We’re excited to bring you the first post in a new series…stories from our students, or pre-scientists, as we call them! The goal of this blog series is to share real experiences students have in the pen pal program, and what those experiences mean to them. Since every student is matched with a different STEM professional, every relationship is unique.
By passing the mic to students, we hope you learn a bit more about our program and are reminded of the brilliance, thoughtfulness, and potential middle schoolers possess. Enjoy!
This story was written by Jeffrey, a 7th grade student in Cayce, South Carolina. His pen pal is an Environmental Engineer in North Carolina.
I have really enjoyed writing and receiving letters from my pen pal. I liked being able to talk about her career and what she does for a living. Some things my pen pal and I have in common are that we both struggled with math, we both love being outdoors, and we love helping keep places and things clean. We mostly talked about her career, but we also talked about my future interests. We connected by sending things to each other. She sent me 2 books on the topic about the body. We also sent drawings back and forth to each other.
My favorite part about having a pen pal is talking to other people about my future interests and my future career. The most exciting part about having a pen pal is opening the letters and packages and seeing what my pen pal has sent me. I also get excited when reading the letters my pen pal sent me because I get to learn more about her and her career. I feel so happy to receive letters from my pen pal. It is important to me to hear from adults’ experiences to learn from them and to listen to their advice.
I learned that no matter what you are going through, you can always accomplish your dreams. Meeting my pen pal by writing letters to her has opened my interests a little bit more. This experience has been so special to me because I got to talk to an actual scientist in a professional field. It has influenced me to think about things differently, and by taking on things that are really hard for me, I know I can persevere. An example of this is with math. I was doing horrible at math but my pen pal gave me tips on how to succeed and it helped me a lot. She included pictures and ways to help me with my equations and variables. I really appreciated her guidance.
My pen pal helped me learn about different careers. My new interest in a career is going into the scientific field becoming an environmental engineer. It relates to my interest in becoming a construction worker. This new career inspired my thoughts about the future by opening my eyes to be an environmental engineer.
In conclusion, I liked the LPS Program and what they have done. I liked talking to my pen pal and I like what she is doing for the environment. This is such a great experience to be able to do. I look forward to being able to do this again one day. Thank you so much for letting us be able to do this program and participate in it.
