Research Apprentice Program Alumni thrive in College of ACES

When Diana Rodriguez was a freshman at Benito Juarez High School in Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was not on her "short list" of potential college choices.

But through the Research Apprentice Program (RAP) for high school students, she found a home in the U of I College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES).

"When I came here it was like culture shock! Since I live in a predominantly Latino/Latina community, I was only exposed to Latinos. But the summer program totally changed my perspective. I had the best time. Going away from home was really hard, but it was worth it."

Rodriguez, who grew up in Chicago's Pilsen community, is a sophomore in human development and family studies at the U of I. In all, she spent four summers in the RAP I, RAP II, and Young Scholars Programs offered by the College of ACES.

She spent her first RAP II summer working with Professor Kelly Bost, who was conducting research on parent-child attachments. "My experience was so wonderful because it involved observing kids interacting with their mothers. We wanted to know if they were more attached to the mother or the father, and we found it varied by the gender and age of the child."

Rodriguez had the opportunity to conduct an experiment of her own, under Dr. Bost's supervision. "She helped me a lot. She gave me a lot of one-on-one help on the paper, my PowerPoint and my poster." Like other RAP participants, Rodriguez had the opportunity to present her work in front of a live audience at the end of the summer.

In her second summer as a RAP II participant, Rodriguez assisted with a research project on children and families at risk, led by Professor Angela Wiley. Research subjects were asked a series of questions, and "My job was to code the interviews into spreadsheets, working in Excel," Rodriguez said.

"RAP I had helped me gain those skills, because I hadn't been exposed to a computer every day at home. And today, I don't have to struggle with spreadsheets and other software packages."

"Networking with actual professors" was the best part of her summer experiences at the U of I, Rodriguez said. "I could go back and name a lot of good teachers I've had, but going through the university and hearing professors say, 'I'm so happy to work with you, please come back and work with me, come and take my class' - it was so wonderful."

Monica Church is another current ACES student who got an early start on her college career in the Research Apprentice Program. A 2003 graduate of Hyde Park Academy in Chicago, Church has set her sights on a career in international trade. She is majoring in crop sciences, with a minor in international studies.

During her RAP I experience in the summer of 1999, Church studied the psychology of food consumption with Professor Jim Painter. In 2000, she worked with Professor Fred Below in the crops physiology lab. Her RAP II project involved measuring the effects of carbon dioxide on the growth of corn plants. Today, she holds a part-time job in Professor Below's lab.

Church says her high school emphasized rigorous studies and high academic standards, so she felt comfortable with RAP's emphasis on research. "The only apprehension I had was being away from home for so long, because that's really a big thing when you're just a freshman in high school," she said.

For Church, one of the most valuable parts of the RAP experience was the opportunity to become a more polished public speaker.

"When I started out, I wasn't a good public speaker," Church said. "I'd rather have just sat there and listened. But I learned that even in science, you have to know how to talk! That's one thing that's made it easier for me, because I had to take speech com in my first semester" as a freshman at the University of Illinois.

Rodriguez agrees that the RAP experience can ease a student's transition from high school to university life. The professors who served as her RAP mentors "made me feel at home, period. They never treated me as less of a person just because I was a high school kid," Rodriguez said. "And now if I need any type of recommendation or advice, I know who to go to."

More than 500 high school students have taken part in the College of ACES' Research Apprentice Program since it began in 1988, according to Jesse Thompson, assistant dean and coordinator of diversity programs.

"The goal of RAP is to give high school students from under-served groups a chance to explore professions relating to the biological, social and physical science programs offered through the College of ACES," Thompson said.

The admissions process is competitive, and the application deadline for the 2004 Research Apprentice Program is March 14.

To learn more about RAP and other pre-college programs in the college of ACES, or to download an application, visit http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/Academics/Diversity/pre_collegiate/

Photo: ACES student Claudia Arteaga was invited to exhibit her RAP project at the 2003 Intel Science & Engineering Fair in Cleveland.

 

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