The Stanford at the Tech program was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I had while at Stanford.

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There are few things as gratifying as seeing children’s eyes light up because they successfully spooled DNA from cow thymus or watching hesitant adults engage in and enjoy activities and conversations about inheritance patterns. One of my favorite memories was of a young boy who completed an experiment with me and then stayed behind to help me teach the next group. Making science as fun for others as it is for me is something I hope to continue doing. Loving science is a work in progress. The Stanford at the Tech program allowed me to take an active role in that process.

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The Tech was a great experience and one that all grad students should seriously consider.

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At first I was worried that it'd be hard to connect with the kids but it turned out to be a lot of fun--there's an inner scientist in everyone! In all it was eye-opening and rewarding in ways that you don't get from working in lab.

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The Tech was a perfect complement to my graduate studies!

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Working at The Tech has provided me with invaluable skills for my future as a genetic counselor. Genetic counselors take complex, genetic information and try to make it understandable for patients. Each week at The Tech gave me the chance to think about genetic information in a new way and to practice different ways I might communicate that information. I feel I am better prepared for the clinic having worked at the Tech. In the same way that I am invested in patient understanding, I also care deeply about the public perception of science and scientists. Running the demonstration table at The Tech gave me the opportunity to make science come alive for both children and adults. And I took extreme joy in providing kids, especially the little ones, with the chance to meet a “real scientist” and do “real science.” Their excitement about participating in the experiments was contagious. The Tech is providing education that many of these children would not get otherwise and I am glad to have been a part of that!

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I was lucky to be part of this wonderful experience!

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The best part for me was to get the kids excited about a particular concept or an experiment. There's nothing more fun than watching a kid realize their talent and perhaps a love for science. It was very fulfilling to know that I made even a tiny contribution to someone's education. Answering questions at Ask a Geneticists and working with the kids at the different exhibits was a great way to explore different areas of science education. You can’t really experience any thing like this in any class. Overall, the Tech reminded me of why I went into science and allowed me to explore challenges that strengthen my interest in science education.

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Working at the Tech was a fun, rewarding, and overall a fantastic experience.

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There's something genuine and invigorating about teaching kids about the stuff I'm passionate about, while at the same time the kids are learning cool biology that I could have only dreamt of at that age. The best part of the whole experience is watching a kid that is not very enthusiastic about science change his or her perspective after doing a hands-on experiment isolating DNA or looking at their own cheek cells under a microscope. The Tech is truly one of the best experiences a scientist can have in order to increase his or her communication skills, and I feel the lessons you learn at the Tech can be applied to scientific as well as non-scientific communication. Every week you receive constructive feedback on how you could improve both your written and oral communication skills, and I think this is what makes this program so successful and rewarding in the long run. Good times!

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I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work at the Tech Museum.

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It's easy to get tunnel vision in grad school, but being at the Tech was a great way to get some perspective. Every week I was reminded how important it is to communicate our science to the general public, as well as how exciting that science can be! It was a treat to see that excitement through the eyes of the kids-- I may have been bored after running my thousandth agarose gel, but they thought it was the coolest thing ever. Remembering that enthusiasm I once had was a great pick-me-up late in my graduate school career. I gained a new appreciation for how difficult it can be to explain genetics without using all the technical terms we've learned, but also how rewarding it is.

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Working at the tech museum was great fun, especially when I felt like I could make a difference.

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The fact of the matter is that there's only so much that you can do in the time allowed. Most kids probably forget the demonstrations as soon as they leave the table. But there was one mother who spoke to me after the demonstration. She was a single mom, an immigrant, and her daughter wanted to go into science. She was thrilled that there were people, successful young scientists, who would talk to her daughter even for a short time. I was happy that I had been able to interact with the bright kid. And I was even happier I was able to impress on the mother that she was already doing the important things: being a strong, supportive role model. There are people out there who want outreach, who want to talk to you, and working at the tech museum is a great way to meet them, and to convey some of your passion.

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Volunteering at “Stanford at “The Tech” has been one of the most rewarding experiences of graduate school, I feel  

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very lucky to have had such opportunity. Each day I spent as a volunteer The Tech was very inspiring and humbling. Communicating science to people of all ages and with various scientific backgrounds was challenging at the beginning, but I really enjoyed having the opportunity to teach them something new about genes, DNA, or just about science in general. Writing for the lay public for the “Ask a Geneticist” website and translating the articles from English to Spanish have also taught me a lot about science writing and helped me improve my ability to effectively communicate complex scientific concepts not only in person but also in writing. I had a wonderful time at The Tech and I am very thankful to Barry for this opportunity. This experience has reminded me of the responsibility we have as scientists to communicate our work to the public, and that it can be a lot of fun! I highly recommend it to every graduate student and post-doc in the Biosciences.

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Working at the Tech made me fall in love with Science for the second time.

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Because science IS really cool, but you tend to forget that sometimes. There is nothing more inspiring than watching the wonder and curiosity in the children's eyes as they learn about the way their cells work, and there is nothing more satisfying than knowing that you have initiated it. Communicating science to the public is a completely different challenge and experience than what you would ever get in the lab, and I highly recommend it to every scientist. It was it eye-opening to learn how the public perceives science and scientists and their knowledge of science. Moreover, I believe it improved my communication skills; if you can explain something rather technical to a group of fidgety 8-year-olds for fifteen minutes without losing their interest, then you can use these skills to engage any audience!

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The Stanford at the Tech program is a great "big picture" reminder of why science is exciting and important.

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I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Tech. It was such a pleasure to discuss basic genetics concepts with museum visitors. I appreciated the questions people asked, and their reactions to various aspects of the demos. When asked what PTC tastes like, one young girl replied "like dirty chocolate!" This experience helped me develop and hone important communication skills. I have become more effective as a speaker, a teacher, and a writer. I have also developed a keen interest in science education, which I hope to pursue professionally in the future.

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I love love loved watching the spark of inspiration and comprehension in a little kid's eyes

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as they learned about difficult biological concepts! Teaching Genetics at the Tech has made me realize how much fun communicating science to non-scientists really is. Seeing a child exclaim in wonder as he pulls out DNA that he extracted himself is so rewarding. The fact that we are exposing these children to complicated biological techniques and that they are getting it amazes me. I wish they had this program when I was a kid! I also feel like I learned a lot about science and communication through participating in Genetics at the Tech. I think it's a great program and a lot of fun :)

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Stanford at the Tech is a program where you learn how to teach science and engage the attention and curiosity of the young ones.

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It's a place where you get to perfect your communication and presentation skills in front of the most wonderful audience ever. The trips to Overfelt High School were equally rewarding and fun. We might not fully realize the extent that this program molds us into being better teachers and scientists. It is a unique opportunity that all graduate students should experience. This program gives you the chance to get out of the lab environment and have a direct and immediate impact on the education of others. Numerous times I had the opportunity to not only teach kids new things but also I got to teach their parents, too. It was a very interesting and exciting experience for everyone. You have nothing but to gain by participating in this program. I finished the program a few weeks ago but I will definitely continue to go the museum from time to time.

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Volunteering at the Tech was a really fun and educational experience.

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It was a great opportunity to interact with people outside of the university who have a different perspective on science. The contagious enthusiasm of the kids and their parents was a welcome reminder of why I decided to go into science. Barry and the previous program participants have done a great job designing experiments that the kids can learn from and have fun with too.

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Volunteering at the Tech injected some much-needed excitement into my otherwise dreary grad student life.

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When you're spending all your time in the lab repeating experiments and getting a different result each time, it's comforting to go to the Tech and stain your cheek cells or purify GFP, and know that it's going to work! But seriously, the best parts about Stanford at the Tech are being able to do something different once a week, and being able to interact with all sorts of different people with widely varying knowledge about science. This is a great thing, not only for personal growth - I get a kick out of talking to people I wouldn't normally encounter in my day to day life - but also for thinking about science in a different way. It definitely can help you to think about your own science from a different perspective. If you're looking for a challenge that can be just as hard as experimental biology but uses a different part of your brain, the Tech program is a great experience.

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Working at The Tech was a fantastic experience.

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I learned a lot about how to clearly communicate complicated ideas to a lay audience. Working with groups of visiting school kids each week is a phenomenal way to really learn how to keep an an audience engaged. The skills I gained while teaching at The Teach easily translate into how to go about making my next talk or outlining a manuscript. It doesn't matter as much if you think your work is the coolest thing out there unless you can convince someone else of this too. And aside from all this seriousness, it's a total blast to do cool science experiments with the kids!

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My time at the Tech museum was the most rewarding experience of my graduate career!

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It's easy to get wrapped up in the daily details of experiments, lab meetings, and papers, and to forget about why it is that I came to grad school in the first place. Working with the kids at the Tech museum rekindled my enthusiasm for doing science, and it reminded me that science is about more than just running gels and doing endless PCR reactions. It can also be about understanding ourselves (like learning about cells, genes, and what DNA looks like) or about how we can improve our society (like solving a crime or making medicine). Answering "Ask a Geneticist" questions also gave me the opportunity to try out my science writing skills, and to research topics that I never would have learned about otherwise. Overall, participating in Stanford at the Tech provided me with a whole host of new challenges that I never would have experienced in the lab, and I came away from the program with better communication skills and a renewed enthusiasm for science and science education.

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I've really enjoyed my time at the Tech and have learned a lot.

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I went into the program thinking I'd have fun working with kids, but my experience was really about much more than that. Not only did I get to teach kids about science, but also it was so rewarding to see them genuinely excited by the hands-on experiments we did. Plus, I learned so much about science writing and how to communicate ideas to the public, both of which are valuable skills to have. Working at the museum has really made me think about science in a new way, and I'm so glad I participated in the Stanford at the Tech program.

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While working at The Tech, it was the highlight of my week.

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My favorite part of working at The Tech was communicating science to the general public and seeing their interest in science develop right in front of me. As a graduate student, tunnel vision occurs due to the tediousness of everyday science, and working at The Tech helped me rediscover the passion I have for science. This rediscovery happened every time I saw the light bulb go off in a child/teen/adult's brain when they comprehended the connection between what they were doing at the one of the many hands on science exhibits to the science behind the exhibit. I also love the flexibility that working at The Tech provided, where Barry allows you to develop your own passion. I have always been a big proponent of science and if I had it my way I would suggest everyone to be a science major! This dream however is far from reality due to the lack of awareness of science-related experiences available for kids, teens and adults. Given the shortage of awareness, my final project is to create web-based outlet in which kids, teens and adults can find information about entering the world of science. All in all, I would highly suggest working at The Tech to anyone who loves science.

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Volunteering at the Tech was definitely an eye-opening experience.

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I didn't realize just how hard it was to talk about science in a way that is easy for your audience to understand and moreover, to get them excited about the topic and appreciate why what you're saying is relevant to them. The challenge of thinking up new ways to express yourself on the spot was definitely a fun experience and a good skill to practice. I was also lucky to have the experience of helping set up a genetics lesson at a local high school through which I got a sense of all the work that makes educating a classroom of students possible. All in all, volunteering at the Tech was a very enriching experience. I feel that it has much to offer for everyone, and I highly recommended it for all graduate students.

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Teaching at the Tech was one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences of graduate school!

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In lab life's doldrums, there was one bright spot to look forward to every week. This was teaching science to kids on Friday mornings. It was so refreshing to see the kids get excited when they saw strands of DNA precipitate out of solution for the first time. Or when they saw their glowing GFP purifications. It was a reminder that science makes everything possible, and how important it is to get the next generation interested and excited about science.

The Tech experience also trained me in a set of skills not readily available in graduate school- communication of science to the general public by speaking and writing. Every week, I had to stop myself from using technical jargon and find everyday words to explain things. This was probably one of the most challenging experiences I ever had. But at the end of the day, when I could get the message across, it was also one of the most rewarding experiences I ever had. I highly recommend this program to all graduate students especially those considering 'alternative' careers.

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Stanford at the Tech made me a better communicator and made me realize how important it is, as a scientist, to interact with the public.

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I learned how to better convey complex scientific ideas to the public in writing and speaking. Beyond that, I realized that most people haven't met a scientist, which makes it difficult for young people to envision themselves as researchers. Perhaps my presence wasn't enough to become a role model, but doing experiments with a real scientist at least gives children a real idea of what we do. I also appreciated learning a little bit about the problems that science education faces, especially through my experience at Overfelt High School. There are people out there who are trying really hard to figure out how to make science education better, even though it seems like a daunting task. The only problem with Stanford at The Tech is that more people can't participate in it. Every student and professor should take advantage of the invaluable opportunity of interacting with potential future scientists.

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