I had never "set aside time to dream" before. In the midst of midterms, papers, and all the stress of Freshman year, I took some time to myself in the Alliance for Catholic Education building. At first I focused on relaxing; I chose a comfortable seat next to the beautiful fireplace where I could gaze out the window. For a while my mind wandered, then all of a sudden I found myself on my phone looking for inspiration. While searching for some phrase that encompasses all of my goals and dreams, I found the follow quote by Dr. James D. Watson, nobel laureate:

The pace of discovery is going incredibly fast.

  This simple statement helped me reflect on how I am planning for my career. Every now and then I find myself super stressed out and discouraged by the competition; however, this is the nature of science now-a-days. The pace of discovery is so fast that every scientist is racing to keep up with it. If I keep my goals in mind and focus on the quality of my work; my dream is to one day be as influential as Dr. Watson.