Euler Capto Elvites- Peru- Science Camp 2016
The opportunity to conduct multiple activities in the Science Camp was the most epic experience I have.
Angeline Matos Borges- Venezuela- Science Camp 2016
The Science Camp has been the most significant experience in my entire life. I had the opportunity to travel outside my country for the first time and learn about different branches of science that I had no idea existed. The program helped me to reinforce my career choice and expand my horizons. I am currently a first-year undergraduate pursuing a career in computer engineering.
Christian Ortega Paniagua- Bolivia- Science Camp 2016
Participating in the Science Camp was a unique and enriching experience. I was able to acquire a lot of knowledge and experience about the different applications of science in our lives. The program helped me realize what path I want to take in the future. Today, I am determined to study a career in the sciences. The Science Camp will forever be one of the best experiences I have had in my life and I will never forget it.
Raquel Alvarado Herrera- Costa Rica- Science Camp 2015
The opportunity to participate in the Science Camp was a wonderful experience where we carry out various activities, we received interesting talks, visited amazing places and developed fun projects, all focused in the field of science and innovation, a field that I personally really like. Both the teachers that taught the lessons, and the participants from different parts of the continent, helped make my stay pleasant and allowed me to learn a lot academically and culturally. For me, one of the most important aspects of this experience was the teamwork in the construction of a water vehicle called SeaPerch, for which we use knowledge in engineering, robotics, science, and mathematics. I would, at university level, study civil engineering because I am attracted to the design and construction, and the SeaPerch project motivated me to lean towards engineering. The Science Camp allowed me to open my mind to how extensive our planet is, the various existing cultures, the possibilities that present themselves as we grow comprehensively and academically, and the needs that are globally lived that drives the work youth must work on.
Marco Antonio Estrada Covarrubias- Estados Unidos- Science Camp 2015
The first day, I was extremely nervous, but I was able to know all my roommates better throughout the different ice-creaking activities. The second day is when all the interesting work started. I really enjoyed working in teams and put together a science & innovation project, which we presented in front of everyone.
We visited great locations in California: San Diego Safari Park, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and California Adventure-all related to science, but very, very interesting lessons, that gave me a different viewpoint.
Participating in the Science Camp was the best experience of my life. I met a lot of students interested in the sciences like me and we have kept communication since then. Thanks to the Science Camp, I have more interests in the sciences. I hope in the future I will have the opportunity to pursue a career in science. Thank you all for the opportunity!
Liz Maryam- Cuba- Science Camp 2015
It was a unique and unforgettable experience because in addition to exchanging cultural experiences with students from other countries, the most important was everything new that I learned and offered me as a student thanks to all the professionals who knew how to transmit their knowledge and experience in different subjects. It especially helped me to reaffirm my desire to try harder to apply for a scholarship in Biology and fulfill my dream of becoming a Marine Biologist and deepen the study of Genetics. I hope this opportunity may continue and for others to originate so that students like me can grow more day by day.
Jerson Perales-Peru-Science Camp 2015
In life beautiful and bad things can happen to you that make you stronger every day as part of your personal development. I had the great opportunity to participate in the Science Camp; and now I can say that this was very necessary for me to realize that the world is so small and it's an honor to learn from all cultures. Now, I have contact with all participants and cherish these two weeks a lot because it helped me to see a new way to face the world with its challenges. Today, I prepare to begin my career as an Industrial Engineer at the Technological Institute of Monterrey in Mexico, and it is important to highlight how shocking this great experience is: The great cultural diversity, the great teachings of successful teachers, and above all, that great love shared toward science.
Daniel Villegas-Venezuela-Science Camp 2015
I will always be grateful to have been able to be in the Science Camp and having lived two unforgettable weeks. These types of opportunities that play once in a lifetime, despite being short, are the ones that linger in the mind and the heart. As of today, my closest goal is to graduate as an Engineer in Telecommunications from Andres Bello Catholic University. Thanks to the Science Camp, I consolidated my desire to continue learning and branch out to other borders, for in one way or another match the needs of my country and to do my part to help in the transition. Now more than ever, there is motivation to learn more, know more, and hope as global youth to contribute to change the course in which we live today.
Naomi Racine – Panamá – Science Camp 2014
Science Camp was something unique that I had never experienced and I loved it, I think for us that love science it was a mixture of everything we like, what we saw, what we learned, what we experienced and especially the others campers we met are things and people that we will take in our hearts for the rest of our lives. The truth is that when I was heading to camp I had no idea what I was about to experience. I must also say it definitely helped me define what I wanted to study because I was undecided. I must thank all those who contributed in one way or another in organizing this camp and please do not stop doing it because it is the GREATEST!
Kenia Garay – Nicaragua – Science Camp 2014
The camp completely changed the outlook on my future. In the Condor activity at the camp in which we did the DNA analysis we used the PCR technique, there I discovered my inclination towards genetics. In the school of medicine where I study, I realize an excellent project of molecular biology in the field of diagnosis of diseases with PCR. I would not have been able to achieve this without my prior knowledge acquired at the camp. It simply was an experience that marked my life emotionally and in impacted my career positively.
Daniela Castillo – México – Science Camp 2014
The camp did not impact my decision on my career, but it had a huge impact on how I implement my ideas. I learned, thanks to the teachers, the staff at the Institute of the Americas and my colleagues that we should give different approaches to our ideas and seek to implement them; however small it may be at first, any idea has the potential to be great. I left the camp with great memories, stories and tips: Always do everything in our power to do and be what we want; often times it will be difficult or we will not get our expected results, but the more we try and experiment it will lead to other roads with vast experiences.
Helen Mariel Pérez – Honduras – Science Camp 2014
For me the experience of Science Camp was so amazing and I learned great and amazing things I never thought I would get to experiment with science that way; it did help me in choosing a career because now I know that science is definitely my second option and although I did not choose a career strictly related to science, mathematics, still has a huge relation to the sciences. Thanks for giving me this wonderful opportunity to have been part of the camp.
Licyel Paulas – Bolivia – Science Camp 2014
Well I wanted to tell people how the camp helped me choose my career. Before attending the camp I knew I wanted a career in the science field because I love science, I just could not decide what specifically but after seeing fields in science I saw in the camp I decided to study biology. I will be entering college within a year I and want to become a biologist.
Laura Patricia Ledon – Cuba – Science Camp 2014
The Camp was a wonderful and unique experience in the life of a Cuban. I still do not start college, I 'm in 11th grade, but I think that somehow this experience helps us a lot in the future, even if the career we choose is not purely science.
Sol Maldonado – Argentina – Science Camp 2013
Personally, I found it an unmatched and very enriching experience, I learned not only themes in the field of science, but also the cultural diversity of America, which now I see it as extremely important because thanks to that now I have a much more open mind. As for my career choice, I already had chosen, but it helped me strengthen my choice, mainly visits to the departments of physics and engineering at UCSD where we mad electrical circuits. What I remember above all, are the talks that we experienced. I was encouraged to want to strive for more, to want to do a postgraduate, doctoral degree to acquire as much knowledge as possible, and then to collaborate with the development of my country, still considered a Third World country, so that it can move forward and reach the same position in other countries, which I think is possible if an equal collective thinking in young minds is achieved. In my field, I really would like to devote a future to manufacturing of satellites in telecommunications developed in INVAP and in the Balseiro Institute (in Argentina, this year was key because our first satellite was launched in telecommunications, the ARSAT 1).
Matías Romo – México – Science Camp 2013
Well, Science Camp changed my life in many ways, but mainly helped personally prepare my way of seeing life and opening up to people. It made me feel and realize that I can always be successful as long as I decide that to be my goal, and it gave me a lot of knowledge about science that I now share with my family and friends and it also made me realize that it is up to us to change the world.
Gensy Lobo – Honduras – Science Camp 2013
When I went to camp I had already started studying Electrical Industrial Engineering in a university here in Honduras but going to camp definitely confirmed that I was in the right career. What I lived at camp I would never had been able to live here in my country. And thanks to the camp I realized all that the outside world can offer me. Also, thanks to camp. I decided that I will specialize in Renewable Energy.
Yeifri Rodríguez – Republica Dominicana – Science Camp 2012
My experience was extremely overwhelming (in a good way) and it sparked my interest in my career (Chemical Engineering) plus I apply the vast majority of learned topics.
Now I work as sub-coordinator of Environmental Protection in Dominican ports.
María Elisa Bendaña – México – Science Camp 2012
The Science Camp gave me a lot interesting knowledge and that can be applied to improve our quality of life. It increased my interest in science, especially, the exact sciences; investigate why of things and how to improve them, as a result, I decided to study engineering. I'm about to finish my first semester, one of the things that I like and which I learned at the Camp, is betting on innovation, I feel that this aspect is very important and interesting. The camp opened up a very large of what to do in the field of science and research landscape. Another thing that I am very grateful for is to have had the opportunity to know the culture of other countries; I learned a lot from them, living with all was and still is great, we formed a great friendship we will never forget. I hope to have another opportunity as wonderful as how the camp was. Undoubtedly, the Science Camp has been the best experience of my life!
Diana Ortiz – México – Science Camp 2012
How Did Science Camp Impact My Life?
Before Science Camp I had decided to study accounting, however, choosing a career is a very important step, and I was not sure if it was for me, because despite my great interest in accounting, I was still very curious about mathematics as a science.
When I returned from San Diego, I had an interview at the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, and I was asked: In what ways could accounting be related to science?
At that time I thought that was a difficult question, but remembering the experience in San Diego made me see that the science camp is a clear example of work that can be performed in other areas for the promotion of scientific knowledge.
Currently, I am a year and a half away from finishing my career and I’ve participated in innovation projects in college, teaming up with fellow engineering students while they take care of the product, I can collaborate with aspects of marketing, projections and strategies.
Besides meeting exceptional individuals, Science Camp was an experience that helped me define the course of my life and encourage my interest in science and technology from a different perspective.
Thanks for all the efforts made to create unforgettable experiences!
Guillermo Dranuta – Uruguay – Science Camp 2012
Asistí al camp mientras cursaba mi último año antes de entrar a la universidad, ya tenía claro que quería estudiar y donde (ingeniería audiovisual en la universidad Católica de Uruguay). Pese a I attended the camp while attending my last year before entering college, and I knew what I wanted to study and where (audiovisual engineering at the Catholic University of Uruguay). After attending the camp further convinced me that I had to get a college education, and more specifically in the area of science and technology. I always liked working on projects and in teams, the camp was a great challenge as well as working on a project, the team I would work on for two weeks I had just had met, with the bonus that we were all from different cultures which was very rewarding in every way.
I was stunned in a post-camp personal analysis, the amount of hours we spent working on the project, listening to lectures, studying, absorbing knowledge from day to day without complaint, sleeping little because we wanted to talk and meet our peers across America, their customs, etc.
Personally traditional learning in a classroom where you are enclosed in 4 walls makes it hard for me; I have always looked for alternative learning. I found the science clubs in my country and for four years of my high school years presented projects there successfully. During the camp I felt very comfortable because I was learning in a way that it becomes more enjoyable and in fact I learn more.
Thanks to the camp at the Institute of the Americas I contributed my little grain of sand on a new project of the Directorate of Science and Technology in Uruguay who organized a three day science workshop. This event was aimed at student in university studying to be teachers. Here I met Erwin who is now a friend; he also had the opportunity to go to the IOA camp in 2013 as a student/teacher. Upon his return he presented a project to the Directorate of Science & Technology to host a science camp for teenagers. We were both so impacted by the seed the Institute of the America’s Science Camp left in us that we thought it was only right if we did something similar for teenagers here in Uruguay who did not get the incredibly opportunity we did. The project was accepted and supported by the US Embassy in Uruguay. Based on our experience in Science Camp at the Institute of the Americas in March 2014 the First Latin American Science Camp hosted here in Uruguay and we are already preparing the second in March of 2015.
Manuel Alejandro Mundo – El Salvador - Science Camp 2010
Attending the Science Camp made me see the incredible opportunities to grow students’ studying in US universities have. Noticing this made me set a personal goal to go study in the United States and I succeeded. (Currently I study at MIT).
Even now, five years after attending the camp, issues on renewable energy and climate change discussed at the camp have showed me that these are areas in which there is still a lot to contribute so I decided to study mechanical engineering with an emphasis on Energy.
Karla Lorena Ruiz – Perú – Science Camp 2010
I am a sophomore at St. Olaf College career in Minnesota. The camp definitely changed my life because it was the first international experience I had and after that many more came. It was the first time I met Latinos from other countries and it was culturally wonderful. I did not help me define my career, because two years after the camp I decided to study social sciences. However, the camp taught me that I wanted to study something in the liberal arts because I wanted to explore around a bit, arts, sciences, languages, etc. The most valuable thing the camp gave me were friends, friends that I keep in touch and not just friends my age, I met role models like Lee Tablewski who is now working on education projects to unite Latin America and the United States, and whom I had the opportunity to see recently.
