This summer I had the opportunity to go to the NSLC medical camp or the National Student Leadership Conference in D.C. while I was there I did multiple things. Some being dissecting a cow's heart, a sheep's eye and so much more. But out of all my favorite part was definitely the clinical diagnosis, this is where me and my team of doctors (other campers) would have two or three patients (the consolers) and we would go back everyday for a week and get to run tests, diagnose the patient and give them a treatment plan. In the end my team got both diagnoses correct, and ended up saving our patients lives. This camp gave me such amazing hands-on experience that I don't think I would get anywhere else. It also really improved my note taking skills by having to only pick out the important thing that my patient or teacher (during a lecture) was saying. Overall this camp was my favorite part of summer, which is kinda surprising because I had to do a presentation.

Last year I wanted to take some steps in the direction of the career I want to pursue. I got a Brown Grant giving me the opportunity to have an internship under someone local to learn the ropes of Interior Design. With COVID still being present, I did not get to work under someone like I had planned, yet I got an even bigger opportunity. Being a part of the success community, I was asked to redesign 2 classrooms in the basement of the Seminary building in order to create a fun and inventive learning environment for those involved with the success program. Given this opportunity, I have realized how much I will enjoy this career path and I am extremely grateful to be leaving my mark on this school. The first room I am designing is nearly done. Following the completion of the space, I will move to the classroom and surrounding spaces across the hall when the new building is done.

My experience at Northshire Day School was amazing. I went into the classroom and hung out with the kids, played games with them, and got to know them. The workers there were so nice and welcoming. I learned so much from this experience. As a result from this experience kids can be hard but it still makes me want to be a teacher. Thank you to everyone who got me into this experience.

 7/2/2021

My name is Shterna Gordon, and I am a rising junior at Burr and Burton Academy. I am very passionate about nature and conservation and have been for many years. This year I applied for a Brown Grant to do an internship at Merck Forest. July is when most of my internship happens and yet I have already fallen in love with the work. I am beyond ecstatic to be working with the American Chestnut tree orchard, which was why I sought this particular internship in the first place. Working to collect data on a functionally extinct species when I am still a high schooler is amazing! I never thought that was something I could do.  I am making iNaturalist observations to help collect data on the dynamics of different habitats (which species live where). I very much enjoy this app, somewhat to my surprise as I haven’t liked these kinds of apps in the past. When asked what the internship means to me I can’t give you any one answer. It means getting to be a part of saving a species, learning and helping others understand ecosystem dynamics through iNaturalist and getting to spend my summer learning about what I love. 

8/20/2021

Hi, what you just read above was what I thought of my internship in the beginning, and now that it’s done for the summer I would like to tell you what I think now. I found this experience to be amazing! I collected data on the orchard, and am inputting the data into a spreadsheet even though my internship is done. I love it that much! I not only used iNaturalist to document species, but I helped others by making a sign which lets people know how to iNat trees and, by joining the walks at the bio blitz both for my own learning and to help whoever might need it. In fact I helped someone make their first observation! I even helped with a group of 20 fifth graders as they put guards on the chestnut trees, which help the trees from being weed whacked. I also captured a Japanese beetle in a small glass tub and had them pass it around while I discussed the effects invasive species like the beetle can have on the environment and why. We had been talking about the blight that affects the American chestnut tree and I wanted to give the kids something they could see and hold when thinking of invasive species. I wanted to contextualize it. In short this was an amazing learning experience and I plan to volunteer at Merck when I can and hope to do the internship at a higher level next summer to build on my experience I earned this summer. Below you will see the sign I made and above is a photo of me collecting data from the orchard.

This summer I attended Burklyn Ballet Theatre's summer ballet intensive for two weeks. I had such a great time. Covid has made my life very difficult, lake many others, for many different reasons. One of the worst things has been that I am rarely able to dance with people in-person. Ballet is my passion and taking classes at home over zoom is nowhere near as good as being in-person and being a part of a group. Burklyn Ballet Theatre's intensive was located in Johnson, Vermont at Northern Vermont University. I have been participating in ballet intensives for six years now and this intensive was different from all the rest I've done because we preformed every Saturday. I loved this aspect of the intensive because it have me a small sense of what it would feel like to be in a ballet company. We would have two morning classes, lunch, one afternoon class, and then rehearsals. During the first week  we would have a ballet ballet technique class and a variations class every morning and during the second week we had a a ballet technique class and a modern class every morning. The third class of the day would consist of a pointe class, pas de deux (partnering), or pilates. Then lastly we would have either one or two blacks of rehearsals in the afternoon or evening (I had rehearsals from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm on both Mondays. It was tiring but very fun.). The first week I was in an excerpt from The Awakening of Flora and for the second week I was in a student choreographed neoclassical ballet piece. I had so much fun preforming these pieces. Having the chance to preform again alone is do amazing. The Awakening of Flora piece may have very well been my favorite piece I have ever preformed. In the end, I am just so grateful that I was able to have this experience. Going away to a place where I could dance all day every day, make new friends, and not have to worry about the pandemic felt like being transported into a different reality or universe. 

This summer I went to an NYU online filmmakers program this past summer. This intensive program was an eye opener to the community I have been wanting to reach out to for a long time. One of the best experiences was building my stamina by turning out a film a day and following that a film a week and going through the entire process and figuring it out myself. What I like is that filmmaking will never be that difficult when I am out in the field. I will have people to talk me through stuff and tend to things for me like lighting and sound and site scouting. I made a million and one friends who I still talk to and hopefully next fall when I maybe will be attending NYU I can continue to be in touch with them when making projects.

Over the course of this program I got to know an NYU filmmaking professor who also plays a big role on the admissions board. Now this program does NOT guarantee anything about me attending NYU but this program gives me a leg up in the world of college admissions.

I spent 4 weeks out of my summer filming, editing, and taking online classes. I wouldn’t have spent it any other way!

This summer I had a great experience with Hunter Excavating. I ran a bunch of equipment and got pretty good at it. At some points I had to do some labor which wasn’t my favorite but you have to start somewhere. 

Dean was an amazing experience for me. It really opened my eyes to how I see the world. Before I did this camp I really had lost all my motivation to dance, act and sing. This camp made me realize that it is something that makes me happy, and something I want to do in my future. There were times I was down and I thought I wasn’t good enough but everyone there was so supportive. This camp made me happy I was able to make so many new friends and memories that will last a lifetime.

My experience taking lessons at Williams College with amazing cello teachers has been ongoing through my four years at BBA. If I had not received this generous grant each year, my experiences wouldn’t have been possible. I have learned so much through my four years, not only just in music, but life lessons that I’ll carry with me into my adult life. This experience has helped created a path for my career by supporting me with the teachers and tutelage needed to be a musician. I’ve learned that you can pick up an instrument on your own and it’s possible to become pretty good, (I can play a little guitar, emphasis on little) however, you need a mentor and teacher to give you the guidance you need to reach the next level of musicianship that all successful musicians have. This experience has given me the tools from simply learning to be more focused, to teaching me overarching principles like discipline, that have helped me to reach my goals. My teachers at Williams helped me to be prepared to enter college with the necessary skills that are needed in this next chapter of learning and I am so so grateful that they have prepared me with such dedication, and that they have given me these opportunities to learn and grow these past four years. It was a privilege to work with these fine teachers. 

For my last Brown Grant, I decided to take an EMT certification course. It honestly wasn't the best idea to take it at the end of my senior year(which was the busiest time of this year for me), but I really enjoy taking the course and it has been a lot of fun. This has been a taste of what studying medicine would be like. To be an EMT requires a lot of discipline and patience, despite it being a first step of the emergency medical basics, it is a lot of information one must know before seeing a patient. While taking this course, I loved applying what I learned and I realized I love helping people and having this knowledge in case of emergencies. I learned how to approach patients, handle medical and trauma patients, how to administer certain medications, identify illnesses and injuries, and how to handle many more situations. I took this class to see if I want to continue on the medical path and I realize that I don't want to go through another 12 years to be a doctor/surgeon, but I do love helping people. So I will continue to aim for a career that works with and aims to help people. I passed the course and now I am waiting for the next NREMT exam, I am now at college and I hope to volunteer at Bard's EMS next semester. Despite not being able to work in an ambulance until i get my certification, I use the techniques I learned everyday to check on others and myself. I really loved the course and the people I have been blessed to meet.

I would recommend anyone who is even considering this program to take it. The road isn't easy, but it is very worth it .

This summer I was fortunate enough to attend the World Leadership Conference sponsored by HOBY in Dallas, Texas. The experience consisted of listening to keynote speakers, team building activities, community service, and much more! I learned so much about myself individually and about the world around me. One of my biggest takeaways from this conference was a newfound confidence and passion. I have always had an interest for the medical field and serving my community, and this experience helped to form my future career goals/plans. After the conference, I now want to combine my passion for the medial field with serving my community by serving poverty stricken and underserved communities.  Moving forward I also want to continue my leadership endeavors by volunteering at other HOBY experiences, including the Vermont HOBY State Seminar in the spring of 2022 which I have applied for already.  

Over the summer I had the amazing opportunity to attend an Introduction to Psychology course offered by Georgetown University. Though the class was online, it was very immersive. I learned about many famous psychology experiments which were extremely interesting. We also learned about how Psychology can assist. us in our every day lives. I also gathered many skills that I believe will help me in my future career endeavors. In the future, I would love to work with kids as an elementary school teacher. Through this experience, I can better understand myself and others which will help me in my teacher dreams! I am so grateful for this opportunity. We has Burr and Burton Academy success students are so fortunate to be able to have these Brown Grant opportunities! To further my learning of Psychology I would love to apply for another Brown Grant where I could put all of my learning to use. 

These are just a few photos that show some of the experience I had with Colorado Outward bound. This was definitely one of my most favorite summers ever because I met so many amazing people and I definitely made lifelong friendships with most of them. I remember my first day with the group. I was very nervous because I was across the country by myself with a group of people I had just met and also because I was the only girl in the group. During my time with Colorado Outward bound I was able to rock climb and go mountain backpacking on Mount Wass, and go rafting in class 4 rapids on the Green River in the span of 2 weeks.

My experience taking the Drexel interior design course has been very amazing, even though everything was online. I learned so much from this course, not only about interior design but also about the environment and art history. I learned a lot of skills about interior design, especially the SketchUp program which is a design program that most interior designers use to design their rooms. I also learned how to work as a real interior designer. I learned how to present my work to clients. It is necessary to have these skills because these are skills that I need to use in the future, not only in interior design but I can use them in any career. Having these skills and knowledge also helped me to succeed in future classes, especially a design class with Mr. Paul Molinelli that I'm going to have next year. This experience gave me a good attitude towards the environment. It showed me how interior designers can help our global environment by using sustainable materials and design in a sustainable way. The instructor also gave me some tips about the college admission process. I am grateful I have had this opportunity because it was a good opportunity for me to learn new skills and confirm my interest in interior design. Finally, I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me. It was an amazing experience. Thank you!

The Brown Grant really gave me an opportunity to go out to a camp and showcase my abilities to college coaches. In addition, it also allowed me to continue to work with my personal trainer over the summer. I am very thankful for the opportunities that the grant has provided for me.