PAGE 3 OF 6
Susannah Gordon-Messner, a fourth-year biophysics graduate student, and mentor of the science posse, knows the nitty-gritty of the students' lives. HHMI Professor Irv Epstein proposed the idea of science posses after noticing the lack of science students that came out of previous posses.
“One of the big problems in the sciences is that students hit a wall,” he says. “Typically you've done fine in high school, but the experience wasn't nearly as demanding as college-level work. And suddenly you've got to work really hard to keep up. And you begin to think ‘I'm not sure I can do this,’ and if you're alone it's very easy to convince yourself that you can't do it. Whereas if you have other people to talk to who say ‘Yeah, we're going through this,’ or ‘Yeah we went through this and we came out the other side,’ then you're more likely to be able to stick it out.”
In 2005, Epstein called Bial at the Posse Foundation and told her he'd like to add a second posse to Brandeis each year—one devoted to science. After what Epstein describes as “a long pause on the other end of the phone,” Bial enthusiastically voiced her support.
Two years later, Epstein's idea is playing out in the classroom, with support from HHMI. In that July boot camp, the first Brandeis science posse had already pulled all-nighters putting together scientific posters and learning the lessons it takes some college freshmen months to figure out.
“It really exposed me to science at Brandeis,” says posse member Emmanuel Obasuyi, who attended the Marble Hill School for International Studies, a small college preparatory high school in the Bronx. “[Boot camp] is very intense and very quick paced, so you have to keep up with the work. And we immediately learned that you have to be able to approach the professor if you're not understanding a topic.”
Melissa Kosinski-Collins, a Brandeis biology professor, designed the boot camp with Epstein, drawing on her background as faculty advisor to the United States Biology Olympiad Team.
Along with learning content, she wants the students to get used to a very different type of day. “In college you have to be as on top of your game for a 6 p.m. lab as an 8 a.m. class,” says Kosinski-Collins.
Students attended workshops on everything from laboratory methods and terminology to time management and note-taking and book reports. They took a trip to collect water samples from the nearby Charles River and wrote in-depth reports on genetic diseases.
“The two weeks is designed to bridge the gap between expectations and the reality that tends to drive students away from science,” Epstein says.
Well into their second semester of college, on a blustery January morning when other area schools have canceled classes and roads are slick with ice, the students of the science posse filter into Epstein's 10 a.m. chemistry class, a prerequisite for any natural sciences major. It's a 200-person lecture, and Epstein has loud jazz blasting as students fill the aisles—it's part of his effort to make chemistry more fun.
The posse students nab seats in the front two rows (it's not hard, most of the class sits as far back as possible). And when Epstein, halfway through a lecture on acids and bases, dons a wizard hat and begins pouring different chemicals into glass vials on the lab bench at the front of the room, the 10 posse students have the best view. Epstein, gray-bearded and bushy-eyebrowed, looks the part of a wizard, and the posse students pay close attention to the liquids that turn shades of purple and green, showing how strong the acids and bases are.
Later that afternoon, these students have plenty of good things to say about their year so far. They even reflect on their summer boot camp with good memories.
Photos: Jörg Meyer
|
Go Back
