Letters to our high school selves
On Thursday October 12th, Stanford Science Penpals teamed up with a bunch of science outreach groups at Stanford for a Science Communication Mixer! We were joined by groups involved in all facets of science communication, including writers, speakers, and podcasters. These groups, which included NeuWrite West, The Dish on Science, Goggles Optional, and many others, share our passion for sharing science with others. During this event, Stanford graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and staff learned about how to get involved in each of the science outreach organizations. Amanda, Teni, Makenna, and Arielle had a great time talking about the mission of Stanford Science Penpals, and everyone was very supportive of our group!
Each organization also brought an activity related to their programs. Our team invited everyone to write a message to their high-school self on a colorful envelope, to help get people thinking about advice they'd like to pass along to their penpals! These envelopes, covered with a broad range of helpful tips and suggestions for high schoolers, were collected into a beautiful, decorated collage. We were so excited to see everybody so engaged, and loved seeing the advice that people chose to share. We're looking forward to participating again next year!
Some of our favorite pieces of advice for our high school selves:
"You can be a scientist!"
"Your thoughts and ideas matter!"
"Fail fast, fail often--it's more fun!"
"Everything will be OK."
"Take it easy. I love you!"
"Please invent Facebook."
