Road Trip to South Mountain Community College

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This week for our class we were assigned to create a  3-5 minute presentation about generally anything relating to school. I decided to write about the importance of networking and how it comes a long way in life. 

I began with a story of how I got to where I am through networking. When I was a junior at Metro Tech High School I decided to take Physics class, knowing I did not need it. During lectures, Mr. Chapman would mention of Summer STEM which was  3 month program organized for high school graduates who were interested in STEM majors. I decided to take advantage of that opportunity and sign up. Without realizing it Mr. Chapman’s wife is the STEM coordinator and decides who is granted the Scholarship. So because of that connection and the good word that Mr. Chapman put in for me I was accepted into the Summer STEM program. 

During my 3 month work period I worked with Joshua James who was my mentor during the moment and worked on the purification of lysozyme through eggwhite. Through Josh I met Matt Haberkorn. He specializes in soil and environmental studies. Through Josh and Matt they recommended me to sign up for the 2 year STEM Scholar program. With their recommendation I was pronounced a STEM Scholar at Phoenix Community College. With the research experience I met Dr. Polidoro through at one of our Research Presentations.   When I transferred to ASU I emailed Dr. Polidoro about a possible spot available in her lab and because I had background research experience and had all the connections I was accepted and do undergrad research experience. With this information I cannot express how important networking is. Especially in research. 

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