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What are you studying, and what do you like about it? I’m currently studying a Bachelor in Science, majoring in Molecular Biology, at La Trobe University, Bendigo. The course allows us to choose electives from other faculties and has allowed me to explore the areas of anatomy, pathology and physiology and allowed me to find the links and how it is relevant to what I am learning in my core subjects in a practical view.

Why did you become an In2science mentor? I became a mentor because I wanted to inspire young students that there is so much more to STEM then what is in the class room. I feel like I was greatly inspired by my biology teacher in high school who continually fueled my curiosity and I want to return that to upcoming students.

Tell us about your In2science placement. For my placement I am an eMentor. This means I video conference with my students at Camperdown College once a week. It has been a challenge to figure out ways to engage the students over video as activities that can be done is very limited. However, I have learnt a lot about how to engage people, even when there is a screen separating you.

What’s the best thing about In2science? The best thing is when you see the students eyes light up when you hit something that they are interested in. They may not enjoy what they’re learning in class but the interest is still there, and when you find it, it is very rewarding.

What’s one of the biggest challenges about In2science? The biggest challenge I have come upon is building that connection with the students when they may not be available every week. A big part of being a mentor is having the trust between you and the student that they are comfortable to talk to you about school and what they want to do in the future. And it is very hard to build that when you see them a once a week, and at times you don’t see a student for a couple of weeks due to school events or holidays.

What inspired you to study what you are studying? I was always a curious child and when I started science in high school and I loved the practical side and loved that moment when everything we learnt in theory clicked when applied in practical classes. As I went through high school I was drawn to the microscopic side of science and the further I got the more curious I got and I wanted to know why and how. I guess I was inspired by my teacher’s questions and encouragement to keep helping me along the way.

What message do you hope to pass onto the students you are mentoring? I want them to know that there is so much to discover and to keep asking why and how. I want them to know to keep trying and not to let what others say stop them to reach where they want to go, because there is always a way if you keep trying.

What do you want to do after you finish university and why? I want to go into haematology/biochemistry in a hospital lab or pathology. It’s all a big puzzle with haematology and biochem. You get given a list of results to certain tests and you need to work out what is wrong with the patient. Pathology interests me because there is still so much that isn’t known and I would love to figure just a fraction of that puzzle.

If you could have an hour to chat with any scientist, mathematician or engineer, who would it be and why? Probably Rosalind Franklin or Dorothy Hodgkin. Rosalind was discouraged by her father because he thought that women would find it difficult to be recognised as scientists at the time. But she went onto become an expert in graphite structure and discover there were two forms of DNA,  as well as demonstrated that DNA was a double helix using X-Ray crystallography.

Dorothy had support behind her from friends and family, but was excluded from research meetings because she was a woman. However she went onto help determine the structure of penicillin and the structure of vitamin B12 and how it prevented pernicious anaemia. Dorothy won a Noble Prize for her work in this area.  

What advice would you give other students looking to get involved in the In2science program? Give it a shot, it’s definitely an opportunity to be taken. It allows you to be involved in inspiring possible future STEM students and is rewarding in a way that is hard to explain. There is a feeling of achievement and pride when a students says they understand something or want to know more.

Want to become an In2science mentor? Click here!

In2science mentor Margaret Ngugi

What are you studying, and what do you like about it? I am currently in my third year studying Bachelor of Aviation Management/Bachelor of Business at Swinburne University of Technology. I am interested in the workings of the aviation industry as its development is fast paced and very dynamic, but above all I like the degree I am doing because it involves planes.

Why did you become an In2science mentor? I have always loved mathematics, ever since primary school. I feel this was mostly thanks to the awesome mathematics teachers I had and the fact that I found maths straightforward. I became an In2science mentor because I wanted to give back to the community. I want to help younger students with mathematics, making sure that they enjoy studying it and that they see how it can allow them to pursue their dreams.

Tell us about your In2science placement. This semester I am volunteering in a year 8 maths & coding class at Bayswater Secondary College. My placement so far has been more about coding than maths, which felt terrifying at first because I had no previous experience in coding. However, I am learning the various programs and I’ve become convinced that coding is actually pretty amazing. It’s also been a great conversation starter with the students. For example, the students were recently programming their own websites and I would assist them in coming up with ideas. Moreover, the teacher Amanda has been very understanding and has incorporated me in the classroom despite my lack of formal expertise.

How do maths and coding combine in the classroom? To understand coding you need to have a basic maths background, since most coding is essentially logical thinking.

What’s the best thing about In2science? The fact that I get to enhance and influence someone’s future in a positive way is the biggest positive for me.

What’s the biggest challenge about In2science? Building rapport with unwilling students can very challenging and requires lots of patience.

What inspired you to study what you are studying? I am interested in piloting but also want to have a degree related to the aviation sector more broadly.

What message do you hope to pass onto the students in your In2science class? Working to accomplish your dreams and desires in life is never easy, but it’s worth it.

If you could have an hour to chat with any scientist, mathematician or engineer, who would it be and why? Captain Irene Koki Mutungi. She was the first female on the African continent to become certified as a Captain of the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” aircraft. I would love to meet her and speak with her about her experience in the aviation sector, especially as a woman.

What advice would you give other students looking to get involved in the In2science program? In2science has been a very rewarding program. I have been able to make an impact in someone’s life and give back to the community, all while gaining professional skills and attending useful workshops [such as the ACER ‘Having Fun With Maths’ workshop]. I would therefore advise any and all students to take a chance with In2science and watch how it changes their lives for the better.

Want to become an In2science mentor? Click here!

In2science mentor Andreas Alzate

What have you studied, and why did you like it? I studied a Graduate Certificate in Science (Pure Mathematics) at The University of Melbourne. I am a mechanical engineer but my real passion has always been mathematics, so I decided to stop working as an engineer and went back to university to study pure mathematics.

Tell us about your In2science placement. My placement was at Mt Alexander College. I enjoyed working with students from different ethnic backgrounds and they were always very respectful towards me. I believe that I helped the students not only with their understanding of mathematics, but also with their perception that people who like mathematics are boring and uninteresting. I learned so much about myself and about teaching. Thanks to the In2science experience, I decided to change my career from engineering to education.

Why did you become an In2science mentor? I wanted to make a positive contribution to society through education and also to promote STEM careers. In2science was the perfect opportunity for me in order to achieve these goals.

What’s the best thing about In2science? To be able to help students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. I had the opportunity to be in a high school classroom and this led me to consider a career in education.

What’s the most challenging thing about In2science? My experience with In2science was very positive. The worst thing was having to leave the classroom at the end of the placement after having developed positive relationships with the students.

What inspired you to study a STEM field? In my opinion, mathematics is one of the most coherent, solid, fascinating and beautiful human endeavors that I know of.

What did you want to do after university and why? This year, I am teaching Mathematics at Cranbourne Secondary College as part of a Master of Teaching (Secondary) Internship at the University of Melbourne. After having completed my In2science placement, I discovered that I am very passionate about education and decided to change careers to become a school teacher!

If you could have an hour to chat with any scientist or mathematician, who would it be and why? It would be the mathematician Alexander Grothendieck. He was not only one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century, but he was also a person concerned about social issues and he was a political activist and pacifist.

Want to become an In2science mentor? Click here!

In2science mentor Grace Curtis

What are you studying, and what do you like about it? I’m studying a Bachelor of Science (Applied Chemistry) at RMIT University. I love science, I’ve always loved science. I love how it is infinitely complex and tells us things from the composition of all matter, to the expansion of the known universe. I believe that through studying science I have developed a mindset that allows me to think critically and methodically in all areas of life, not just in the classroom, a skill many scientists would say is their greatest asset. Science is always developing, new theories and discoveries are always being made and I suppose the ever-changing nature of science is what has attracted me to study it at a higher education level. The possibilities in STEM are as infinite as our universe.

Why did you become an In2science mentor? In high school I never really had that someone who was able to tell me about science at a university level and even as a career, science was purely learnt in the classroom. When it came time to choose what to do at a higher education level, I knew I loved science, I knew I was good at it, but I didn’t really know where it could lead in the future. That made me unsure about what career options I could have or if science was all research and I’d have to remain at university forever. My overall aim through being an In2science mentor was to share my passion for science with young people who, like me, may not have had that person to show them the potential career opportunities the world of science can offer, and to show that anyone has the potential to succeed in science.

Tell us about your In2science placement. My In2science placement was at Bayside College in Williamstown with a year 8 science class in semester 2 2016. I was placed in a class which had a number students who needed extra help. Their teacher believed my passion for science may ignite their interest. While a significant element of my placement was assisting students with classwork, I was able to build a greater rapport with a small number of students, developing discussions around my evolving career in the world of science and my journey through high school.

What’s the best thing about In2science? The best thing was getting to know all the students in the class. Being able to help them with any problems and seeing them understanding a problem or a principle after I discussed and explained it with them was extremely rewarding.

What’s one of the biggest challenges about In2science? The biggest challenge I found was making myself relatable to the students. Even though I’m still a student myself, they view me as an adult and at first a teacher-like figure in the classroom. Breaking down that initial barrier to be able to build rapport with them was the greatest challenge.

What inspired you to study what you are studying? As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to know, how do things work? Why do they happen? What effect do they have on the world or how do they interact with the world? I’ve always had a lot of questions. To me, science provides the opportunity to seek out those answers.

What do you want to do after you finish university and why? As my career at university continues to develop I am seriously considering the opportunities that may be available to me in the area of medical research, specifically, cancer research. I believe that there is so much more to discover about this disease, its diagnosis and treatment.

If you could have an hour to chat with any scientist, mathematician or engineer, who would it be and why? Marie Curie would be my first choice because she was the first woman to have won a Nobel Prize in two fields of science while overcoming extreme prejudice and discrimination of the time.

What advice would you give other students looking to get involved in the In2science program? Just do it. The rewards are incredibly inspiring and motivating. It is an extremely rewarding program that has allowed me to connect with and hopefully inspire future scientists, while also providing me the opportunity to test my own knowledge of science.

Want to become an In2science mentor? Click here!