our hands with my mom holding our ankles and wheelbarrowing us around, laughing and rolling on the floor, now full of life and natural energy. My brothers and I grew up loving to exercise, were always continuously active, and had the privilege of coming home to a nutrient-dense home cooked meal, almost always, if not every single day.

I strongly believe that the patterns and lifestyles we are exposed to as children have a strong influence on our later lifestyle choices. As the final research paper for my senior seminar, our task was to design a research experiment regarding infant development and to write a corresponding research paper which included expected results (if the experiment were to be performed). My paper, "Will exposure to bitter or non-bitter vegetables affect later preference, the future diets and/or healthy lifestyles of infants throughout their life: a longitudinal study", hypothesized that pre- and post-natal repeated exposure to a paired association between bitter vegetable flavors and sweet fruit flavors can lead to an increase in later infant acceptance of that vegetable. Using a (hypothetical) longitudinal follow-up experiment, it would also seek to test the long-term effects of increasing parental knowledge of nutrition. This portion of the experiment hypothesized that an educational intervention on nutrition may lead to an increase in parent’s incorporation of healthier lifestyles while raising their kids, which would hopefully influence their children to lead healthier lifestyles (in terms of nutrition and exercise) later on.