At NYIT, I paired up with a partner to program a robot to perform specific tasks, learned about the Major Hacking League, cyber security, how to choose a college from multiple guest speakers, how the MTA runs everyday, one of the many ways companies do research and development, and how to make music using synthesizers. I valued all of these experiences, but my favorite was learning about the MHL of the Major Hacking League, which is a major organization that organizes hackathons in which thousands of high school and college kids come to a rented space to create unique programs for technology within 24 hours. It really sparked my interest, and I hope that i will be able to attend one. Another one of my favorites was using specific code to program a lego robot to do certain tasks and to eventually go through an obstacle course. One of the valuable lessons I learned is that you must be prepared for change. One of the guest speakers thought he wanted to be an astronaut but eventually turned to IT work and now runs his own business. Another guest speaker previously only programmed as a part-time job in college to make some money, but now its the basis of all his work. This really made me think hard about what I intend to do when I reach college. Overall, this summer program has really sobered me in a sense despite being really fun and interesting.

I'm so excited to go to the NYIT campus and explore the amazing technology present in my own home city. I'm also excited to see the amazing opportunities offered at a state of the art STEM-focused university. This program is focused on exactly what I want to do in the future: work in the latest and most modern facilities on new technology that can change the world. It will do this through the multiple labs I will have to work through. The lab experiences will also allow me to see the multiple paths I can take in the future, whether in game development, robotics or even something like electronic music. Also it will give me a wider view of what work in this field is really like so that I can adjust to any problems that could be encountered. Lastly it will give me many networking opportunities through the various guest speakers, through any of the students I could befriend, or through the staff at NYIT. I'm really looking forward to everything!