Arthur L.'s Experience at NAE's STEAM Trip to MIT

Here at BISC, our MIT collaboration offers high school students an opportunity that blends ambition with innovation. Recently, 67 students from 55 of our schools returned from an inspiring STEAM trip to MIT. This journey began in January when students in years 9 and 11 submitted projects for a competition to earn one of only two places available for each Nord Anglia School.

Those selected earn a place on a truly exceptional experience: a week-long trip to MIT, where ideas meet real-world exploration, and students gain inspiration that lasts well beyond their high school years. During the trip, students take part in campus tours, STEAM workshops, lectures from leading researchers, and a collaborative project day with peers from other NAE schools.

Arthur L., now year 10, was selected as a Year 9 student. Here’s what he had to say about his experience!

When I first heard I would have the opportunity to go attend the MIT trip, little did I realize that I would be participating in a vast variety of activities ranging from inspiring talks from alumni to incredible workshops about robotics, plasma science, and even cancer research. Every day of the week was packed with perspective-altering experiences and opened doors to new topics I knew nothing about.

The first day arrived, and I was both excited and intrigued, since I had no idea what certain activities entailed. Take the topic of cancer research, for example. At first, I pictured it as people in lab coats huddled around a microscope, staring at what they hoped was a cure or a tremendous breakthrough, or even just sitting at a desk all night working tirelessly. What I discovered is that cancer research revolves around theoretical questions and practical thinking rather than making remarkable hands-on discoveries.

For instance, during my time at MIT, I was able to learn about the root of cancer and how it forms, why it keeps growing, and was even able to come up with some theoretical ideas regarding how to stop the growth of tumors, a few of which are being looked at in labs. After spending hours listening to real alumni and teachers, I realized that my perspective on cancer research was based upon what I had heard of it in the past, and that it was now a completely different and ever-growing field of study.

Similarly, every topic we looked at made me realize that my initial perspective on almost all of the subjects we looked at was wrong. Creating experiments isn’t about having incredible one-off ideas; it’s about doing the research required and gathering information to make a practical thesis and to conduct a real experiment worth discovering.

Designing robots isn’t making something cool that shows off your skills; it’s about what people need, designing it, building it, and trying again when it doesn’t work. STEM subjects don’t exist for us to learn them in school, get on with life, and forget them. Rather, they exist for us to make a change in the world, discover something new, and help make a difference for the people around us. The point of the trip wasn’t to assess our knowledge; it was meant to teach us and help us recognize that there is so much that we don’t know and so much that we haven’t discovered, aiming to encourage us to solve problems and help people.

While I was tremendously fascinated by cancer research, I’d be remiss to not mention that we also learned about electric F1 cars, plasma centers, fusion reactors, Climate Action Summits, and even a look into the past with the Daguerreotype. The trip was a great experience and an incredible opportunity, with every part of it being intriguing and engaging. 

I came back with more than memories, friends, and memorabilia. I came back with new energy and curiosity, eager to further my knowledge in science and engineering, with new ideas and theories I want to explore in the future.I can’t thank the NAE and MIT teams enough for spending the better part of a year putting the trip together.  I would also like to thank the chaperones and guest speakers, who gave up their time to teach us, look out for us, and make sure we had an unbelievable time. I highly recommend entering the MIT NAE competition for the chance to enjoy this trip, it truly opened my eyes to what it takes to tackle world problems, and I would do it again if I could!