Greatest Growth
Greatest Growth Statement
As a result of my experience at the Dayton Regional STEM School, I have grown in my communication skills through in-school projects and extracurricular experiences. As I study to become a biomedical engineer, being able to express my perspectives and ideas, with clarity, will allow me to collaborate with other professionals to create the most effective products for patients.
Genius Hour
For the Genius Hour project, we were asked to choose to research any problem and devise a potential solution. At the end of the project, we had to present our ideas. This experience taught me how to use concise and precise language to quickly and clearly explain the problem at hand so that anyone without prior experience in the field could easily understand the problem that I was trying to solve.
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This is a visual of the eventual solution I theorized for harvesting body heat to power devices. Please click the picture to learn about the problem statement and solution.
Cancer Public Safety Announcement
We were tasked with creating a cancer public safety announcement (PSA). Going through the process of creating a PSA, taught me how to inform and persuade an audience through communication. My group was responsible for creating a PSA for skin cancer prevention. I learned how to adapt different tones in my language to deliver a message on a serious topic in a 'lighter' and hopeful way.
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Please click the picture to learn about the PSA and watch the final video.
Imperialism Monologue
During the World History class, we learned about how imperialism affected individuals globally. We then created a monologue to step into someone else's shoes and understand the impact that imperialism had on their lives. I created a realistic story of a teenage girl living in Palestine during the partition. This presentation was a unique experience as I had to feel and demonstrate strong emotions including sadness and anger to deliver a larger message.
These visuals include the story plot I created and the final draft of the monologue. Please click the picture to learn about the project.
Science Fair
Science fair has given me the opportunity to explore various scientific fields. Through science fair, I developed critical presentation skills by thoughtfully explaining the purpose of my research, the procedure I used, and my final conclusions. Over the years, I realized how to adapt the way I presented complex scientific concepts to be applicable for different audiences. Science fair has also taught me how to clearly answer questions. Thinking on the spot has not always been my strongest suit, but by speaking to judges, I have learned how to quickly consider a question and form a coherent response.
Please click the picture to learn more about my middle-school and high-school science fair projects.
TEDxYouth Dayton
To my surprise, I got an email from the TEDxYouth Board congratulating me on becoming a TEDxYouth speaker to present my science fair research. The bout of jubilance quickly turned into an uneasy feeling from the thought of having to memorize an eight-minute presentation and confidently deliver it in front of an audience of about 150 people. When I presented my first draft of the talk, the board members took issue with the overly technical nature of the presentation and explained that my audience would be more interested in understanding the larger application of the solution and my personal growth as a result of the project. I worked hard to make the science more relatable so that my audience would feel the same passion and excitement I felt when I had an idea to address the problem in my project.
Please click the picture to learn more about my experience as a speaker.