ULM President's Academy Gets Underway

The ULM President’s Academy is underway.

Fifty top high school students from five states are on campus to get a taste of university life.

And, the students like what they see.

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            <td><img src="http://www.kedm.org/sites/www.kedm.org/files/images/President's%20Academy%20Chemistry%20Lab.medium%20(300px).jpg" width="300" height="212" /></td>
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            <td style="text-align: center">ULM President's Academy Chemistry Lab</td>
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</table>About 20 high school students participate in a chemistry experiment in a ULM laboratory.

Some of the students are local, some are from out of state; all of them want careers in science.

Hanna Strange is from Sterlington. She’s interested in learning science and applying it to international politics.

“I actually want to go into a certain field of diplomacy where science is your second expertise. And so I would be basically the in between person between the scientist and the public or the people in the embassies.”

Hanna is one of 50 students participating in the week-long college prep program. The students are touring local businesses that employ scientists and doing related work in campus classrooms and laboratories. The students are also working on solutions to solve a mock pandemic.

Dr. Laura Beal is in charge of instructing the budding chemists.  

“All of these students expressed an interest in the physical science, and most are rising juniors and seniors. So several of them have already taken chemistry and already have an interest in it. Some of them – it’s something they haven’t had a chance to explore yet and they wanted a chance to dig into it here.”   

Spencer Barrett is one such student. He’s a high school junior from Kilgore, Texas. Barrett says that the experience has been a productive one.   

“It’s helped me a lot because we get to do hands on and actually be able to work and do things like what it would be like to be a chemist. And also we get to be surrounded by professionals and experts in the field. And so they get to demonstrate and also tell us how the field is.”

Barrett says that his time in the President’s Academy has him thinking about ULM as a destination once he graduates from high school.

“It wasn’t something I looked at before, but this has definitely made me look more at the curriculum they have and the different majors, and especially the campus because I’m attending it.”

The program wraps up Friday, July 13.