On Sept. 20, 2017, on the west coast of Puerto Rico, Alanis Morales awoke to the sound of her windows flapping open. Winds reaching 200 mph rushed by the house she shared with her father and siblings, sending their tin shed into a pizza parlor. Water streamed under the doors, through electrical sockets and lights in the ceiling.
Hurricane Maria had made landfall.
In the face of one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike the U.S. territory, Morales didn’t panic. She sprang into action, helping her father remove the nearly two inches of water that flooded their home.
Morales’s family knew they needed to get out. As fate should have it, her father had recently accepted a job at Hewlett- Packard in Corvallis. Wasting no time, she applied right before the admissions deadline and moved with her family from Puerto Rico to Oregon in just one week.
The move was advantageous in other ways as well. A long-time animal lover — especially marine mammals — Morales was interested in pursuing scientific research or medicine. And Oregon State offered the opportunities she needed for both.
Now, Morales is beginning her second term in Oregon State’s chemistry program. She is an active member of STEM Leaders — a program that helps increase the success of undergraduates in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Through STEM Leaders, she will have the opportunity to conduct research under the guidance of three faculty members. For her first rotation, Morales will study the symbiotic relationship between algae and sea anemones.
Out of everything Oregon State has given her so far, Morales is most grateful for the wide range of class offerings.
“I can’t believe how many experiences I’d been missing out on until now,” she says.
Morales is thankful to call Corvallis home. She and her family plan to stay, but she has also returned to visit family members who remain in Puerto Rico, including her macaw, Monk.
Sometimes, it’s hard to see light at the end of a storm. But as Morales has found, a twist of fate can lead to unexpected opportunities.