Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion High school research experiences

I worked the summer after high school for a govt-run science organization as an intern and although it's not the same thing as research it was similar in that much of it involved high level math modeling and other things way over my head. However, there was legit work involved-- stuff like putting streams of numbers into various databases and things that they would have had to pay a clerk to do anyway. I was probably less efficient than a clerk but I got more out of it than a typical GS-4 clerk would have. It paved the way for me to pursue an undergraduate EE degree and taught me things about holding down a real job (unlike the fast food jobs I had previously had; paid about the same). I suppose it isn't ideal but I have seen large government organizations waste more money with less to show for it. At some point, I do think society benefits when you take bright kids and show them the way forward. Unfortunately it does involve a modicum of babysitting (usually).