We congratulate Year 12 students, Andrew Fong, Linda Lin, Zhoumina Ma, Janvi Makanjee, Tanya Nagrani and Celeste Nutley who attended the National Youth Science Forum over the summer break.
Year 12 Janvi Makanjee shares her reflection:
"I believe that STEM is the solution to solving our world’s most pressing problems and thus our futures rely on our engagement with STEM. The NYSF (National Youth Science Forum) program is a non-profit organisation that’s aim is to empower tomorrow’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics leaders. It is a 12-day program that runs over the summer holidays, showcasing a wide variety of engaging, rewarding and inspiring study and career options available in STEM fields to Year 11 students going into Year 12.
Rotary is the Founding Partner of NYSF and today the 18 local Rotary districts across Australia support the NYSF Year 12 Program. The program works on a selection-based process, where selections are conducted by Rotary members on behalf of the NYSF. Although the interviews were conducted through Zoom this year, I will never forget the exhilarating feeling of being interviewed by a panel of interviewers for the first time. After the interview process for the NYSF Year 12 Program, myself, Zhoumina, Linda, Andrew, Tanya and Celeste were all offered to partake in the 2022 NYSF experience – we were one of the only schools across Australia with the most students participating from one school! We completed the program from the 10th to 25th January 2022. I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by the Rotary Club of Parkwood for my NYSF experience.
Although the NYSF program normally runs in Canberra, due to COVID-19 it was re-designed to be delivered in a combination of in-person and digital (Zoom) events however, due to further COVID-19 concerns, the in-person visits were unfortunately cancelled too. Despite the changes in delivery mode, I’m pleased to say that I still found my experience through Zoom invaluable and eye-opening! It allowed me to open my eyes to opportunities in STEM that I had never previously considered and additionally fuelled my passion for STEM further.
Some of the classes we participated in included critical thinking workshops, various STEM challenges, science at home experiences and biochemistry. In addition to this, we had the pleasure of being provided with three core careers workshops where industry professionals from a range of STEM fields showcased an overview of their daily activities and their own journey through university and other experiences they undertook in order to reach their current career status. Some of the careers event speakers included researchers/lecturers from Monash University, UNSW and many other highly regarded Australian universities. We were also conveyed with useful leadership information and skills from CEO’s of top research institutes. One of the NYSF highlights was undoubtedly the Nobel Laureate lecture given by Immunologist Professor Peter Doherty AC, Director of the Doherty Institute and 1996 Nobel Prize Laureate on his work and insights from an incredible career. Additionally, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, Australia’s most recognisable and much-loved science media personality hosted an NYSF Houseparty so we could ask him all the STEM questions we’ve always wanted to know the answer to - such as: “How will our world overcome COVID-19 and what is the role of the vaccines in this?”
Students were able to tailor the program to suit our own interests. Since I want to study Medicine, I decided to attend sessions such as: modelling the pandemic with data science, integrated pathology and advanced medical research classes. We even had a Doctor from CERN (located in the border of France and Switzerland) tour us through the Large Hadron Collider and the ATLAS Experiment while immersing us in the world of particle physics research.
My networking and learning experience through this program was truly unforgettable. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my summer holidays: immersing myself in an extensive STEM experience with world class professionals. As a strong advocate for encouraging more young people to pursue their passion in STEM, I would urge Year 10 and 11 QAHS students to keep seeking out the ever-growing STEM pathways that are out there for you to consider and consider applying to NYSF! The NYSF Year 12 program is the perfect way to kickstart this enriching STEM journey."
Anir Lal
HOD Science and Enrichment (Acting)