Richard
Shoyoola, age 13, spent the morning on July 15 talking with
doctors, college students and professionals at the St. Louis
Science Center’s networking event for students in the Youth
Exploring Science program.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Time ran out and he didn’t get to talk to everyone, so he stayed for the next three-hour session to make sure he did.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“In my opinion, I think it’s a great way to get myself out there,” said Shoyoola, who just finished middle school.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I want to major in political science at Washington University. I’ve been going around giving out my contact, whether it’s my home phone or email. I try to get into some volunteering activities to make a name for myself, so that when I do run for mayor or governor or senator, I can say, ‘I have a history of volunteering. I can work with you, I relate to you. I’ve been there for you from the start.’”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Ultimately Shoyoola aspires to work for the United Nations. He would like to be president, but he’s ineligible because he emigrated from London, England. He will attend Metro High School next year.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I try to improve upon myself each and every day,” he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Shoyoola is one of the 250 underserved high school students in the YES program who spend their time after school in science labs and eight weeks of their summer teaching children about science.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“The YES program has been known to inform people’s opinions about science and to lead them into science fields,” Shoyoola said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>But science and math are not his true focus, though his colleagues say his presentations to the public are excellent. His passion is politics.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Last year, he was president of the school improvement committee at McKinley Middle School, where he organized numerous events. In that committee, he learned what it takes to be a good leader, he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I learned that I’m going to have to be more open, to relate more with my team members and be willing to change,” he said. “And I’ve been working on it this summer, so that when I get to Metro and when I do run for student government and president of that high school, I can be more open.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>At the networking event, Shoyoola found the Science Center’s chief financial officer, Barbara Boyle, the most interesting.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“She was a lot different from the others,” he said. “When she was just going into college, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She actually got where she is today by accounting. I realized that because I’m still young, and I still have time.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Aliyah Wilson, age 15 and a student at Crossroads College Prep, said the person who made the biggest impact on her was Jayne Bringer, the senior marketing specialist at “font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN;” lang=”EN” xml:lang=”EN”>Insituform Technologies.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I was impressed that she was a woman working in a construction industry,” Wilson said. “That’s really inspiring.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Wilson herself is looking into marine biology. Being part of the YES program has helped her feel more comfortable with public speaking, she said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We are exposing young children to science,” she said. “It gives them determination when they were exposed at a young age, and it leaves them better off in life.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Grant Hinton, age 16, who was not sure what high school he will attend in the fall, was most impacted by a 23-year-old medical student named Jesse. The words that stuck with him were: You should measure your success by how happy you are.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Rather than having high credentials, being able to have passion in what you do,” Hinton said. “He seemed really happy and joyful. It’s just great. I really enjoyed today.”
