Reflections on the 2006 AR Program
by Kate Ransohoff
This summer, I spent four weeks working as an intern in a UCSB research lab. That probably doesn't sound like the most FUN way to spend the last high school summer I will have, but what made it bearable (actually, amazing) is that thirteen other high school students did the same. We all were chosen to participate in the Apprentice Researchers program, which is sponsored by the the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI). The AR program gave us the opportunity to experience university level research first hand.
Four days a week, the apprentices split up and spent most of the day in various labs around campus. We all worked on cutting-edge research projects under the guidance of our mentors who were graduate students, PhD candidates, and post-docs (in my very special and very wonderful case, I worked with another apprentice too). The areas of our research ranged from computer science to biology to nanophotonics. The work we did was tough, but the people were awesome and we learned a lot about nanotechnology, the research world.... and ourselves. Isn't that deep?
Good Times – Group Activity Pictures