The two weeks I spent at the International Science School were the best two weeks of my life.
As Michelle Lucas would say, I truly “found my tribe” at the ISS. Being surrounded by such amazing people with similar interests really helped me become more comfortable being myself around other people. These two weeks helped me grow as a person, and become more open and confident in who I am. The friendships we forged at the ISS aren’t just high school friendships, they aren’t just people I met over the summer, these are people I’ll keep in touch with for the rest of my life.
The networking we did is incredible — we met industry leaders and top professors, people at the top of their fields. Each of them had an entirely different background and a different piece of profound wisdom that we came out of each lecture with. During the lectures, all of us students were exposed to so many different sciences that we may not have thought of before. Before this experience, I didn’t know I was even remotely interested in biochemistry or nanorobotics, but now, with the things I’ve learned through the ISS, I’ve realized that those are possible career paths for me to take. Through ISS I also discovered that rather than aerospace engineering, my biggest passion is astrophysics. The lectures at ISS opened my eyes to new horizons, to new topics I had never thought of going into before. The lectures we had were absolutely striking and awe-inspiring, and the activities that we did, like the chemistry and physics labs, were incredible.
Throughout the two weeks, there were opportunities for everyone to step up and take a leadership role. These opportunities made a huge impact on me and those around me — we all became more comfortable with taking the lead and using that leadership role to get the best possible outcome of a situation or task. Being around people from so many different cultures was truly a great chance to gain new perspectives and think about how others see issues differently and come to different conclusions or solutions than you do.
Overall, the International Science School was definitely by far the most defining, important, eye-opening experience of my life. It changed who I am, it inspired me, and it helped me find my tribe. Saying it was the best two weeks of my life is not an exaggeration. I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity.
– Written by Caroline
