admin Features

Emilie Garcia loved summer engineering camp

Photo: Emilie is center, top row.

By Sam Campbell

During the summer of 2019, Emilie Garcia attended Santa Clara University’s Summer Engineering Seminar. This program, while free, is an extremely competitive engineering summer camp at Santa Clara University. Throughout her week-long stay, Emilie attended classes about the various fields in engineering (the four main fields being chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering), where she was able to determine which field most appealed to her.

Emilie Garcia
During the week Emilie said she was “introduced to the basics of a specific type of engineering [field] and then would work in teams to complete an activity related to that type of engineering.” While not in the classes, she also participated in small design activities and competitions.  In addition, throughout the entire week, Emile and her team were given a group design challenge that “they presented and tested at the end of the week.”
Like any summer program, there was some time allotted to relax. “During free time, we were able to explore the campus, go to the pool/gym, and would participate in other various fun group activities, such as scavenger hunts, etc.,” says Emilie.
Some of you may ask, “Why would I spend an entire week of my summer doing more math, presentations, and homework?”  Here’s what Emilie said: “I really enjoyed the camp, and had a lot of fun! It was, overall, a really great experience.  I was able to learn more about engineering (my desired future career path) and meet other people . . . interested in pursuing engineering.”

Emilie was able to learn more about engineering, have fun, meet other people, and all at no cost?! Summer programs like these are always a great thing with some summer free time. For Emile, the best part of the camp “was meeting new/fun people who had the same goals as me.” There is not a better support group than a group of people your age with your same goals.

If you have a field of study that interests you, a hobby you want to pursue, or anything else, just talk to Mrs. Moffit about a summer program. Like Emilie, you might really benefit and/or enjoy a summer program.