Reflecting Upon the SEEEDS Program

SEEEDS Reflections.pdf

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The artifact attached are my bi-weekly reflections. I wrote these reflections during the pre-Autumn quarter portion of the Summer Early Enrichment in Engineering for Dean's Scholars (SEEEDS) early start program. When I had learned that I had been accepted into the University of Washington College of Engineering and accepted into the Interdisciplinary Honors program, I was excited and nervous. I felt that the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Rainier Beach High School prepared me well for university. However, I did not think that I was well prepared to enter the College of Engineering, due to my lack of experience with STEM courses.

The only STEM courses offered at my high school were IB Mathematics Standard Level, IB Sports Science Standard Level, and IB Chemistry Standard Level. I opted to take the most rigorous courses in STEM during my time in the IB program at Rainier Beach High School; those being IB Mathematics Standard Level and IB Chemistry Standard Level. I still felt behind in regards to my STEM education. Students at other high schools had the opportunities to take physics, to learn code, to learn CAD, etc., and with my limited knowledge throughout high school regarding what I wanted to major in during university, I didn't look for these opportunities.

When Scott Pinkham, head of the Minority Scholars Engineering Program at the University of Washington reached out to me with the opportunity to join the SEEEDS program during the summer before the autumn quarter began, I jumped at the opportunity to apply. I felt that not only would the SEEEDS program allow me to strengthen my math and chemistry skills, it would also give me a community within the College of Engineering.

Reflecting upon my time during the pre-Autumn portion of SEEEDS, I am so grateful for this experience. My math and chemistry skills are so much stronger than they were in high school thanks to the amazing workshop leaders, Dr. Lynne Spencer and Dr. Sheldon Levias, as well as the amazing TAs. I also got to learn more about myself as a student, thanks to Dr. June Hairston's Discovering Me workshops. Dr. Ken Yasuhara gave an amazing insight into how we learn and what we can do to set ourselves up for lifelong learning with great study tips. I now feel like I am truly part of a community of bright and inspiring students. Of course, this all could not have been done without the work of Scott Pinkham, as well as the other amazing faculty working behind the scenes.

Going into the SEEEDS program, I thought that I wanted to major in Electrical and Computer Engineering. However, as detailed in my SEEEDS Reflections, after gaining the opportunity to hear from Professor Açikmeşe's work with the precise pinpoint landing of spacecraft through the SEEEDS program, I know that the engineering area of impact that I am passionately interested in is Air & Space.

Starting the Autumn quarter with the SEEEDS program has been so beneficial for me. I have been able to continue my work with Dr. Lynne Spencer in an ENGR 197 chemistry workshop. I have also been able to continue being a part of the SEEEDS community. All of my peers in SEEEDS are supportive. I feel that we truly learn so much from each other. I am so grateful for this experience; I am excited to continue to work with the SEEEDS program!