When I first found out about forensic science in eighth grade, I would never have imagined that I would end up working in DNA analysis on old human remains. In my head I was like I am never touching a body, I'm never looking at bones. None of that. But this is exactly the right path for me and the only reason I made it here was because I paid attention to what my interests were along the way. 

My name is Elena Zavala and I am a graduate student at Penn State in Forensic Science. I've always wanted to do forensic science, but I've also had this passion for music and service as well. Being able to use both my scientific side and my musical side help keep me balanced throughout school and I just always feel more whole as a person when I'm playing music. 

I ended up working as a chemist at a start-up company. They developed a new instrument for sequencing DNA. When I was in the workforce, I was the only female chemist in my group. Most of my co-workers were much older than me and all male, but I was also lucky that I had some really great mentors that were male. 

I would definitely not be where I am in terms of my career path or studies in general without my interactions with other people. And not only did it allow me to learn about ancient DNA and human identification, but it also allowed me to exchange ideas with people who are also passionate about what I'm passionate about. 

I had the opportunity to go to Croatia and while there I looked at I think over 70 human remains. I traveled back from Croatia with those bones in my backpack. I really want to look at improving the current human identification techniques, because unfortunately there are a lot of terrible things happening in this world and there are a lot of people who are dying and who have not been identified and whose families are still looking for them.

My grandpa's brother was lost in Stalingrad in World War II and so my family has ideas as to what might have happened to him, but we don't actually know. And so it would be wonderful if someday I was able to identify or find him and see possibly what happened or at least where he passed away.

If you're interested in science, keep paying attention to what your true passions are. There’s this idea, especially in high school and middle school that if it's not easy, it's not the right thing for you. And that's not true. If it's not easy, it just means that maybe you have to do an extra couple hours of work or maybe even longer. But if it's what you love then it's worth it. 

The best part of my job, or at least working in the research I am now, is getting to do what I love. People think of science as you're in this lab and you never leave, which can definitely be true, I spend a lot of time in the basement in the lab, but it doesn't have to be true. It’s up to you in terms of what your passions are and what your drive is.