Camila Àlvarez, a biology student at BYU-Idaho, found her passion for biochemistry through an unexpected twist in her academic journey.

Àlvarez, originally from Mexico City, is pursuing a biology major with a minor in chemistry. Her decision to focus on biotechnology came almost by chance.

In Mexico, Alvarez studied automatic systems for an associate degree in high school. During that time, she discovered her passion for math and wanted to pursue something in that field, like engineering.

“I had the opportunity to participate in a research project in organic chemistry, and I realized I loved it. That experience changed my direction, and I chose to follow a different path,” said Àlvarez.

While biology and chemistry concepts are universal, participating in discussion boards can challenge non-native speakers.

“I have to think carefully about what I want to say. Adding comments and responses can be intimidating or challenging,” Àlvarez said. “Sometimes, my accent also makes it difficult for people to understand me completely, and I have to repeat myself in class.”

Despite these challenges, Àlvarez appreciates the culture at BYUI.

“I really love the biology program here because there are many international students, and I feel like most professors understand that English is not everyone's first language,” Àlvarez said.

Regardless of a challenging major and course load, Àlvarez actively participates in campus organizations.

She is an active member of the biochemistry club, where she enjoys interacting with those who have similar career goals.

Àlvarez is also a dancer for Spirit of Mexico, a campus dance group. Àlvarez says that the group is a bunch of friends who are all passionate about dance.

“In Mexico, there’s this type of dancing called folkloric. It’s really old and originates from when the Spaniards came and conquered us,” Àlvarez said.

Growing up, she did a lot of folkloric dancing at school since classes were offered; however, the program was discontinued. Still having a passion for dance, Àlvarez took Hawaiian dancing and jazz. Despite this, her true love was folkloric.

When she returned from her mission, she started taking folkloric classes again.

“When I arrived at BYU-Idaho, I was super happy because I knew they had a dance group. It’s such a great place; I’ve met all my friends in the group, and it feels like a family. I really feel like I’m in Mexico when I’m with them,” Àlvarez said.

Despite BYUI not being her original plan, Àlvarez has spent the last two years making Rexburg her home.

“When I was on my mission, I wasn’t planning on coming to BYU-Idaho because I thought it was unexciting—everyone wants to go to BYU-Idaho; it feels so mainstream,” Àlvarez said.

Her other main options were to go to Canada or Spain.

As she was filling out the application, attending BYUI just felt right.

“Once I got here, I understood why I chose this path,” Àlvarez said. “Everyone is so warm and welcoming. Even though it’s a different culture and there are certainly culture shocks, I’ve never really felt out of place because the community is really accepting of differences.”

While in Rexburg, Àlvarez has had numerous opportunities to explore her degree.

“I have been working on a research project team with Brother Lupfer from the Biology Department,” Àlvarez said. “Basically, we are modifying proteins on a molecular level. These proteins are found in women’s eggs, and when they undergo mutations, it can lead to complications and infertility.”

Àlvarez hopes that with this protein modification work, medical professionals can create a gene treatment.

"Camila Àlvarez is involved in research helping us understand how proteins in the body regulate fetal development. The research she and other students are doing will help us understand why some women cannot have children,” said Christopher Lupfer, Àlvarez’s biology professor, when asked about Àlvarez’s involvement.

In the future, Àlvarez plans on going into medical research similar to this project. Her dream career would be in medical research where she could apply her biotechnology skills and her chemistry experience.

Camila standing and smiling in Mexico. Photo Credit: Camila Àlvarez