This summer, I was fortunate to take part of this incredible program through the Viterbi School of Engineering called SHINE. Standing for Summer High School Intensive in Next-Generation Engineering, SHINE is a seven-week opportunity for high school students embarking on a pathway in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and medicine). Throughout this time, they have a chance to participate in hands-on laboratory research with PhD student such as myself!
High school students get to choose from a variety of disciplines: aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, mechanical, materials science, and robotics. Having grown from ~25 to 46 students in the past two years, SHINE is offering more and more opportunities in disparate areas to provide a better taste of what research is really like. In these past seven weeks, I’ve gotten to provide 1-on-1 mentoring in lab for 20 hours a week. During this time, I trained a younger student in university-level research skills. This included how to read scholarly literature, write research reports, operate high-tech machinery, and communicate findings.
This entire experience reminded me of why I loved science to begin with. Most of us are searching for ways to make an impact, and STEM careers certainly provide opportunities to do that. It brings me so much hope that the next generation of scientists and engineers are hungry for more experience. Seize any chance you have to mentor them!
Published on August 7th, 2019
Last updated on April 1st, 2021