New Regional Gathering for High School and College Students Interested in Careers in Physics Taking Place in New York City
Kylie Goldade helping a student.
For the last few years, my academic advisor, I, and the rest of our team at Adelphi University have been visiting high schools in the Long Island and New York City areas. There, we introduce the fun and exciting side of physics to students and provide them with a window into college life for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. Students that study physics in college often go on to lead successful careers in physics, engineering, astronomy, and a variety of other areas. We want high school students to know that physics can get you into college, graduate school, and launch your career!
Inspired by these visits, we’ve created a new conference for high school and college physics students called Cosmic Pathways that will debut this spring! It will occur on Saturday, March 1st 2025, from 9:00 am-5:00 pm, at City College of New York in New York City. This student- focused conference is designed to bring together the many STEM leaders in the New York City area and to discuss a variety of the career options available to young scientists seeking to make a difference. This will be the New York City region’s best and only conference for high school and college students interested in careers in physics!
Let me tell you why this conference and our mission are important to me personally.
Doing this for so many years has really affirmed my love for teaching. One really special story I like to tell involves Carissa Guiliano, one of my role models and mentors. I was a freshman in college when Carissa was in her last year of graduate school at Adelphi, getting her masters in education. She went on to teach physics at Mineola High School, which is where she taught Carolina Guekjian. Carolina ended up coming to Adelphi to pursue a physics major, and she and I work very closely together in our physics department! Recently, we both went to visit Carissa’s class at Mineola High School—that was a full circle experience if I’ve ever seen one.
During our visit, Carissa was helping a student off to the side as we were talking to her class. I came over and offered to help the student so Carissa could be more involved in the demonstrations we were presenting. While helping that student, I realized that explaining concepts, making things more digestible, and sharing the physics tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years is just as fun as doing the jumping-up-and-down, lively, over-the-top demonstrations that students don’t see everyday.
Traveling to different schools, one could notice the clear differences. Some schools have five physics teachers and a world of technology at their fingertips, while others can’t provide demonstrations of vital concepts without the help of our equipment. I’ve needed a background check before entering some schools, and other times I walked straight in the front door to the classroom without anyone noticing. I’ve been to schools where the students tell me about their highschool major and which is the easiest Advance Placement (AP) class, and schools where the students tell me they wish they could take an AP class. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. As a true educator at heart, this hurts. You wish that every student could have the same opportunity to explore the things they really enjoy and be set up for success. This, among other things, drives our mission as educators and physicists. We simply don’t have enough time in the semester to visit every single high school in the tri-state area. That’s why we designed this conference.
This completely free career-minded conference is filled with exciting events including:
● A Career panel lead by Brad Conrad from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who leads the Education and Workforce Development Office
● A physics club fair
● Free food
● Keynote address by Professor Rob Coyne from The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)
● Networking opportunities with research groups and leaders in education including Adelphi University, The American Institute of Physics, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), The City College of New York, Manhasset School District, Mineola School District, NIST, Sarah Lawrence College, the Society of Physics Students, SUNY Stony Brook University, University of Rochester, and more!
● Opportunities for high school students to learn about physical science careers
In addition, I am going to be presenting research I did as a mentor to high school students. I am extremely excited to be a part of this conference and network with educators and students alike. I look forward to the energy and life these young minds will bring. If you are a high school teacher, please share this with your students and send them to this completely free conference. You might just see a little more enthusiasm in your classroom the next Monday.
Cosmic Pathways
Saturday, March 1, 2025, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m
City College of New York
New York City, NY