At the Leadership Training Institute, at the beginning of our journey, we were asked
what it means to be a Chief Science Officer. It’s a title that means improvement in our
school, in our community, and in our futures. It means that we have the opportunity to lessen the gap between people who want things to happen and people who can make things happen. It means that we have the power to instill curiosity into young students’ minds, curiosity about an organization that will propel them throughout their high school lives and throughout their careers. CSO‘s don’t just hope it happens, we make it happen.
Going through this journey, we learned to work concisely as a group. We also learned teamwork, and how to solve problems with the very different personalities that we
have. We noticed that we each have different strengths, but we can use them to work better together. We also had some memorable moments. Our first was when we arrived, and our ambassador asked us how we were feeling about being a CSO. This was before breakfast and Jamie said, “Hungry.”
Later that day, our group was walking around campus, when we saw sprinklers. Then someone said, “we should walk through the sprinklers.” As they said that, Brandon just walked right through the sprinkler! He returned back into the building soaking wet. And our last was the Engineering challenge when we finished with extra time,
that was when we realized that we are an amazing team.
Joining this CSO organization was able to allow us to expand other knowledge not only in Pennsylvania, but also in many other cities. And in these 2 days at a local university, we were able to meet and speak to many professionals that we wouldn’t have been able to
make contact with. We believe that the future of the CSO organization will hold success not only in the United States, but across the globe as well. With this expansion and rapid
growth, interconnected webs between schools and community will strengthen and flourish.
We hope CSOs will cast a light on STEM activities and professions, but also continue to teach life lessons that students will cherish for a lifetime.
By CSOs Becky, Jamie, Lauren, and Brandon
