My name is David Morse, and I’m 18 years old. I’ve lived my entire life in Bay Terrace in Queens, NY with my parents, and since I was 5 years old, my little sister, Hannah. I went to elementary school at P.S. 169Q and then Middle School at I.S. 25. Although like any other kid, I never liked going to school for the work, I did however like going to see my friends and to have a good time with them. None of this compares however to the love I have for my, recently former, high school, The Bronx High School of Science. I went there for the last four years, graduating this year.
I absolutely loved my time at Bronx Science. In addition to school work, I spent a lot of times in extra-curricular activities. I was on the Speech and Debate team for all four years, doing Lincoln-Douglass debate for all four, and adding in Extemporaneous Speaking for my last two years. I loved debate and the places it took me. Because of debate, I went to tournaments in Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and even Minnesota where we took a fun excursion to the Mall of America. Debate even took me for my first time to the west coast in Los Angeles where I attended debate camp at UCLA (It’s not as nerdy as it sounds).
At high school I also participated in the Intel Program where I volunteered for three years in Dr. Eric C. Greene’s Lab at Columbia University Graduate School working on an independent research program. In the end, even though I didn’t win, I had a great experience, wrote a paper about “The Construction of Fluorescently Tagged BRC3 and BRC4 repeats from BRCA2,” and realized that I want to be a researcher when I grow up. This helped set me up for my next phase of my life, COLLEGE!!! I will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in the fall within the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, PA. There, I will be pursuing a double major of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. I also plan to pursue a minor in Economics. My experience has helped me plan this out to the point that I even know that after college I want to enter a MD/PhD Program, even if it means another 7-8 years of school after college (Ok, fine I am a little bit of a nerd).
I attended the New Jersey 1 trip as a chaperone, however this was my first time really camping out and doing a bunch of these activities, so in many respects, I was also a student. I had a great time on this trip, even if it was difficult at times. I’ve always loved climbing those fake rock walls at camp and other places, so to be able to climb a real rock was a dream come true for me. For me however, my favorite part was being able to get out of the hustle and bustle of modern life. Yes, I missed my music and most of all my friends, but I loved being able to look up and actually seeing the stars, or just sitting and listening to nature around me. It helped me think through a lot of things in my life and it was so amazingly peaceful and relaxing.
I became involved with Camp Interactive actually through another extra-curricular activity of mine, ARISTA. ARISTA is the Bronx Science chapter of the National Honor Society. My senior year I was elected as President and along with the faculty advisor, Renata Paolercio, helped to run the organization. Part of what we did was to help Camp Interactive start up their after-school tutoring program. So I actually started at Camp Interactive with my friends as a tutor. That was such a great experience and because I loved the entire Camp Interactive organization, I stayed for the summer as an assistant, and participated in this New Jersey trip. I don’t regret any of this and I thank Camp Interactive immensely for giving me this great experience.
I absolutely loved my time at Bronx Science. In addition to school work, I spent a lot of times in extra-curricular activities. I was on the Speech and Debate team for all four years, doing Lincoln-Douglass debate for all four, and adding in Extemporaneous Speaking for my last two years. I loved debate and the places it took me. Because of debate, I went to tournaments in Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and even Minnesota where we took a fun excursion to the Mall of America. Debate even took me for my first time to the west coast in Los Angeles where I attended debate camp at UCLA (It’s not as nerdy as it sounds).
At high school I also participated in the Intel Program where I volunteered for three years in Dr. Eric C. Greene’s Lab at Columbia University Graduate School working on an independent research program. In the end, even though I didn’t win, I had a great experience, wrote a paper about “The Construction of Fluorescently Tagged BRC3 and BRC4 repeats from BRCA2,” and realized that I want to be a researcher when I grow up. This helped set me up for my next phase of my life, COLLEGE!!! I will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in the fall within the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, PA. There, I will be pursuing a double major of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. I also plan to pursue a minor in Economics. My experience has helped me plan this out to the point that I even know that after college I want to enter a MD/PhD Program, even if it means another 7-8 years of school after college (Ok, fine I am a little bit of a nerd).
I attended the New Jersey 1 trip as a chaperone, however this was my first time really camping out and doing a bunch of these activities, so in many respects, I was also a student. I had a great time on this trip, even if it was difficult at times. I’ve always loved climbing those fake rock walls at camp and other places, so to be able to climb a real rock was a dream come true for me. For me however, my favorite part was being able to get out of the hustle and bustle of modern life. Yes, I missed my music and most of all my friends, but I loved being able to look up and actually seeing the stars, or just sitting and listening to nature around me. It helped me think through a lot of things in my life and it was so amazingly peaceful and relaxing.
I became involved with Camp Interactive actually through another extra-curricular activity of mine, ARISTA. ARISTA is the Bronx Science chapter of the National Honor Society. My senior year I was elected as President and along with the faculty advisor, Renata Paolercio, helped to run the organization. Part of what we did was to help Camp Interactive start up their after-school tutoring program. So I actually started at Camp Interactive with my friends as a tutor. That was such a great experience and because I loved the entire Camp Interactive organization, I stayed for the summer as an assistant, and participated in this New Jersey trip. I don’t regret any of this and I thank Camp Interactive immensely for giving me this great experience.
