-The diversification of the curriculum really provided a good way for students to learn what science after high school is going to be like. It showed me what I wanted to learn along with many other skills that are necessary for any career in STEM, such as CAD experience, coding, experience with many different types of lab equipment and the ability to use many different types of programs.
-Having the autonomy to pursue our interests and get the opportunity to go to a college campus to study. Given the trust and support to pursue anything makes everything possible, and I enjoyed that so much. I also greatly appreciated the support I got in finding an internship, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was impossible to know if anybody would be able to take me as an intern.
-What I liked most about the STEM program was how much freedom we had. It was a lot more fun getting to chose our projects and chose how we tackled our own problems.
-Working as a team to achieve a certain goal. I have heard about people doing that in the workforce, but not as much in school. Especially where we as a group started from scratch on an idea and made it come to life.
-I loved the seminar, it was an amazing experience getting to control my own project and spend time finding creative solutions to all of the problems we encountered. It was rewarding to watch all of the capstone projects take shape over the course of the semester, and having fun as a class along the way.
The best part of the STEM program was having the opportunity and freedom to work on such a large scale project. I learned a lot and it is a great thing to be able to add to resumes and applications.
I loved being able to work in a CSU lab and get that exposure and experience. Also getting to work with peers that were interested in the same things as me and had the same motivations was amazing. I think participating in the STEM program really helped me discover my passions, but also learn how to rule out the areas I wasn't interested in which was super helpful to me. Also, seeing everyone's projects at the end was very cool to see what all of my classmates accomplished as well.
I loved the independence of the STEM program. I was able to have such creative liberty to pursue a project in a field I was passionate about, and find success with the help of my peers without relying on an adult to help out. STEM Academy is home to some of the best memories of my high school career, and I will always be grateful for that.