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We will be highlighting success stories from some of our student participants. Please check this space often to see some of the amazing accomplishments of our mentees, mentors, and interns.
Tyler
Tyler is currently a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, interested in both physics and engineering. Tyler has participated in two different summer internships through the Midwest Alliance. In 2006, after his junior year in high school, Tyler worked at the mechanical engineering research lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researching available and needed assistive technology for individuals with physical disabilities and sensory disabilities in STEM educational programs and careers. That first internship was so rewarding that Tyler approached Midwest about helping him arrange a second internship placement. Tyler’s 2007 internship was in a biomedical engineering research lab at UW-Madison, working on a study of bone strength that used computer programs to do scans of pig bones to determine the breaking point of the bone (without having to break an actual bone). The research has applications for human bone strength and breaking points.
While Tyler has had an interest in math and science all his life, he hoped that having a summer internship would help him learn more about what an engineer/scientist actually does. He credits his internship experiences with doing just that. Between the two internships, he learned all about the computer programs that engineers use, and got firsthand experience with some of the day-to-day activities in which engineers engage, all of which helped him confirm that engineering - and assistive technology - is what he likes to do and what he wants to pursue as a career.
During 2007 Tyler also participated as a Midwest Alliance mentee. Tyler feels his experiences with the mentorship program made it easier to transition to college, and he learned about accommodations and how to request them.
Megan
Megan is a mentor who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was excited and willing to participate in the mentorship program to help others learn about resources and make the college transition easier.
To Megan, the most enjoyable and rewarding aspect of the mentorship program included “getting to know the people I worked with”. When asked to describe her mentorship relationship she says it was, “fun in both a professional and friendly way”. Megan took pride in seeing her mentees’ confidence levels rise and uncertainty fade related to various aspects of their lives. The biggest challenge she experienced was building a trusting relationship with her mentee and ensuring that it was a “worthwhile relationship”. Megan says the program helped her realize her love of helping others, which is why she is currently studying for the MCATs with plans to attend medical school.
Laura
As a participant in the Midwest Alliance internship program, Laura Hart used her stipend to travel to Costa Rica to study ecology. One of Laura’s most memorable moments was during a hike through a tropical forest where she was able to see many types of animals including a white-faced cauchin monkey. During lunch time one of the monkeys jumped from a tree top, stole a lunch bag, then ate the sandwich enclosed. During Laura’s time abroad she learned a great deal about the natural systems of Costa Rica including plants, animals, and insects, which she says, “are the things that stayed with me the most”. She also came away with “eye opening” insights into Costa Rican customs and culture, especially since this was her first trip outside of the United States. Since returning and finishing high school in June 2007, Laura has entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is considering a major in civil/environmental or mechanical engineering.
Laura is continuing her involvement with Midwest, most recently presenting at the Midwest Alliance-sponsored STEM tour event for high school students in January, 2008.
Katrina
Katrina is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She started out majoring in biology, but recently switched to psychology. Trina is still “a huge fan” of the field of biology and is interested in working with youth with disabilities and their transition into adulthood. Katrina reports that all the different mentors she had growing up really motivated her to go to college - they made it sound like such a fun experience. Trina got involved with the Midwest Alliance as a mentor because of the “huge difference between the way accommodations for people with disabilities are made in high school and the way they are made in college.” When Trina was a freshman, she was unsure of where to go for help, so she feels that having a mentor during freshman year can be especially helpful. Also, a mentor is someone familiar on campus, someone who has had the same anxieties and knows that it is sometimes not simple to get the accommodation that is needed, especially for those with learning disabilities. Katrina points out that it is nice when your concerns are taken seriously and a mentor is someone that understands those worries.
Katrina valued being a Midwest Alliance mentor and being able to share her experiences, feeling that “it is less lonely living with a disability when you have support from your peers.” Katrina was surprised by the great questions her mentees asked of her. She even wishes she had thought to ask some of those questions of her own mentors when she was a mentee! According to Katrina, the Midwest Alliance mentoring program is so helpful that she will definitely participate again, and she encourages others to do so, too.
