“I immersed myself in completely unknown territory. Never in my life had I attended an overnight summer camp, spent two weeks on my own, or I made friends who weren’t Mexican. This program marked many ‘firsts’ in my life and really made me step out of my comfort zone. Before attending, I didn’t think I was capable of carrying out informed conversations with some of the brightest young students of the entire world.
“I got to know a lot of cultures, but most importantly I got to learn about the topics of my interest with people that shared those same interests.”
Since leaving YYGS, I have continued doing my motivational videos on social media. I was self-motivated to do motivational videos for other people, and the people at YYGS helped me continue doing them by requesting specific videos.
“Never before had I experienced an international program such as YYGS that promoted
diversity as a source of pride and connection. Cultural background is not celebrated as a source of strength in my school system, so I have always felt a need to conform myself to be more uniform in American society. YYGS is one of the very few programs in the United States that encourages you to stop trying to fit into a community and to instead allow the community to fit you.
“My favorite lecture was, “Planarians: Masters of Regeneration and Pluripotency” by Professor Josien Van Wolfswinkel. I thought that the idea of planarians being able to regenerate major body parts and Wolfswinkel’s research on how this could be applied to other studies was interesting. I was also able to use her introduction to pluripotency for my Capstone project—we included pluripotent stem cells in our attempt to find an alternative treatment to glioblastomas. As a whole, this program has inspired me to explore even more and work harder.
“YYGS has had a tremendous impact in terms of inspiring my future career. I’ve always been confused regarding what I wanted to study, however, after experiencing first-hand the lectures and seminars from amazing Yale faculty and YYGS staff, I have been able to concentrate on my rightful path–researching genetics and terminal illnesses such as cancer.”
“For most of my life, I’ve been constantly reminded of how well I do in my math and science classes. My parents have often tried to push me in the direction of the medical field and my teachers have frequently encouraged me to become involved in STEM activities. As much as I have always enjoyed these, I have honestly always felt that the humanities have truly sparked my interest; it has been in the moments of discussing literature and philosophy in my classes that I have felt the most interested and engaged in school.
“The most memorable moments at YYGS were the different ways people from different cultures interacted socially and the acceptance of different cultural identities among all participants. Maintaining this characteristic of being ‘open minded’ allowed us to learn from each other and connect with one another.”
“My Capstone project also affected me in far more ways than I could predict. My group’s project topic on the ethics of journalism during American war, the research we put into it, and the presentation we made introduced me to new ways of research, more complex analyses of ideas I had once thought simple, and to friends who taught me and learned with me on a daily basis.”
“Despite going to an international school, I have never been in an environment where so many people from so many nationalities congregated to simply learn together and inspire each other. It was fascinating for me to meet people from all around the world and learn about their country’s culture and traditions.”
“My favorite lecture was “Being A Verb” by Wu Qing. I won’t forget what I learned while Qing shared with us the importance of being a global citizen. She reminded us “to be a verb”, to take action to see the change we desire. I remember Wu shared that you should make sure to know your rights if you demand something from the government. I admired how Wu was unafraid to speak out and voice her opinions when we she saw wrong. This has further encouraged me to do the same.”
