News - Tennessee State University
U.S. High School Student Shares “Life-Changing” Experience in New Blog: “Reflections of a SEES Mosquito Mapper Intern”
Rahil V., a U.S. high school student from Maryland, who was part of the 2020 STEM Enhancement in the Earth Sciences (SEES) Mosquito Habitat Mapper summer research intern cohort, shares his experience in a recent blog: “Reflections of a SEES Mosquito Mapper Intern.”
“This past summer I attended the SEES Virtual Mosquito Mappers Internship, changing my life. I suppose ‘life-changing’ is often used arbitrarily to describe a great experience, but I can assure you, I do mean life-changing. I entered the summer wary of a virtual internship; after all, how useful could zoom calls and a virtual classroom be?”
“Within the first week, I was blown away by the competent mentors, resources, and peers online. I learned about topics I never considered to be of any interest, yet became the bulk of my thoughts during the summer. The internship inspired me to do things I never thought possible as a high school student. My NASA SEES Virtual Internship opened so many doors; I gained media exposure from local news outlets, submitted articles to numerous scientific journals, co-authored one scientific paper, and won the prestigious Community Innovation Award from the Society for Science through my submission to a local science fair,” Rahil said in the blog.
“Much of my motivation to conduct research came from within; however, I would have never been introduced to this alien world of STEM without the SEES's mentors' help. SEES has a special way of connecting to high school students; instead of having interns do boring/low-level tasks, they encourage students to learn in unique and hands-on methods, even online. Make no mistake, the extent to which you can reach this internship is not limited by resources, education, or money. Only you control whether you do the bare minimum or become an esteemed high schooler in the world of science.”
To read more about Rahil’s experience, click here.
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office