By Vinjai Vale, senior at Phillips Exeter Academy and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist Today’s education system has created a rift between STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and the humanities. It may seem counterintuitive, but studying the humanities actually makes you a better scientist. Scholars of literature, philosophy…

By Nitya Parthasarathy, senior at Northwood High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist In the 8th grade, I temporarily wanted to be a doctor because of the fire inside me that made me want to give back to my community. Immediately I was bombarded with questions like: “Are…

By Skyler Jones, senior at Ossining High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist I had never worked so hard to feel like I knew so little. I was sitting in the middle of my first group meeting at my new lab, a physical chemistry lab where I had…

By Franklyn Wang, senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist I never thought that that someone like me — a relatively inexperienced high schooler — could make progress on a nearly 100-year old math problem. Many have tried. Countless mathematicians…

By Mihir Patel, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and a Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist My aunt stepped through the front door, greeting me with a warm smile. As my cousins and uncle filed in behind her, I noticed something odd. Her entire…

By Isani Singh, senior at Cherry Creek High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist Every year, there are so many different projects at fairs surrounding “high profile” diseases, such as various types of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. It’s incredible that the students completing these projects are dedicating…

By Natalia Orlovsky, senior at Garnet Valley High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist I spent the summer before my junior year of high school shuttling between a toxicology lab and the Penn Museum’s Mesoamerica gallery, flitting between two very different worlds. On weekdays, as a student in…

By Michael Ma, senior at Plano West Senior High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist I used to think that research math would be similar to competition math, which I have been doing since the second grade: you have a problem and use all the techniques you know…

By Haniya Shareef, a senior at Lincoln Park Academy and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist Ever since I was a child, and even as I became a teenager, my driving motivation was to win. It could be something as small as a card game or something as big as…