Jaqueline “Jaqui” Meza was only 12 years old the first-time science knocked the wind out of her.
She was sitting in a genetics class during her second summer with Rainier Scholars, listening to her teacher, Mr. Medeiros, talk about glow fish. Specifically, he was talking about zebrafish, which are engineered in a laboratory tofluoresce under ultraviolet light. “I thought, what do you mean they’re made in the lab?” Jaqui said, with a laugh. “I thought these were natural!”
That moment of disbelief cracked something open. It was the first time Jaqui understood that science wasn’t just a subject. It was a tool for asking — and answering — questions nobody had answered yet.
Today, Jaqui (Cohort 11) is a first-year PhD student in the Molecular Biosciences program at Washington State University (WSU), studying reproductive biology. She is a daughter of immigrants, a first-generation college graduate, and one of a very small percentage of people in this country who will earn a doctorate in the life sciences. In her work, she will get to be the very first person on earth to know the answers to some of our unanswered questions.
A Foundation Built in Fourteen Months
Jaqui joined Rainier Scholars in fifth grade, drawn into the community that would quietly shape the next thirteen-plus years of her life. She remembers the 14-month Academic Enrichment Phase (AEP) at the Bush School with warmth: the morning assemblies, the classes, the particular rhythm of those summers. What she didn’t fully appreciate at the time was how much the skills she was building would matter later.
“Time management and organization,” she said. “Those two I really, really embraced and they continue to help me today.” She took the habit of structured planning so seriously that she asked her academic coordinator for Rainier Scholars planners to use throughout high school (they’re typically supplied just for AEP). Later, when Jaqui enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program at Mount Rainier High School, those same habits gave her a running start.
“Rainier Scholars really helped prepare me for the later stages of my academic journey,” she said. “Those tools — the active learning skills — I still remember and use daily.”
She is still, by her own account, someone who still cannot function without a physical planner (and yes, it’s color-coded).
Saying Yes to the Lab
After earning her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology from Whitman College in 2023 (one major with a long name), Jaqui deliberately didn’t rush into a PhD program. She spent two years as a lab technician at a Seattle biotech company, doing blood processing and supporting drugs through research and development. The work was steady and required constant skill development. And it taught her something important about herself: “I wasn’t doing much of the thinking,” she said. “I wasn’t doing the question asking or the question answering. I was just providing data. And the lack of asking questions didn’t feel right for me.”
Jaqui wanted to know why. That realization pushed her toward graduate school with clarity that she hadn’t had before.
She applied to PhD programs last fall and landed at WSU, where the kickoff involves students rotating through three different labs before committing to one. Jaqui described the experiences as “speed dating, but for science.” She selected, and was selected by, a lab studying male reproductive biology and fertility. Her previous internships had both been in cancer research, and Jaqui was convinced that oncology was her path. But the gap years changed her perspective, which is why she’s such a big proponent of taking time away from school to work. Now, she’s following her curiosity wherever it leads.
Imposter Syndrome and the People Who Keep You Whole
Jaqui is down to earth and humble, even though it’s obvious that she’s often the smartest person in the room. But when asked about her biggest challenge she didn’t hesitate. It wasn’t a class or an exam but the internal work of believing she belongs.
“Coming to terms with feeling more confident in myself [was a huge challenge],” she said. “Imposter syndrome has been one of the biggest things I’ve dealt with.” Jaqui, like many of us, has to remind herself, “I am enough. I deserve to be here.”
When the feeling creeps in, she picks up the phone. She calls her mom, her grandparents, her boyfriend, or her best friend. “Having people remind you that you’re a person outside of academics,” she said, her voice catching, “is nice to hear.”
Her grandfather, who doesn’t fully understand what a PhD program is but supports her unequivocally, often offers Jaqui words that sustain her: “He always tells me, ‘I may not be there and I may not be able to help you with your homework, but I can cheer you on from the sidelines.'” She smiled through tears. “It’s nice to know they love me regardless.”
That unconditional support — from family, yes, but also from Rainier Scholars — has been a through-line in Jaqui’s story. When she was applying to PhD programs, she reached out to meet with Rainier Scholars College Success Manager Sara Jackson to work on her CV. “My family’s been there for me,” she said, “but with certain academic things, specifically, Rainier Scholars has really been those people and that resource for me. Truly. Throughout everything.”
After thirteen years, the relationship between Jaqui and Rainier Scholars isn’t transactional. It’s familial.
Tips for Scholars Thinking About the Lab
Jaqui is the kind of person who volunteers as a buddy for recruitment weekend at WSU, making time to support the incoming cohort of PhD students. If you’re thinking about research or a career in science, here’s what she’d tell you.
1. Talk to people who are already there. “Scientists love to talk about their research,” Jaqui said, “even when they seem very quiet.” Reach out to professors, older students, or anyone in the Rainier Scholars network who’s had lab experience. Those conversations will tell you more about what lab life is like than any course description ever will.
2. Get yourself into a lab environment before graduate school. Jaqui is an advocate for at least one gap year, specifically using that time to work in a professional setting. Whether it’s a technician role, a post-baccalaureate research program, or an internship, the goal is the same: find out how you feel when you’re doing the work, day in and day out. “It really helps,” she says. “Put yourself in an environment you think you might want to work in in the future.”
3. Bring your planner. Organization and time management aren’t soft skills in a research lab. They are the job. “You could be running multiple experiments at the same time, and being able to manage your time — aligning incubation periods and things like that — determines how much time you spend in the lab.” She framed it with characteristic practicality: “Do you set up an experiment on a Friday and come back Monday? Or Wednesday and come back Saturday? It’s like a puzzle.”
4. Advocate for yourself. This one she named with some feeling. A PhD program is “very much a choose your own journey.” Nobody hands you a roadmap. “Being able to advocate for yourself is really important,” she said. “You are capable, but at the end of the day, you have to speak up for what you need.”
5. Annotate everything. Note-taking and annotation were active learning skills she picked up early and has never stopped using. In a research setting, detailed notes aren’t optional — they’re the record of your thinking, your process, and eventually, your findings.
The Rainier Scholars Impact
Jaqui is now 25. She joined the program at 11. “It’s been thirteen years or more since I’ve been part of the program.”
She paused and looked for the words.
“It’s amazing. How much Rainier Scholars does for all of us.”
That’s it. Not a manifesto, not a long speech. Just a young woman at the beginning of a remarkable scientific career, still carrying with her the community support and the quiet conviction that she belongs, exactly where she is.