Elena Quigley

She/They

I’m bi and I’m a chemistry PhD student. //

I feel like most stories open with, “I’ve always known … ” but the truth is that I was confused about a lot of things for a while. I can’t claim that I’ve always known that I was bisexual, nor that I’ve always known I wanted to be a scientist. In the seventh grade I marched into the counselor’s office at my school, determined to plan out my future and start choosing a college, much to their surprise. They wanted me to keep my goals broad and allow for change, but eventually I had at least settled on science. By contrast, I didn’t start to question my sexuality until the beginning of high school. At that point I was pretty sure I was interested in men, but wasn’t feeling entirely straight. The following four years were very confusing, including being convinced for a period of time that I was NOT interested in women (my first kiss did not go well). I’m currently a proud bisexual person, working on my passion as a biological chemist. I just finished my first year in the PhD program at University of Rochester and I can’t wait to see what else the future holds for me.