Linked Learning Helped Me Choose and Be Sure of What I Want to Be

By Vivian Dominguez

Choosing a pathway and sticking to it was hard as a student. However, since choosing the Biomedical Sciences pathway, I have learned a lot about medical subjects, such as doing hands-on lab experiments, but I have also learned things that are universally applicable to any job or career pathway, such as answering complicated questions and critical thinking.

My experience with lab work and experimentation has allowed me to participate in the science fair every year. The experiment I conducted with my team for last year’s science fair was to prove whether sunblock spray or sunblock lotion would be a better protectant from the sun. First, we hypothesized that lotion would be more effective than spray, and identified all of the independent variables and the dependent variables in the experiment. Then, my team applied different brands of sunscreen in spray and lotion forms on different sets of yeast in a YED plate. During the experiment, I was constantly remembering class and lab work that directly related to the kinds of procedures I was working on. In the end, we were wrong. The spray and lotion were equally effective, but we learned a lot about the scientific method in practice. While the project didn’t turn out exactly as we’d hoped, we were able to use our skills to produce a real research experiment that could actually help people.

The experience of being able to choose a pathway, commit to it, and learn things I never really thought I would be learning in high school, thanks to Linked Learning, is what helped me choose and be sure of what I want to be in the future.