Kimberly Pinto
Kimberly Pinto, a year 12 student from Marist College has been selected to attend the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra.
Hi, my name is Kimberly and I am currently year 12 at Marist College in Auckland. I am immensely grateful and feel highly privileged to have been selected for the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) in Canberra this coming January.
When I started studying sciences in year 7 I immediately fell in love with the ability of science to sate my hunger for the hows and whys of the world around us. My teachers are well aware of the fact that I love asking questions, and it is in seeking the answers to those questions and expanding my knowledge in which I take great joy. I love to soak up every opportunity to learn something new no matter how random or irrelevant it seems. At year 12, I study English and Religious Education-which are compulsory- as well as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics with Calculus and Chinese.
Besides academics, I have an interest in public speaking and am a very sociable individual, though slightly quiet at first. My affinity for public speaking has led me to participate in the Confucius institute’s Chinese Bridge Speech Competition for the past three years and debate for the past 2 years. This year, I am part of a social netball team and have recently taken up an opportunity to co-lead my church’s youth group, which gives me opportunities to forge and strengthen many valuable friendships. I love to make people smile and learn as much as I can.
My Catholic faith drives me to always want to help people. There is a satisfaction in doing good that no material object can provide. I am considering a career pathway in the medical industry, one that provides patient interaction. This will allow me to combine my love for sciences, more specifically, my love for human biology, with the need I see to help the members of our society who are in most dire need.
I feel that attending the National Youth Science Forum will be the opportunity I require to fill the gaps in my understanding and develop skills I can take with me into the future. As I have an idea of what to study but am still undecided, I feel this will be the exposure I require to make a more concrete decision moving into year 13. I strongly believe this opportunity is a blessing not to be missed and I plan to make the most of it with the prospect that it may propel my career path.