Operating an ultrasound machine. Practicing tourniquet skills on a dummy leg. Examining DNA samples to identify “Patient Zero” in a contagion. This was not a typical school day for students from The Young Women’s Leadership Schools! They traveled across the boroughs to discover potential career trajectories at Big Red STEM Day, an event hosted by Weill Cornell Medicine that aims to inspire the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and professionals.
Big Red STEM Day
At the first return to in-person Big Red STEM Day since the pandemic, Weill Cornell Medicine partnered with Student Leadership Network to create learning opportunities for our students. The day started with a panel of diverse practitioners and researchers who shared their paths to medicine and medical research, and their intersectional experiences in the field as first-generation college graduates, people of color, and women. Some of the panelists embraced medicine during college. Others studied non-STEM topics like sociology and business before deciding to join academic medicine.
In a very male-dominated field, did you ever feel like quitting? How did you overcome that?
A student asked panelists about their career paths
A student asked, “In a very male-dominated field, did you ever feel like quitting, and how did you overcome that?” Several shared that failure and rejection are part of the process to learn and grow. Dr. Sangeeta Kashyap, Professor of Clinical Medicine at WCM and a clinical researcher specializing in diabetes, talked about how her involvement with sports and music in high school helped develop her confidence and the discipline to keep trying. “One of my academic papers was rejected seven times! I have an extensive list of publications and an even longer list of ones that didn’t get published.”
Students then rotated between workshops led by graduate students, faculty, and others from Cornell University’s broad spectrum of scientific education initiatives to get hands-on experience in aspects of emergency medicine, epidemiology, coding, and laboratory research. From learning to “Stop the Bleed” after assessing the safety of their surroundings to “Exploring Enzymes” that digest the food we eat, students explored a variety of future potential areas of study. A few brave souls even practiced inserting a catheter into a plastic model of a human thoracic tract. They monitored their progress through a sonogram machine in a simulation of what happens in an emergency room.
One parent who served as a chaperone for the event shared, “My daughter attends TYWLS Astoria, and I’m so happy to be here. I’m glad she’ll have the chance to explore different parts of medicine together with her friends.”
Student STEMposium
After enjoying a delicious lunch, TYWLS students took center stage! They shared their own STEM projects in a science fair-style STEMposium. From building musical instruments to optical illusion games, to robotics and environmental research, the peer to peer learning strengthened community bonds between students from different schools.
Student Leadership Network facilitates partnerships between TYWLS and institutions like Weill Cornell Medicine to offer a wide array of learning experiences beyond the classroom. Opportunities like these increase exposure to different college and career paths, build confidence and community, and develop our students’ aspirations and leadership potential. We are so grateful for the guidance and care of Sara Stammer, Weill Cornell Medicine’s Government & Community Affairs Associate, and Folasade Cargill, Student Leadership’s Manager of Partnerships for Girls’ Education, for making this exciting day possible!
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