Siemens Competition participation

frazzled2thecore
Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:44:11 +0000

Prior to college, Frazzled kids struck out when it came time to find mentors and instead read widely in areas of interest, participated in competitions open to anyone with an interest, and cultivated hobbies such as programming computers and building all sorts of widgets.

Very occasionally peers were able to find mentors by being persistent and with no apparent parental connection, but for the most part, students who participated in scientific research while still in high school found mentors through parental connections. In AP classes, teachers made science fair participation optional (for extra credit)since they themselves were not prepared to supervise projects, and students whose parents were not well-connected were at a distinct disadvantage.

Fortunately, things changed dramatically once they got to college! They still needed to prepare a resume and interview with PI’s who had open slots,and explain why they were interested in a particular lab, but there was near zero chance that they would end up knocking on lots and lots of doors with no results. Of course, they chose their schools partly by asking about whether students interested in doing research would be able to find mentors without too much difficulty, beginning in freshman year.

I do like the idea of reading in Scientific American and real scientific journals in areas of interest. Even if a student remains unable to find a mentor in high school, the experience should give them a real leg up when they apply to colleges and approach college professors for research opportunities, or even when they need to scout out senior capstone projects.