With January coming to a close, I can honestly say the first month of 2017 has been one crazy rollercoaster of twists, turns, invaluable experiences, and amazing memories. This last week of January in particular has been action-packed from beginning to end! On Tuesday, I met with my mentor Dr. Gerlacher to develop and plan a final product idea, where he provided me with instrumental help in coming up with a feasible yet challenging proposal that I am excited to begin working on. Then, bright and early on Thursday morning, I headed off to Austin with about thirty other Liberty HS students for the 70th annual Texas Youth and Government State Conference. This conference would be held at the Texas State Capitol and is essentially a mock youth government. Throughout the process, I served as one of seven governor’s cabinet members, where I was able to move from the House of Representatives and the Senate floors to push representatives and senators to vote on bills in certain ways that would align with the youth governor’s views. Watch this video to see a short interview I did on my duties on the Governor's Cabinet! Things I love about conferences like this one are the opportunities they present for self-growth, enlightening experiences, and new friendships. I was able to meet ambitious and accomplished individuals from across the state and I had to push myself out of my comfort zone to be able to take on the tasks that came with serving as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. My four days in Austin for my last Youth and Government state conference not only taught me more about the legislative process, but also about professionalism and public speaking tactics, skills that will benefit me in ISM, college, and beyond. With the excitement that January’s events have provided me with, I can’t wait to see what February will bring.
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So many great things have happened in these past few days that it is almost hard to believe. Wednesday was a big day, with Research Showcase taking place at the Ford Center at the Star that evening. I had the help of my amazing friend Shivani, who helped me in everything from loading my presentation board and props into the car at 3:00 pm to buying us Chipotle before the showcase to helping me clean up my table on the field at 9:00 pm after all visitors had left. The atmosphere in the stadium was buzzing with excitement and anticipation for this high-energy and eye-opening event. When the doors of the stadium opened, I felt a pang of uncertainty as to what to expect when people began entering the field. However, any nervousness dissolved immediately as I began seeing familiar faces from my classes at Liberty. After getting to speak with visiting friends and graduated ISM students who are now in college, I became swept up in the adrenaline and blood-pumping energy of sharing my passions in pediatrics and business with anyone interested. Dr. Gerlacher, my mentor, was able to stay for the entire event, which I appreciate so much. I have learned more about both pediatrics and the business of medicine than I ever could have imagined knowing in my short month of mentorship so far, and I am genuinely excited to continue this growing experience through the rest of this year in ISM. At Showcase, the two hours seemed to fly by as I spoke with a wide variety of people, ranging from middle schoolers who asked about advice for success in high school to my teachers from middle school and now to my friends and classmates. Research Showcase as a whole was an unforgettable experience that has been by far the highlight of my ISM journey thus far. On Friday, I was given the exciting opportunity to speak about the ISM program to eighth grade GT students at Fowler Middle School. I still remember the presentation about ISM that I had listened to as an eighth grader in Mrs. Arndorfer’s GT class, and it was an honor to be able to leave this impact on these students. After my middle school presentation that morning, I joined my AP Art class on a field trip to the Kimball Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. It was a beautiful day and the art, especially the KAWS exhibit, was breathtaking. On Saturday, I tutored at Kumon after not being able to work for the past few shifts, which reminded me of how much I love being around the smiling faces and contagious laughter of children. For the rest of the day, I went on a nature walk at a local nature preserve and spent time relaxing and enjoying the warm winter that Texas has brought us this year. It has been a great week, and I am looking forward to exciting things to come in the future. There’s just something about three-day weekends that inspires me to be productive and accomplish things while still having time to spend with friends and family. This weekend, thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, has consisted of just that. On Saturday, I had an early start to my morning, getting to school by 6:00 am to leave for Haltom City High School for the District 7 DECA Conference. My day was filled with preparation for my competitive event in Hospitality Services with my partner Shivani, meeting new people from other schools, and excitement after learning that my friends and I had advanced to the State Conference in San Antonio next month. After reflecting on my experiences the past three years at Orlando and Nashville for the DECA international conferences, I realized that DECA has been one of my favorite organizations I have been involved in through high school, as it has provided me with opportunities to learn more about the world of business while allowing me to make new friends and connections with other aspiring young professionals across the nation. I can’t wait for State and everything else that DECA will provide with me in the rest of my senior year! On Sunday, I spent the day relaxing, spending time with my family, and working on final preparations for Research Showcase. Today, I volunteered in the morning with Junior Frisco Women’s League for the annual Day of Service event at a local church and met Dr, Gerlacher, my mentor, at Starbucks in the afternoon. We chatted and went over last minute information for the Showcase, which is rapidly approaching in just two days (!). Overall, this weekend has been incredibly productive and exciting, and I am eager to present everything I have been working on in ISM at the Star Stadium in a couple of days! It has been almost a month since I have posted, and quite a few big things have happened over these few weeks! I had a wonderful holiday break filled with last-minute college applications, time spent catching up with friends, and family outings around the Dallas area. Before we got off for break, however, I reached an exciting milestone in my ISM journey! Dr. Gary Gerlacher, who was my fourth research interview, will be serving as my mentor for the field of Pediatrics. I am so fortunate to have his wise advice and pointers as I begin my research into the business aspect of the pediatric field. Since he agreed to be my mentor in mid-December, we have been meeting on mentor visits every weekend to work on my original work. With his instrumental help, I have locked down an original work idea and am now working on preparing it for its reveal at the Research Showcase on January 18th. I am so happy with how it is turning out and truly think that it is a perfect balance between my interests in pediatrics and the business concepts involved in it. Dr. Gerlacher has shared with me invaluable information and extensive resources to help me in creating my original work. With his background in both the management and practicing side of pediatrics, he has been able to give me insight into the confluence between business and medicine to benefit me greatly in my original work process. Winter break flew by quickly, and the first week of school in 2017 has been action-packed. Currently, I am working on creating my presentation board for Research Showcase in two short weeks. It will be a great experience where I will be able to share my ISM progress thus far with my friends and family. Lots of exciting things are coming up, and I am looking forward to beginning my last semester of high school! |
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