I don’t know why, but I have always been interested in Chemistry. When I was a child, I felt attracted by doing so-called experiments and reproducing scenes from scientific cartoons. I remember asking my mom when I would start learning Chemistry at school and she told me that in the seventh grade I certainly will. Years passed and the waiting came to an end because I finally started discovering my beloved subject and I realized this is what I wanted to do in my future career. I am a high-school student and I think each one of us is inspired by someone who did something important for our world.
One of my models is Frances Hamilton Arnold (born in July 25, 1956), who became only the fifth woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She is an American chemical engineer and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology. Arnold is the daughter of Josephine Inman and nuclear physicist William Howard Arnold, so I think the love for science is a family inheritance.
Dr. Arnold won the Nobel Prize for her work conducting the directed evolution of enzymes, proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. Her enzymes have been used to make biofuels, medicines and laundry detergent. In many processes, they have taken the place of toxic chemicals. There is a quote of Frances Arnold: “I think of what I do as copying nature’s design process,” said in an interview with NobelPrize.org. “
Apart from winning the Nobel Prize, Arnold's work has been recognized by many awards such as the 2011 National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Draper Prize(the first woman to receive it). Also, in 2016 she became the first woman to win the Millennium Technology Prize, which she won for pioneering directed evolution.
Maybe some of you aren’t keen on Chemistry and wouldn’t find this article useful, but its purpose is to prove that women can also be successful in the scientific field and can improve the world we live in. The fact that there are many women scientists makes me work harder and be more ambitious in order to become at least as successful as they are now.
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