Emily Mannix, Sophie Keating, Yasin Mojtahedinyazd and Xiaoyan Wang spent Tuesday morning at Victoria’s Government House for the formal launch of the upcoming National Youth Science Forum—which they will attend in early 2018. They were among 35 students selected from Rotary District 9800 for this program.
“I never thought I would be experiencing these wonderful opportunities and I can’t wait to see where NYSF takes me,” Sophie said.
Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, reminded students that 75% of students who attend NYSF do go on to study in a STEM area.
This is the plan for all four of these students with Sophie aiming for dietetics, Yasin and Yan for medicine and Emily for a double degree in Law/Science. However, Governor Dessau suggested that STEM would benefit from becoming STEAM—including A for ‘Art’ in the acronym.
CEO of NYSF, Damien Pearce, spoke about what students could expect through being a NYSF participant. Recognising how events like the gathering at Government House tended to get students very inspired, he also said, “You have to promise you will focus on your exams and after that you can get excited!”
The next step for Yan, Yasin, Sophie and Emily is NYSF Orientation Day at International House in Parkville next month. The BIG event will be in Canberra in January 2018.
