This morning I went to the AAAS breakfast with Rob, Liz, and Ramy. I can’t say enough good things about the experience! The venue was great, the food was good, and the students were awesome!
I was really impressed by the quality of their research. It seemed like a lot of the projects were very much real, useful research endeavors that demonstrate a wealth of potential. I found that I got a lot out of speaking with the students, and I did my best to give them worthwhile tips about college and research. (The tips about research basically amounted to: “do research. it is awesome. free trips!”)
More than anything I was surprised by how far along a lot of these students are, compared to what I was doing when I was in high school. I truly feel that they all have promising careers in science ahead of them should they continue on that path. I would highly recommend attending future breakfasts; you will get at least as much out of it as the students do! And besides, you can’t beat a free breakfast, right? Right?!