SECME Helped Her Plan It. SECME Helps Her Live It!

senior Caitlin Miller

SECME: Plan It - Build It - Live It!
- by Caitlin Miller, Seminole Ridge Community High School Class of 2012

I want to unlock the keys to the Universe, answer seemingly impossible questions, discover innovations, and so much more. As a kid I’ve always strived to understand the mechanics of everything around me. I constantly asked questions, rattling my other’s minds for the countless things I wondered- “Why is the sky blue? How do birds fly? How did people float on the moon?” It was all so mysterious to me.

When I started school I was relieved because my curiosity was finally beginning to be quenched. Little did I know my mind had only just started growing and soon enough every answer led me to a new question and more observations. I noticed that while other kids were occupied by their games, dolls, and action figures, I was out catching caterpillars and trying to make them turn into butterflies or trying to make new games to play and toys to play with. Even that was not enough for my wandering mind.

It wasn’t until my Junior year that I had found the perfect way to “STEMulate” my mind. It was that booming voice coming from one of my crazy new science teachers that led me to one of my favorite hobbies today. “Have fun! Get Smart! Win Prizes!”- that was the phrase that drew me in.

I stepped inside and was immediately struck by the imaginative brilliance that filled the room. You could see the gears turning in every students mind as it exploded with realizations and innovations for the project at hand.

I jumped right in, starting with Brain Bowl. It was exactly what I needed. Just a little taste of the invigorating competitiveness and I was hooked. My brain became a sponge absorbing endless amounts of new information beyond the basics.

My “STEMulation” only grew with every new activity I experienced in S.E.C.M.E. (Science, Engineering, Communication and Math Education). The excitement of building my very own working rocket to launch high in the sky can’t be beat. My favorite part was when the water came shooting out in mere seconds terrorizing the birds way up high. I loved just as much to help teach elementary kids tips and tricks to improve their rockets. It was challenging at times to get them to understand the reasons for alterations and wonderful seeing the huge smile on their faces when they see their rocket go higher than it ever had before. Even though it seems the kids are just learning from us, I learned quite a bit while helping them too.

Miller during the school's annual "Give Blood - It's Not Rocket Science" blood drive
Miller mentoring a student at Pierce Hammock Elementary School on water rockets

I enjoyed the same opportunity teaching elementary students how to build mouse trap vehicles as well. It was interesting because it had been my first time making one, too. As they argued whose car would go the farthest the quickest I drifted back to my days as a kid. I guess overall what I love is the hands on technique consistently utilized.

Through S.E.C.M.E. I also started to form a clearer picture of what I might want to be when I get older. When I joined the club I had absolutely no idea what track I wanted to take to the rest of my life. I was worried I wouldn’t find anything that I would actually like and be good at. All I knew up to that point was that I had an immense passion for math and a growing admiration for science. I ran many ideas through my mind, such as accountant, teacher, chemist, etc., but cast them off because they didn’t inspire me enough.

I wanted to choose a career that would improve the world, shape the future. One where I could express new ideas and better the inventions of today to the extents of even saving the lives of tomorrow. My hunt for the perfect career progressed and I was shocked by just how many careers actually incorporated the S.T.E.M. topics. I was intrigued to find that those in S.T.E.M. careers earn up to 26% more than those in non-S.T.E.M. related careers. That persuaded me to find out more about S.T.E.M. The majority of the top ten majors with the highest mean earning were mostly in the engineering field and all involved science and/or math topics. I was relieved that I seemed to be finding my way to just what I would enjoy studying. S.E.C.M.E. helped me plan it. S.E.C.M.E. helped me live it.
Miller points the way during the "Let's Build Something Together: Gotta Regatta" boat building challenge

Among the top ten majors with the highest mean earnings was Mechanical Engineering. Through all my searching this turned out to be what felt right to me. Mechanical Engineering is engineering that utilizes the elements of physics and materials science for design, analysis, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It can involve the generation, distribution, and usage of energy as well as solving environmental issues. I feel it’s a job that will help me fulfill my goals of a career in which I can help improve the future. It mixes the passion I mentioned for math as well as the admiration for science. Not only that, it even quenches that thirst my brain has for knowing the mechanics of things and I can “STEMulate” my mind by finding ways to innovate the tools and growing technology of the future to come. It takes my hope to shape the future to a new level.

Once I found my career path I was determined to get there, but first I needed to find the right college for me. It was easier to search for the college of my dreams now that I knew exactly what I wanted to be. Along the way I took a gander at the 36 Universities allied with S.E.C.M.E. and noticed that one of my top choices was on there as well, Florida Atlantic University. As I kept looking it hit me that most of Florida’s Universities were associated with S.E.C.M.E. which I really hadn’t expected and after a quick count I was highly surprised that more than a quarter of the Universities associated with S.E.C.M.E. resided in Florida, my home state. I expected that S.E.C.M.E. would be widely spread across the United States, yet found it was only incorporated with the Eastern half. More so, I had expected that Massachusetts Institute of Technology would be on the list, seeing as though it is ranked number one in engineering.

For the perfect college (I soon decided I wanted to be a University) needed to meet the criteria that it is a place close to home with an honors program and a good college for engineering. F.A.U. was my closest S.E.C.M.E. associated school so I gave it an in depth look. They had an honors program that looked promising, a College of Engineering, and more specifically they offered a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. I was more motivated to apply when I found that it was just about in between my parents houses, less than 50 miles away from each.

F.A.U. was quickly molding into my perfect college. I took a trip and was delighted with the experience. The campus was beautiful with activities all around to help people get involved. While on the tour I was made aware of a program in which they have graduate students come back to help current students, an important way for me to gain opinions about the career I wish to pursue.

In the end my decision was definite: I wanted to be an owl at F.A.U.! I have now been accepted and plan to attend in the fall of 2012. I feel that without the guidance and enrichment I gained from S.E.C.M.E. my choice would have been a lot harder. I’m so much more prepared since I know the basics of engineering, such as planning, technical drawings, reports, and some basic mechanics. I will be proud when I trade my Seminole Ridge Hawk wings for those of Florida Atlantic Owls and I plan to soar to my highest potential and graduate with not only a bachelors, but a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. I hope to be a part of S.E.C.M.E.’s future as well. Because it is S.E.C.M.E. that “STEMulated” my mind, and S.E.C.M.E. that has helped me “Plan It – Build It – Live It!”