High School Student Accepted Into Prestigious Summer Science Program

Disponible en:

Miguel Chacón (center) speaks at the State of the District Breakfast held in January 2020.

Many students take time off during the summer to relax from school and their studies. However, that doesn’t help them if they are seeking to get accepted into a top college or university. Students who take time during this period to explore fields of interest can increase their top college choice chances. That is what a student at Blanson Career and Technical Education High School precisely decided to do. Junior Miguel Chacón has been accepted into one of the most prestigious summer programs for high school students: The Summer Science Program.

Miguel is one of the students accepted into the EMERGE Fellowship program. The Aldine Independent School District formed a partnership last summer with the nonprofit college prep organization. The program targets high-performing high school students, in grades 10-12, to attend and graduate from selective colleges and universities across the nation. EMERGE graduates have attended schools such as MIT, Yale, Rice, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and UT-Austin.

Earlier this spring, Miguel’s EMERGE director advised him to look into summer programs. He recommended Miguel visit the DiscoverU website. Miguel did but couldn’t find anything that interested him. Still, recommendation encouraged him to keep searching online, which is how Miguel came across the Summer Science Program. He read the basic introduction and decided to apply immediately.

The process included providing necessary contact information as well as high school transcripts and available standardized test scores. Miguel also had to answer a few questions such as an achievement he is proud of, a research project, and a life challenge.

This year, 1,402 students applied to the Summer Science Program. The SSP selected 144. That is barely above 10% of those that applied to the program. Half of the group is doing astrophysics and the other half biochemistry. Miguel has been accepted into the Astrophysics Program at the University of Colorado in Boulder. It will take place from June 21-July 25.

In 2020 there will be programs on four campuses, each with 36 participants:

• The Summer Science Program in Astrophysics at New Mexico Tech
• The Summer Science Program in Astrophysics at Univ. of Colorado Boulder
• The Summer Science Program in Biochemistry at Purdue University
• The Summer Science Program in Biochemistry at Indiana University

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, students will not be able to travel to the sites where the programs will take place. Instead, the 2020 Summer Science Program students will participate remotely. The program fee has been cut by $3,000. Financial aid will still be available, funded by SSP’s generous donors, of which most are alumni of the program.

Miguel stated that words could not express his excitement when he learned he had been accepted.

“When I received the email, the text ‘Congratulations!’ was in the subject line,” said Miguel. “I remember reading the entire email and forwarding it to two of my teachers and counselor who provided letters of recommendation. Typically, I am calm and reserved, but I couldn’t hold back. I started jumping up and down with excitement!”

Before applying to the Summer Science Program, Miguel shared that he has always loved science and will likely pursue a STEM program in college. After learning about the SSP Astrophysics Program, Miguel is now strongly leaning toward applied physics and computer programming.

Miguel expects to make new friends with similar interests. He hopes that the “cool program” makes his programming teacher at Blanson CTE High School proud, stating that the instructor taught him everything he knows about Python.

The cohort of juniors Miguel will be working with will track the path of an asteroid using a Python program and vector calculus.

“I hope to learn more about applied physics,” said Miguel. “My AP® Physics course has provided foundational knowledge that I can use in this incredible opportunity. I am looking forward to learning more through the program and hearing from experts in the field.”

Miguel currently ranks fourth in his class. He has been applying to different scholarship opportunities. While he is looking at several colleges, his dream is to be able to attend MIT when he graduates next year.

The SSP is a 60-year-old program designed to help future scientists, doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs realize their full potential. Providing participants with the role models, intellectually equivalent peers, challenge, and inspiration these students often find lacking in their schools, SSP immerses talented rising seniors from across the globe in experimental science. Throughout the intensive 39-day program, students will conduct a research project from beginning to end, take field trips, listen to guest speakers, and, most importantly, partake in a life-changing experience.