As graduate students, the daily hardships of troubleshooting experiments can sometimes cause us to forget that spark we felt about science when we were younger. For some, that spark came during their childhood when they were romping around in the backyard looking at bugs. For others, it came later in life, perhaps in a high school biology or chemistry class.

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Me and a friend presenting an elementary school science fair project… I’m guessing ~1998?

I have loved science, especially biology, for as long as I can remember. In elementary school, I entered a project at the science fair every year, and then in high school, I took every science class that was offered. However, a career as a scientist never really crossed my mind — I just did science because I liked it. But then, I had to start thinking about college. I wanted to be a veterinarian, and although veterinarians are definitely scientists in my mind now, I didn’t really think of it that way back then.

Despite my long-lasting love for science, I would say that it wasn’t until my junior year of college that my true “spark” happened through my undergraduate research experience when I learned to appreciate the moment of clarity and satisfaction after getting an assay to work that I had spent weeks on. From that point on, I was hooked.

So what’s the point of my somewhat lengthy background story of how I am a nerd who loves biology?

As a soon-to-be fifth year PhD student (seriously, where did the last few years go!?), I know all too well the trials and tribulations that we as graduate students face, and that sometimes, the process of banging your head trying to solve what should be a simple problem can be a bit overwhelming and make us think, “Why am I even doing this!?” However, just a few days ago, I was reminded of that “spark” for science thanks to 30 middle school students from the D.C. area.

The Higher Achievement program is a year-round, research-intensive program for middle school youths to provide a rigorous learning environment, caring role models, and a culture of high expectations to mold college-bound scholars. As part of the program’s Summer Academy element, the students take an overnight trip to a college to better help the young scholars really picture themselves as college students. Penn State began its partnership with the Higher Achievement program back in 2008, but this was the first year that I personally became involved.

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I, along with MCIBS students Mike Walker and Alex Campbell, had the opportunity to volunteer with 30 of the High Achievement program scholars by hosting a workshop organized by the MCIBS GSA to learn a little bit more about one of the most famous Penn State staples: ice cream.

The students began their workshop with a tour of the Penn State creamery, getting to learn more about the process of making ice cream. That can be cool and all, but the best way to make science exciting, especially for middle school kids, is to let them experience the science. That’s why, in an activity designed by MCIBS GSA President Hillary Figler, these young scholars got to actually make their own ice cream!

The students were given two bags: Bag A contained three cups of ice and about two tablespoons of salt while Bag B contained 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and one tablespoon of sugar. All they had to do was drop Bag B into Bag A, and shake that bag as hard as they could for ~10 minutes — wah-lah! ICE CREAM. (Special props to Mike for assembling all these ingredients the night before to make our lives easier!!)

The ingredients!

We then had some chocolate and caramel syrup along with sprinkles that students could add to their homemade snack. Of course we talked about how this whole process worked —  the lower temperature of the salt and ice mixture, which is surrounding the milk/vanilla/sugar, is cold enough to then change the state of the milk/vanilla/sugar mixture into a solid AKA ice cream. Although getting ice cream isn’t usually that much of a workout, it was pretty cool to see the satisfying looks on the kids’ faces when they got to experience the science behind making ice cream!

Mike Walker (MCIBS) helping student make ice cream!

Participating in outreach events like this is always something I thoroughly enjoy because it helps me to remember what it was like to be a kid when I was fascinated by science. “It’s really great to be a part of the kids’ experiences,” added Alex Campbell. “Sometimes it’s hard to see how science at the bench can impact lives, and being able to work with these students is very rewarding because you get to communicate science directly.”

If you’re looking for a little inspiration these days, or just want to help out with an outreach event, keep your ears open for opportunities within student organizations you’re part of or look into how you can work with offices like the ECoS Outreach and Science Engagement Office to get more involved! Additionally, there’s a new 1-credit course being offered this Fall semester (BIOL 497F: Science Outreach and Communication) to help you work on your skills for science outreach and communication specifically!

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