Dan
Sotelo on KEYS
By: Amber Troy
Do you feel it? That boding heat tempered
by immense anticipation, saying: swimming pools,
monsoons, and opportunity are here. The Keys (Keep
Engaging Youth in Science) 2009 summer internship
is about to begin. Internship coordinator, Daniel
Sotelo, 2007 KEYS Intern and current SWEHSC KEYS coordinator recently interviewed Keys applicants and said
they all met or exceeded expectations. “This
summer will throw a lot of adversity their way,” Sotelo
says. “Not every student will know everything
they need to know about their research. There will
be a lot of loose ends and that will be frustrating
but that challenge is what will bring satisfaction
to the student in the end, after they have worked
so hard to achieve what they have.”
The internship
offers high school students the opportunity to work
in labs across the University of Arizona campus.
The faculty is composed of professionals from an
array of back grounds. There are people from pharmacy, agriculture,
life sciences, plant biology, toxicology, medicine,
etc. “With such a big pool of areas of expertise
to choose from we can offer a unique experience tailored
to a student’s specific interest,” said
Sotelo.
The KEYS Institute includes a week long training course on
basic lab techniques and science literacy activities, With this fundamental knowledge
students can apply this basic knowledge in the lab
they are assigned to work in. During the course students also
get a taste of several research methods used by the
faculty. This provides a sharing of a wide range of
experiences for the students to learn from.
The internship is not just
about academia either it is about being social as well.
There is a complimentary combination of work and play.
It is important that a researcher can learn to build
relationships with others and enjoy their work. This
internship transforms students in more ways than one.
“ It really is a transformation,” explains Sotelo. “There are
usually two outcomes that a student experiences when the internship is over.
Either they are excited to pursue a career in research or they realize this is
not something they are interested in.” Either way the experience is worth
it because it can help a student make this complicated decision early on in their
academic career.
The directors of keys have a vision to make this internship the most prominent
in terms of academics and valuable applicable life experience as possible. Students
from from all over Tucson are chosen to participate. In the future the internship
will hopefully be open to students state wide. Well qualified sophomores, juniors
and seniors are encouraged to apply. As for this year, the chosen applicants
are in for an intense summer, out of the heat and into the labs. |
Dan Sotelo explaining lung function and Asthma
|
