Edwin Gonzalez shares his journey from a BioBuilder apprentice to becoming a lead scientific support specialist at Thermo Fisher by age 23, highlighting how hands-on experiences and mentorship shaped his career path.

• Middle school science teacher sparked Edwin's interest in science through engaging projects and supportive environment
• First in his family to pursue science, without STEM role models at home
• Joined BioBuilder apprenticeship program in 2019 after learning about it from a classmate
• Gained first hands-on lab experience learning aseptic technique, pipetting, PCR, and bacterial transformation
• Worked on biodesign project to create a device detecting airborne allergens
• BioBuilder experience helped him decide to major in biology at Suffolk University
• Skills learned at BioBuilder created foundation that made college coursework easier
• Landed first industry position at Novo Nordisk through connections from a LabCentral internship
• Currently works at Thermo Fisher as a lead scientific support specialist
• Role combines lab operations, facilities management and direct research support
• Recommends exploring multiple aspects of biology to build a diverse toolkit of experiences

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