SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) – Summer may still be far from the minds of many of us, but if you're looking for an internship for the summer months, you may want to start applying now. The deadline for high school students to apply for the Sanford Promise Scholars program is already next week.
Jennifer Snozzi is now a research specialist at Sanford Health, but she has been an intern in that lab for less than a decade.
“I changed what I was going to do. I didn't think I was going to do research but now I'm here,” Snoozy said.
The PROMISE Scholars Summer Internship Program is a program that helps transform high school students into scholars.
“High school students who will be entering their senior year the following year can come to the lab for ten weeks and experience the daily life of a scientist,” said Dr. LJ Bellas, director of the scholarship program. .
“You can use pipettes, run gels, and look at the cells that you're working with and basically living in their own world over the summer,” Snoozy said.
But it's not just about learning how to use the tools.
“The most important part is that they teach you how to think like a scientist. You can learn how to pipette anywhere and you can learn how to genotype anywhere but you can't learn how to think, 'How can I solve this problem using the materials I have available' or 'How I'm presenting this problem to someone who doesn't have it.” “I don't have any knowledge about it,” Snoozy said.
Shaping the minds of future biomedical research scientists.
“A unique research experience for high school students. I have never heard of any program like this in the country. This is very well organized and I wish I had this type of program when I was in high school,” said Bellas.
High school students in the scholarship program receive $2,500 in college credits and a $2,500 scholarship.
The deadline to apply is January 31.