Seffner Christian School: Tribune scholars profiles and essays

More than 200 of Hillsborough County’s top high school seniors from 35 public and private schools accepted an invitation to share their accomplishments and take part in an essay contest through the 2021 R.F. “Red” Pittman Tribune Scholars program. Their profiles and essays are published here, just as the students submitted them. To search all schools, click here.

Jaileen Borrero

School activities and accomplishments:

• Student body ambassador junior and senior year.
• Captain of the volleyball team for two years.
• Leader and mentor for a community summer camp for four consecutive years.
• Class leadership award of my freshmen class.
• National Honor society member.
• High school choir member for six years.

College or other post-high school plans:

I am planning to attend a four year university and study in the medical field. I have applied and been accepted into Florida State University, University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, and I am waiting to hear back from University of Florida before I make my decision.

Essay

Over the past year, there has been many different sources that have voiced how people should go about terminating the spread of COVID-19. As I have listened and researched the different methods, I stumbled upon a way that could be a possible solution to the pandemic. CRISPR is a gene editing technology that allows the altering of DNA sequences.

This was first used in food manufacturers to protect bacteria cultures against viruses. This could be implemented in the cessation of the spread of COVID by using CRISPR to alter the human genome to be insusceptible to viruses, which would include COVID. Instead of having the vaccine, a person would be mandated to have this technology by means of an injection. The same way a baby is required to have vaccines in order to attend school, this would be another requirement for people that would then be passed onto their offspring.

Although this type of technology does bring up ethical concerns due to the fact that people can use it for cosmetic modifications and it could open up ways for parents to genetically modify their offspring, it would strictly be used for the altering of genes to protect the current and future generations from viruses. In conclusion, although there are many different preventative measures currently instituted to help stop the spread of COVID-19, I believe that this is just one of the many effective and efficient ways we can go about stemming the pandemic.