The New York Academy of Sciences

Broadway Musical and Ground Zero

During the GSA Summit in The New York Academy of Sciences in Greenwich Village, we had a break because the STEM students went for a tour around New York City, together with one of the parents of the student we went to the World Trade Center Ground Zero.

World Trade Center Ground Zero

The Ground Zero was the commemorative memorial for the 911 tragic event in the history of the world. Near the Ground Zero is a museum called World Trade Center Museum.

We took a picture in the Ground Zero. We also took photos with the street art wall in front of the Occulus.

After that, I went to Broadway to watch a Broadway musical. I told my friend that I wanted to try watching any Broadway Show. He asked a friend for a ticket and we decided to watch King Kong Alive in Broadway.

Broadway Theatre

There are so many Broadway musicals. The Broadway Theatre is in the 53rd Street corner 7th Avenue where they are playing King Kong. I arrived earlier in Broadway Theatre ahead of my friend and waited for him. When he arrived we lined up to get inside the theatre. The play started at and end at 8 in the evening.

The Kingkong storyline is the same as the movie, what amazed me was how they made King Kong come alive on the stage. The visual effects were great. The casts were top-billed by Christiani Pitts as Ann Darrow with Eric William Morris as Carl Denham and Erik Lochtefeld as Lumpy. It was really a great show to watch and another check on my bucket list.

The Halal Food

Since we were hungry after watching the play, we walked two blocks from the theatre and found a line of people in a food stall called The Halal Food. After we lined up and got our order 30 minutes later, the food was really great and delicious. Everybody was in the street eating the food from the Halal Food.

Rockefeller Building

After eating we walked to another famous landmark in New York. This time we went to the façade of the Rockefeller Building. We entered the alley and arrived at the restaurant in Rockefeller.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

We also went to check the famous Catholic church in New York which is the St. Patrick Cathedral.

We also took a picture in the Lotte New York Palace before we rode a bus and alighted at the bus stop at 104th Street.

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GSA Summit

Mentors are invited for the Annual Global Science Alliance (GSA) Summit in The New York Academy of Sciences in New York for the annual gathering of young scientists, international researchers, mentors, mentees and their parents or guardians. It is held every July and it was on its third year.

I went to New York to attend the Summit last July 24 -26. The highlight of the event was the gathering of the future STEM leaders across the globe, showcasing their projects and achievement from the different mentoring programs of the academy. I also met notable persons from the academy especially those program managers who handles the GSA and the Mentoring programs.

While the mentees were having their activities, the mentors were also invited a talk by Josh Henkin.

On the third day the mentees were also awarded with their winning projects.

I was glad that there was a lot of young scientist from my countries whom I met during the summit. There were seven from young Filipinos who attended the event.

For more information about the mentoring program please check NYAS Mentorship.

NYAS Mentorship

I submitted my application in September of 2018 to the website of The New York Academy of Sciences. I was reminded of completing the application by an email in which I didn’t finish. The mentorship is in cooperation with the United Technologies Corporation. One of the qualifications of being a mentor is graduate students, postdocs or professionals working in STEM-related fields with expertise in green buildings and sustainability or related topic area. Other criteria are to be passionate about engaging and inspiring the next generation of STEM innovators.
I was able to complete the application and I was scheduled for an interview by another mentor in October. After the interview, my background was checked by a vendor to provide a secure and comfortable mentoring environment to the NYAS program. It took 3 weeks to finally be cleared of the background check.

In the first week of November, I was admitted to the program. I was given access to the portal. We were then given a welcome package on how to use the portal and what are the reminders of being a mentor.
I received an email that I was matched with my mentee in the second week of December. My mentee is budding 17 years old girl from Bulgaria who wants to be a Chemical Engineer. I was matched with her because I graduated with BS Chemistry in college.
We were introduced and our first meeting was in the same week. She’s a very pretty girl who is active in her hometown in different science-related activities and also with her advocacy with her community as one of the young leaders. She planned to study in a different country and she’s learning French.
There are four modules with the STEM U that will also help and guide the young generation and it was distributed for the whole school year. They are an interactive module that helps the mentee with their personality and personal goals going to STEM.
At the end of the school year, both mentees and mentors will receive their certification in being a part o the program.
For more details about the mentoring programs, you can check the website www.nyas.org