Casey Pierce: I love research because I get to dive into questions that interest me. I get to travel the world for research and to attend conferences. I 've had the opportunities to visit India, London and all over the US as a doctoral student. I 'm looking forward to future trips to Asia and Europe. In addition to the perks of traveling, I also love the opportunities to meet and collaborate with smart people from different universities and research areas.

Casey Pierce: The middle part my PhD program was rough for me, mostly because I questioned if I was good enough to become a future professor and great researcher. My confidence overall was non-existent. I had a bad case of the imposter syndrome where I felt that I was pretending to be smart enough when I was not. I constantly compared myself to others, which only made me feel bad about myself. I only focused on my weaknesses without giving due credit to my strengths. I eventually came to a point that I forced myself to stop thinking so negatively about my potential success. I reminded myself that I have overcome many challenges in my life _ the most difficult was losing my mother to cancer when I was 15 years old. After her passing, I not only had to deal with that deep personal grief, but also move states and change high schools in the middle of the school year. Now THAT was hard. Anyone who has been that new kid at school can definitely relate! I thought, if I could go through that and make it ththe other side victoriously, I had no reason to fear whether I was good enough to excel in my PhD program. I now welcome challenges because I see them as opportunities to only improve and grow _ even if I am not perfect. Challenges do not have to hold you back with fear!

Casey Pierce: I am excited to learn and research about the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) and electronic health records (EHRs). From my perspective as someone who studies technology and organizational change, I am interested how it changes the dynamics between the physician-patient relationship and how healthcare organizations can use EMRs and EHRs to improve the quality of care.

Casey Pierce: I was born in Long Beach, California, but spent much of my years growing up in Long Island, NY and Norcross, Georgia. I finished out high school back in Palmdale, California and lived in Los Angeles when I attended USC for college. I eventually traded the SoCal weather when I moved to the great city of Chicago for graduate school. It 's hard for me to pinpoint just one city as my hometown since each place had a unique impact on my life. However, having lived in some many places, my accent is more or less a blend of all the different regions!

Casey Pierce: Two of my elementary school teachers, Mrs. Hawk and Mrs. Hoover instilled the love of learning at such a young age. I also appreciate my junior high math teacher, Mr. Dimsdale, who motivated me to love math. Later on, in graduate school, I really loved taking classes with my professor, Andrea Hollingshead. She is not only an amazing researcher and scholar, but also a fantastic teacher. I would be remiss to not mention my current advisor and professor, Paul Leonardi, who was one of the main reasons I came to Northwestern. He has provided me with amazing opportunities and challenged me to do better work.

Casey Pierce: Crafts! I especially love all things stationary. I love finding ways to upcycle and re-purpose old things for new uses.

Casey Pierce: "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago. I love reading memoirs, and I especially loved this book as I could relate to Santiago 's experiences with culture, trying to fit in and finding one 's identity.

Casey Pierce: Hands down, the show 24 is one of my faves. In my opinion, Jack Bauer is one of the best heroes of all time. When I have the time, I love to binge watch an entire series over a weekend.

Casey Pierce: My mom. She always pushed me to be different and not follow what everyone else was doing. Growing up I wanted to be so much like everyone else, but I now hold dear her philosophy to just be unashamedly me. It definitely takes confidence and boldness, but life is so much more exciting following your own path rather than trying to fit in with the norm or other people 's expectations.