Editing Kerani Kostelic Hoshino (section)

== Background ==

Kerani's family are ranchers on Earth Colony Alpha 5, one of the oldest colony worlds in the Federation.  In fact, it was colonized several decades before the birth of the Federation, and is one of the smallest of the (still-extant) colony worlds from that time period, with under 2 million people.  Colony Alpha 5's rich soil makes it well-suited for agriculture, but it has no mineral wealth to speak of, little strategic value, and is on no significant trade routes. 
 
Colony Alpha 5 has a small tourism industry, mostly catering to "adventure tourists" drawn to the planet's plentiful still-untamed wilderness regions.  Due to a substantial population with cultural backgrounds from the Indian subcontinent, it's somewhat popular as an exotic destination for tourism, weddings, and the occasional Bollywood dramatic production.  However, despite considerable natural beauty, Colony Alpha 5 never took off as a mainstream tourist destination - and most of the people there like it that way.
 
Many consider Colony Alpha 5 to be "behind the times," and this is not inaccurate.  Kerani, like most "Fivers," is skeptical of the more utopian attitudes that are prevalent in the Federation in the 24th century.
 
Despite her lack of training in Engineering, Kerani has occasionally shown a surprising knack for working with machines, whether based on frontier know-how or undeveloped natural potential.
 
A hardy "space cowgirl," Kerani grew to be a natural athlete, mostly in individual and/or combat sports, unquestionably the most talented athlete on the planet... but she knew she was just a big fish in a small pond, and wanted more challenges, so responded positively to recruitment from Starfleet Academy. Kerani had never been an especially good student, but to her own surprise found that she took naturally to the intellectual demands of an Academy education, and that intellectual stimulation enhanced her athletic efforts, and vice versa.
 
She also discovered that growing up on a ranch and working with animals gave her a lot of practical experience that was directly applicable to the Medical discipline.

Success at the Academy led Kerani to embrace her differences and non-conformity.  She does what she likes, and isn't easily influenced by others, traits that can also come off as stubbornness and abrasiveness.