Talent Accomplishment

I think that the accomplishment that made me feel like I was truly on my way to becoming an adult was my admittance to Duke University's Talent Identification Program (TIP). Each student gained admittance to the program based on their scores on the ACT or SAT. Once accepted, I got to choose an academic course that I found interesting and live for three weeks each summer on a college campus and attend classes for about 8 hours each day. Throughout my three years at TIP, I learned how to be more independent and also think analytically.
Simply being selected to take the ACT felt like an accomplishment. It was an honor to be recommended by my teachers to take the test in 7th grade. The people who taught me believed I was capable of succeeding at the same test kids five years older than me were required to take. I remember going into the testing room with juniors and …show more content…
It was fun, but I definitely wouldn't want a future in it. Robotics allowed me to learn a bit of what it was like working in a predominately male-dominated field. To be honest, I didn't like it. Some of our ideas would get blown off because they were 'too girly' or sometimes our opinions didn't always have the same amount of respect given to them as the guys' opinions did. People automatically assumed we had no idea what was going on around us, and took great lengths to explain things in very dumbed-down versions, 'so that we could understand'. It made me furious. Just because I was a girl didn't mean I had worked any less hard on projects or put less effort in than the boys had. It was incredibly eye-opening. I honestly have so much respect for people who deal with that every day in their careers. I hadn't realized that was truly a problem women have to face. It's different hearing that something happens around you versus actually experiencing it