BEAM Students Make Summer Plans

BEAM students and families gather for the summer program presentation.

After spending two summers at BEAM, what do BEAM students do next? They might want a summer break, staying home or traveling with their family for vacation. But many students want another productive thing to do with their time! Each winter, we encourage our alumni to apply for summer programs to help broaden their knowledge, explore enriching learning experiences, and spend their break in a meaningful way. This is especially part of BEAM’s mission to prepare under-served students for future STEM careers. We aim to support students by helping them to applying to various STEM orientated summer programs, and our unscientific surveys of STEM professionals prove what the BEAM audience already knows: summer preparation in middle school and high school opens the door to STEM success in college and beyond.

BEAM alumni Teo and Jennora share their experience from summer programs they have attended.

On January 26th, BEAM students gathered at NYU’s Courant Institute for the annual Summer Program Information Session. This event’s main focus was to start the process of selecting summer programs and preparing summer applications. The information session began with a presentation highlighting the importance of applying to summer programs and how to go about the application process. We also had a panel of four BEAM alumni who answered questions and discussed their experience in different types of summer programs. After hearing about the different options, students broke out into groups by grade in order to review a list of their personalized summer program recommendations. As the beginning of the year goes by, we encourage our students to start their applications as soon as possible in order to give themselves the best opportunities. Overall, the information session pushed students to start thinking about their pathways towards STEM careers in addition to giving students the chance to hang out with the BEAM family.

BEAM students: it’s not too late to apply to amazing opportunities for summer 2019! Contact your year leader to learn more.

BEAM 8th Graders Visit NYC Google Headquarters!

Ever wondered what Google, one of the top multinational technology companies in the world, is like? Our 8th graders got the chance!

This past Friday afternoon, our 8th graders visited the Google NYC headquarters to learn about what working for Google is like. They learned about "Math and Google," Software engineering and Time Complexity Theory! They then took a tour of the building and asked a panel of Googlers some thought-provoking questions. 

Software Engineering was presented by Luis. He assists in developing software to help run Google as a company.

With Luis, students learned how to simulate IP networks. They sent each other "human messages" using IP addresses!

"Math at Google" was presented by Paul. He works with Gmail and uses mathematical equations to make email sorting easier for users!

"Time Complexity Theory: How Fast can a Computer Solve Problems?" was presented by Kenechi. Kenechi is a software engineer who taught our students how computers use Logarithmic Notation to solve problems. 

BEAM students then took a tour of the Google building. They learned the history of the building and the significance of room names (they're all named after NYC landmarks!) They were able to see the game room, which allows Googlers to take a mental break from working in order to help stimulate their brains for more creative ideas. They saw the Google kitchen which allows Googlers to have a well-balanced meal for lunch and provides snacks for when they need them. Google is an awesome place to work at! Employees even travel around in scooters because hallways are so long!

Take a look at these pictures for proof !!

The day at Google ended with a panel discussion. BEAM students asked thought provoking questions to 4 Googlers: Paul Cheong, Justin Venezuela, Molly Alter and Kenechi Ufondu.

Examples of questions were: "What advice would you give to me pursuing a career revolving around my love of math?" "What kind of mathematics is used at Google?" "How does it feel like to be apart of such a large company?" "Is this your dream job?" The panelists were amazing and honest. They provided our students with great insight on what it is like to work for Google.

We hope to see some of our alumni working at Google in the next 10 to 20 years!