If there was one word I could use to describe High School High Scholar [HS]2, it would be ‘transformative’. I participated in High School High Scholars for the summers of 2010-12, and in five weeks the program morphs a group of strangers into a family of highly motivated individuals. Each year, on the last day of the program, tears rolled down our cheeks as we hugged our new family goodbye. That was how powerful, intimate, and life-changing it was.
The reasons the program is so transformative stem from its affordability, diversity, the safe and caring environment, amazing curriculum, and loving teachers. For me, affordability was the most important part. There were many prior programs that I was disqualified from due to my lack of funding. [HS]2 eliminated the cost filter, providing transportation, food, and housing for each participant, which resulted in a more diverse class and included those from single-parent households and all corners of the U.S. It was eye-opening. In contrast to the rough neighborhood I grew up in, the program took place in a safe and loving environment where I could focus on my studies and my teachers respected me. I felt like I was given the freedom to explore who I wanted to be through rigorous courses like biology, calculus, and chemistry, and the incredible extracurricular activities like kayaking, rock climbing, and music. For that reason, I only have fond memories of [HS]2: biking 30 miles through the Colorado hills, hiking seven hours and summiting Mount Sopris, being taught Newton’s first law of motion by riding a bus driven by Bobby, our physics teacher, and conducting a feasibility study on an electric generator. This program has all the ingredients to prepare students like me to do well not only academically in high school and in college, but for personal growth as well.
I am currently an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Ph.D. student at the University of California at Berkeley and if I had to relive my high school years I would not hesitate to do [HS]2 all over again. It will always be my little heaven.
Reprinted from the 2019 Annual Report