Balancing on the silver structure “Perspectives,” the defining landmark outside her apartment complex, Allison Jia (12) laughs as she steadies herself. Walking around the block every night, Allison and her younger sister Angela Jia (10) stop at the structure, glistening in the moonlight, for a healthy dose of friendly competition.

Whereas many families share their days and take a breather at the dinner table, Allison and her family have a unique location where they bond the most: in the car.

“My family, all four of us, appreciate music a lot, so being able to talk in the car and then also listen to music while driving along, it’s one of my favorite things and a lot of really great memories are made that way,” she said. “One time, my dad, my sister and I were in the car, and we just came back home from eating dinner, but the music was so good that we just kept on driving, purely because of the fact that we just love driving so much and listening to music and talking.”

Coming from a family with immigrant parents who value education and arrived in the United States through their hard work, a strong work ethic has been a huge emphasis in her life. With her parents growing up in a completely different environment, Allison, as the older child, acts as the “American mom” for Angela.

“Growing up, it’s been my job to introduce Angela to American culture. I remember hyping up the tooth fairy a lot when we were younger because I wanted Angela to have that tooth fairy experience I never had,” Allison said. “So when Angela lost her first tooth, I snuck into her room at night, and I gave her $1. That continued for pretty much every tooth she lost.” 

Though they picked fights with each other when they were younger, the Jia siblings’ relationship has blossomed, often using the Liv and Maddie quote “sisters by chance, friends by choice” to describe their relationship.

“These past few months, we’ve been going on walks together at night. We just walk, and I talk about my day and she talks about hers,” Angela said. “I’ve really grown to look forward to that every night, and I’m really going to miss that when she goes off to college.”

Allison’s penchant for learning and exploring led her to try conducting research starting in eighth grade. In her junior year, she placed third at the Northern California & Western Nevada Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and was one of two students who won the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Young Scientist Award, receiving a $50,000 prize. Capturing a video of tau protein’s behavior in neurons, Allison developed a novel imaging platform that allows researchers to visualize the neurodegeneration process found in diseases including Alzheimer’s.

“Research allows us to understand things to make decisions on how to proceed next. It teaches scientists that they don’t know everything about the world,” Allison said. “In the beginning, I didn’t know if this video was possible to make. If it wasn’t possible, while it definitely wasn’t time wasted, I had just spent a lot of time not necessarily getting my desired outcome. That’s a very, very real possibility. It’s humbling to realize how many lives and animals are sacrificed so that you can do research that will benefit humans and hopefully animals as well.”

Since research explores the unknown, many questions arise regarding morality, forcing scientists to evaluate whether or not they should proceed with a project. These sentiments were inspired by Allison’s AP Physics C and Honors Advanced Research teacher Chris Spenner, who serves as a role model to her.

“At the end of the day, scientists have to make their decisions ethically. It’s easy to get lost in your work and you forget that the neurons that you’re using come from an animal and maybe some of the tau proteins you’re using come from real patients,” Allison said. “Mr. Spenner does a great thing of not just seeing research and science as black and white but as color with gradients to it; he’s a scientist who has a sense of morals.”

Allison’s curiosity and love of learning are noticed by both her closest friends and teachers.

“She has that flexibility of mind and that deep curiosity to get whatever she can from where she is. And I’ve seen that everywhere she is,” Spenner said. “She just has a perspective on things and the ability to absorb what’s happening around her, never with the notion that she is getting a right answer out of it, but increasingly with the notion that she’s learning and appreciating nuance.”

Her openness to all perspectives allows other people to feel comfortable and welcome when they converse with her and fosters her ability to try new activities spontaneously.

“This past summer, Alli and I were hanging out, and we saw this zumba class going on in a park. We were watching, and we were laughing because it looked like exercise. Alli was like, ‘Come on, let’s do it!’ We were really silly, but it was a lot of fun. And I think that’s so Allison,” Niki Karra, one of Allison’s close friends, said. “She’ll do everything. She’ll learn anything; she just likes to know things and do things and try things. She’s really curious.”

Taking the Human Ecology summer course led by Spenner and science teacher Dr. Kate Schafer in the summer of 2019, Allison expected to learn about environmental science and climate change; what she didn’t expect was that it would be an “eye-opener course” for her.

“I got exposed to and really understood the importance of politics and environmental law. I also started being more aware of current news. I went to the Silicon Valley Climate Strike with Aditi [Ghalsasi (12)] and Niki for our first time, and that was something I’ve never tried before.”

After attending the Bay Area Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Youth’s annual Wonder event in the spring of her freshman year, Allison continued attending SfN events, serving as the Public Relations officer in her junior year and President in her senior year. As one of the closest organizations to her heart, she strives to provide enjoyable events to connect to science and to foster a community of students who have a shared passion for neuroscience.

“Knowing that the monthly meetings that I do make people feel like they belong in a community with the same intellectual curiosity that welcomes them,” she said. “That’s such a touching moment for me. Hopefully, everyone can find some passion that they can pursue and that they can feel like they belong to because everyone deserves that feeling.”

Looking back on her high school career, she doesn’t think of the day-to-day school life; rather, she remembers the moments that have changed her thinking, including trying out research, joining SfN, attending the Silicon Valley Climate Strike, finding different communities. Such events shaped Allison’s way of thinking to become more inclusive of and open-minded to all perspectives.

“The day before senior year started, we were driving on Highway 1, which is the really scenic route along the coast. I’m sitting there in the car with the three people that I love the most in the world [— my mom, my dad and my sister],” she said. “Being able to try new things, like buying avocados on the side of the road and trying honeycomb for the first time, to go on hikes and then appreciate the beautiful scenery, while listening to music that we all love — it’s a luxury. As I’m leaving for college, it’s probably something that will happen less and less, so it means a lot because it’s a memory we’ll all share and treasure.”