Alina is a first year PhD student in the Psychology program at Northeastern University. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. Afterwards, she spent two years as Post-baccalaureate Research Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health. As a graduate student in the Learning and Brain Development Lab, Alina studies how adolescents use memories from different experiences to flexibly guide behavior in novel situations. She uses functional neuroimaging to understand how this ability relates to the development of different brain networks. Alina is thankful to her remarkable mentors for inspiring her research career and advising her through the graduate application process. She is eager to pay it forward and help make research careers accessible to all.