Written by: Isabel Garlough-Shah
The world of research can be hard to discover as a high school student. And not only is it hard to find, but the concept of research can be quite intimidating. However, throughout this summer several high school students completed their own research projects and now admire research.
How did they work past the daunting hurdle and learn so much over a summer? They joined Summer Research Scholars, an online 8-week program created by SMAHRT; in these weeks teenagers learned about the in-depth research process while completing their own independent research project.
Students entering this program thought that research was rigid. Their first impressions were that subject matters were narrow and that the process would be long and tough to understand. Yet, when speaking with three first year scholars at the end of this program, they described the exact opposite.
Armaan was one of these students; his study analyzed Twitter posts about the Ukraine War from accounts like “Teen Vogue” and “The Rolling Stones” and explored its potential impact on teens’ mental health. His initial impressions on research were that the subjects were slim or that professionals could only accomplish meaningful results.
“I thought that it would be very niche. I imagined only a select group of scientists doing research on these new problems, or even researching for solutions. I didn’t know that it was so widespread and so broad, and I didn’t know that you could quite literally pick any topic and research it.” -Armaan
This surprise came to Manasi as well. Her research project was on #glassskin and its possible relationship with teenagers’ self-esteem. She wanted to research this topic because she knows those who struggle with body image, and she could imagine how any teenager seeing this unattainable beauty standard could damage their self-esteem. Before Manasi completed her study she thought that research was a lengthy process and that it would be boring.
“I used to think that research was somewhat tedious, a really long process, and that it wasn’t fun…After Summer Research Scholars, it’s definitely changed. Because when I did this project, it wasn’t only statistics and facts…When you collect your own data, it’s up to your interpretation. You’re the one who’s doing this project. It was really cool to add in my own input and have it relate back out to the world.” -Manasi
The excitement of new discoveries and investigation affirmed the adoration these students had for research. This group of Scholars stated that after this program they wanted to pursue research in college and beyond. Misiki, a scholar who analyzed TikToks about anxiety to understand if sleepiness was the most common symptom displayed on this platform, in particular spoke about how this experience secured her desire to conduct research in the future.
“[Summer Research Scholars] solidified this idea that I do want to do research in college and in the future. Before I started this, I knew that I wanted to do something with statistics in my future, and I knew research was one path that I could take. Now I’ve just realized how rewarding research is and how I can implement statistics into making conclusions through research.” – Misiki
Summer Research Scholars has been a welcoming and open environment to students wanting to learn the ins and outs of research. It’s creating accessibility to the process and giving students valuable life skills like time management and taking constructive feedback.
After this program, high schoolers began to understand the creativity within research. The concept and process were no longer daunting but felt quite promising. They now have the opportunity to explore a new path and impact the world with their findings.