I want to thank all my donors and the people that helped me attend Stanford University's EXPLORE program. I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity because this program opens your mind to explore so many fields in medicine or STEM. Arriving at Stanford University the first day was just so breathtaking with beautiful palm trees and amazing people. When I arrived at the program they gave us bags, name tags, and every week they gave us short books used in medical school. The setting was a lecture room with other students and we would take notes on the material that was being taught. It was a perfect way to experience a college environment. This program helped me think about medical school in the future and I got to meet with medical school students. The medical school students would also teach us about their research and their story of how they arrived at Stanford. Professors would come to talk about their life’s work, so it was very inspirational to hear the professor’s experiences in their field.

The best part of the entire program was when we went to the labs to examine cadavers! This was a new and amazing experience because I thought to myself that if I could handle seeing and touching the cadavers then I can totally handle medical school. Getting hands on experiences was very crucial for everyone because all the participants were still in high school so they needed that experience to move forward with their goals. We also went to the technology labs where engineers are designing new tools to improve medicine. One of my favorite pieces of technology was the touchscreen operating table. This was a table that shows a human body, male or female, and you can practice surgery or diagnosis the virtual patient. The table had endless procedures and being a touchscreen is very life like. Virtual reality is a huge technological advancement and the Oculus Rift is used in medicine. Similar to the Magic School bus, we looked inside a virtual body to explore every part of the body. These pieces of technology will be the future of medicine.

Stanford EXPLORE is an amazing program and I would recommend it to anyone that has even the slightest interest in medicine. Thank you once again for this memorable experience.

There is only one word to describe being a part of this wonderful opportunity: ecstatic. This summer I will be attending the Stanford EXPLORE Lecture series. This month-long experience will take me to Stanford University’s medical division and each week we will cover two different topics. These topics are; Immunology, Neuroscience, Cardiovascular Medicine, Regenerative and Stem Cell Medicine, Cancer Biology, Bioengineering, Bioinformatics and Genetics.
The moment I read the topics I was automatically attracted to this program. Since I was a little boy, I've loved science. I chose this program to further develop my knowledge and understanding of medicine.

There are so many topics that I love, but if I had to pick one, it would have to be Regenerative and Stem Cell Medicine. For me, that sounds similar to science fiction, like a cartoon growing a head or a salamander regenerating a missing limb. Overall, I am really excited to know Stanford’s campus and gain more knowledge from their lectures.