Imagine this, you're sitting in poses a question that can change your life forever.

How many of you would raise your hand with no hesitation?

♪♪ That's what I thought.

Well, this is precisely what happened to me as a high schooler and that one simple act of raising my hand changed the entire trajectory of my career.

♪♪ So, my mom always told me to always sit in the front of the class.

This is where it all began.

Dasia Taylor: I was taking chemistry during my junior year and my chemistry teacher had just put this offer out to the entire class of hey, if you would like to participate in the science fair just let me know and if I can get a show of hands that would be great so I can identify who to double back to.

My mom also said, if you have a question or you want to do something you raise your hand regardless of whether you feel embarrassed or you think people are going to make fun of you.

It doesn't matter.

So, I literally raised my hand without hesitation and my life changed that day.

♪♪ I developed color changing stitches to detect infections using beet juice.

And the whole purpose here is to create an equitable, medical solution for our most vulnerable communities most susceptible to surgical site infections.

I spent Fridays after school in this lab working on my project for about six months straight.

I was able to apply to one of the most prestigious science competitions known to man.

And I ended up advancing all the way to the top 40.

Now, for context, there were about 2,500 applicants that year and so it was a really big deal.

That propelled me into a couple of local papers and then those local papers got picked up by other organizations and I was featured in the Smithsonian, People mag, USA Today Woman of the Year for Iowa, Ellen DeGeneres -- Dasia!

Ellen!

I mean, come on!

PBS Newshour, CBS Mission Unstoppable -- Her name is Dasia Taylor.

♪♪ Dasia Taylor: I still maintain like I'm a very humble person so it's actually pretty difficult for me to talk about this type of stuff.

But I've had quite the journey to only be 20.

♪♪ Dasia Taylor: I was born on the west side of Chicago, raised on the south side.

I was born into a single parent household, very, very young parent.

My mom ended up moving and finding Iowa because of a relationship that she was in at the time.

And we moved to a very small town, Hills, Iowa, right outside of Iowa City and that relationship ended up failing and we ended up staying here.

There's not much going on in Hills, Iowa, not very many people around, certainly not very many people who looked like me.

And so, I spent a lot of that time by myself, in a sense.

I would find peace with my thoughts and would pursue any sort of hands-on activity.

I have always embraced being a nerd in some sort of capacity.

And I've just, I've always been a smart kid, I've always been curious and I've always wanted to make learning fun for myself.

But now that I have the platform to do that for others, it blends very well.

♪♪ Dasia Taylor: The common denominator throughout everything that I do is this want to change the world somehow whether that is through my invention, like an actual medical device, whether it is through giving back and being a mentor to the next generation.

I enter a lot of spaces that are not historically meant for me.

That's just a fact.

And, in fact, as I was in the beginning of my science fair journey, I did my very first science fair, which I wrote a 20-page paper to enter and I got there and there was no, no other black person in the room.

I feel like that was a realization for me that if I do go far in this whole science thing that I would reach back and be that representation for other kids, period.

I just want to nurture young scientists of color to let them know that hey, it's okay to try new things, you do belong here and just share my story for other adults to also reach out into communities of color to get other scientists involved in these STEM initiatives and all of these STEM competitions.

So, you're absolutely right, equity work is top of my work.

♪♪ All right, so we're going to be doing elephant's toothpaste today.

How many of you guys have done that?

How many of you are bakers?

Who likes to bake in here?

Dasia Taylor: It's my goal to go to every single elementary school in the Iowa City Community School District because my fondest memories of school were when we had guests come in and talk about their job and do cool stuff.

We would ditch the regularly scheduled programming and we would go out and have fun and learn at the same time.

You'll see that's the basis for everything.

Learning and fun.

There we go.

It's rising.

Cheer it on!

Go!

Go!

Go!

Go!

(kids cheering) Dasia Taylor: It's really engaging for them and I hope that they carry that experience with them throughout the rest of their academic career whether it's just a funny memory or it inspires them to go into STEM or it inspires them to be a cool person and also come back to their school when they do whatever they do.

I enjoy going back and giving back to the school district that played a big part in who I am today.

I wake up and I choose this life every single day.

Like, I love med tech and I love this community service aspect that I get to do, these school visits, and I have to choose that consciously every day, even when it gets rough.

And when it gets rough, I mean sometimes I fall out of love with med tech.

It gets hard.

There are very big words that I have no idea how to pronounce or say.

There are very big, intimidating people in this world that I have to face.

If you really want what you're going after, you're going to have to find a way to get through it, get over it and get back on track.

♪♪ This one is a book that I am featured in.

♪♪ Dasia Taylor: I do what I do for Dasia's like me that are in the younger generation and looking for inspiration from someone.

I hold a variety of identities and so I am very proud of who I am and because I needed someone like that when I was growing up, I want to be that someone for all of the little kids growing up.

♪♪ Dasia Taylor: I want them to take away the same sentiment that I received from my mom and that is, you can do anything you put your mind to, period.

I want to embark on this journey together because truth be told, the world is waiting for your contribution, your vision, your invention.

And in light of that, we can all become beacons of hope, sources of inspiration and catalysts for change.

♪♪