Shahd Abdalla - Capstone

At this point of my project, I wanted science to do that for other children around the nation. Accordingly, I did research. I scoured the internet for data and statistics, and I found a weird “anomaly.” According to PEW Research Center, children attending a K-12 school in the United States report loving science and hands-on learning, but as they aged older, that passion waned. In the report of The National Library of Medicine, It wasn’t because they didn’t like science anymore, in-fact, that interest seemed to stay almost constant. But, the children seemed to have lost their confidence in their ability to pursue a STEM career. When I looked into it, I found that this was most common amongst children who come from low-income backgrounds, a minority group, or children that suffer from a low self-esteem. My heart shattered when I saw this data. I kept picturing myself in that scenario. Especially because I was one of those kids that came from a minority background. It was apparent to me how close I actually was to losing something I was so passionate about. Something that I was sure I wanted to give my life to.