NextGen Innovations Organization: NextGen Innovations is an after-school club where students can investigate issues around the globe and come up with solutions using concepts of STEM. We compete in many competitions, and finally as of 2023, we have gotten a great advisor that got us signed for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition. The current project is finding out a way to build a microplastic filtration device that can go into the ocean and clean up plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters.
EcoTech Research Club: We are a club that wishes to do research upon the current status of climate change and all the systems involved. We have presented a Climate Interactive slides presentation on Climate Systems, and even competed in Eco-Schools 2023 this year. Our current focus is to investigate energy sources, water in the tap, recycling, and green industry and thus papers will be made, hopefully published. Right now, I am acting as Homero Gómez González for Hispanic Heritage Month and there are plans to do more art-related activities. Climate change can have a spiritual connection without images of destruction, rather images of hope and understand that humans will always find a way.
Student Council: Student Council shaped me as an individual to become a leader in my school and district. We set up activities from Senior Sunrise, Senior Sunset, Homecoming Dances, Halloween Parties, Thanksgiving Drives, December Holidays, Valentines Day, Prom, and the Winter and Summer Spirit Days. The president has the job to make sure that all jobs are assigned, all announcements are set up, the club is maintaining its rules, members are all involved, and that all work is delegated evenly to all members. The current project is setting up Winter Spirit week, Thanksgiving Drive, and Halloween's Trunk or Treat.
Speech and Debate Team: Speech and Debate is a more fun-related club that is mainly a game for the Newark Tech students. I spend about 4 hours a week after school in the club with many hours of research beyond it. I do Policy Debate which requires me to talk very fast, clear, come up with arguments on the fly, and do loads of research. I spend about 15 hours a week on research, but mainly in terms of other clubs because Climate Change is a huge concern in all Policy Decisions. I combine club initiatives for Debate arguments. This year's topic is about reallocation of tax-payer dollars, and I think that many arguments can be made that are slightly out of the box to answer such a resolution.
SkillsUSA: In 2020, I was the only person competing in SkillsUSA for Newark Tech, and it was there I did Medical Math. SkillsUSA is a fun competition mainly for vocational or trade high schools. For the past two years and this year included, I will be competing in the Entrepreneurship competitions for no reason besides this is a skill I will need to learn to see my ideas come to life in the real world. My team is great, and we have a lot of fun writing business plans, making logos, and coming up with products.
National Honors Society (NHS): I was inducted into the NHS as a Junior, and it is in this club that under the new advisor, events can finally come to life. There are plans being made for coat drives, can drives, scholarship opportunities for all students to sign up, beautifying the school, and tutoring for younger classmen.
Chess Club: This was my go-to club for a while. I love the game of chess with a passion, and it was here that I met many friends that would be my study partners to Co-Finding EcoTech Research. There was a rivalry between another student named Max Gomez and I about who was the best chess player: we still don't know, the streak of both is a tie.
Volunteering/Shadowing: The bulk of my volunteering hours come from my time at RWJBarnabas Clara Maass Medical Center. Each time I visit, I experience new people, new types of people, see the sides of professionals I have not seen before, and at the end, my dream of being a doctor becomes stronger with every visit. I have explored every inch of the hospital from the cafeteria, front lobby, same-day-surgery lobby, operating rooms, to post-operation rooms, and medical billing. I also volunteer in my school for many after school activities to get experiences I would not have otherwise. I also tutor a wide variety of students on subject matters from chemistry, calculus, and trigonometry. I also participate in climate protests where I have met the Bangladesh Environment Network's global coordinators. I have received so many lessons, tips, and connections from just volunteering.
Rutgers MiniMed Program: My medical assisting teacher knew of many programs, and when he presented MiniMed, I was on board. Over here, we experience a snip-it of a medical school in classes taught by real medical students. We have a lecture, a case study, and then a meeting with a real doctor who will ask about their field, life, and journey to where they are now.
Graduation Committee: I chose the Graduation Committee because it ensures that every student gets to be well prepared for the speeches they speak and songs they will sing, and, overall, make the graduation party a blast. We are coming up with activities to make this graduation party better than the last, and we are currently coming up with a theme of this year’s graduation. We work with the Spirit Week Committee to ensure that we compile a well-planned schedule of events, allowing for the year to progress smoothly and making it enjoyable for everyone involved.
OSRS Senior Peer Mentoring Program: This program is for seniors to volunteer to become mentors to incoming freshmen in the school. We provide academic, social, and emotional support for the students where we provide resources, opportunities, and programs that the students can do. My group has a good mix of students from many backgrounds, and I always do my homework to make sure that each student can understand the journey they would have to take to reach that path. I have gotten 8 students, and these 8 students are the future of many legacies in Newark Tech, and with the right resources, their wildest dreams can come true. It is my goal to make sure that the success they get doesn't end with a cap and gown.
AEOP/HSSRI: During the summer of 2023, I was a part of two programs in NJIT. In AEOP, I was an apprentice to a graduate researcher. I got to go hands-on for splitting cells, organic synthesis of drugs, and using the drugs to kill cervical cancer cells. In HSSRI, I was doing research communication and the research for AEOP had to be presented to other scholars of the HSSRI program for a potential cure to certain types of cancer that can be exposed to light such as the skin. The overall research was about the fundamental cause of cancer regarding the lysosomes and an alternative cure that is not as harmful to healthy cells such as chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.
Princeton WEB Du Bois Scholars Institute: The WEB Du Bois Scholars Institute allows students to gain exposure to the different scientific tracks to learn about their passions. I was a part of both the medical and biomedical tracks, of which I have performed different activities, giving me much experience that really benefited me with knowledge that will be used in the future.
Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA - Future Health Professionals): HOSA is an organization in my school I am a part of that allows students in the Medical-CTE (Career and Technological Education) to practice medical topics from Medical Math to nursing simulation.
VEX Robotics Team: I was a part of the VEX Robotics team in 2020 where I built my own Clawbot. I assisted the Robotics club at times when I am free, but my other clubs extend to hours far beyond school ending, so I don't have time anymore. When I was a part of it, I learned how to code a little bit in python and learned the fundamental mechanics for VEX robots.
School/District Stakeholder: Me and few other students are the Newark Tech's representative of the student body. The administration would have a rundown of the budgeting and attendance rate of student, but when testing becomes a topic, I fought for a SAT tutoring program to bring up district scores. I also fought for a change in the Algebra 2 curriculum to be more specific to the tests presented and modernized for increased scores and better preparation for Precalculus and Calculus.
For Us By Us Club/Programming Committee In 9th grade, I was offered an interview for a club that was a separate faction of Student Council. It was here that I discovered my poster making ability. I also helped form websites and projects that would help jump-start Social and Emotional Learning activities to improve student SAT scores by over 150 points on average and continue Hispanic Heritage Month as well as Black History Month during the Covid-19 pandemic. I got to host Hispanic Heritage Month in 2020, which was an experience that really took me out of my comfort zone. Our most important project was Human Trafficking Awareness Week, which warned the residents of Newark the locations and tactics of human traffickers.
·Video Competitions: I have participated in a few competitions such as Eco-Schools 2023, Breakthrough Junior 2022, STEAM TANK 2021, and Veritasium Contest 2021. I made many attempts with many styles to make the most effective video. Out of all these competitions Breakthrough Junior has a special place in my heart. I was always a physics nerd, and in this project, I got to learn about Quantum Field Theory, String Theory, and the equations that made the Planck Length, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and explain the Planck Length and its significance in a span of 1 minute 30 seconds. This was a stressful challenge but was a blast to make.
