[Piano]
>> I'm Bidii.
So I just graduated from
Digital Harbor High School.
I'll be attending Towson University
this coming fall.
I'm an intern from the CARES program.
I'm working in the brain science
and we've been working on autism
spectrum disorder.
I'm really excited waking up every
morning to come to this job.
It's been really nice, it's really awesome.
>> Brown: CARES stands for career,
academic, and research experiences
for students.
This is an umbrella for all of the
summer research programs around the
east Baltimore campus that bring in
students from the high school level
all the way to the graduate level.
We're offering them a social network
and the opportunity to build
social capital.
Most of them don't have scientists
and medical professionals in their
family, so this provides them an
opportunity to see the possibilities.
Maybe some of them will not become
doctors or scientists,
but I can assure you this is an
experience they will never forget.
>> Destiny: Opportunities with clinical research
are valuable because it gives us a
chance to see what we'll be doing
in the future.
I feel like if more people
had the opportunity to
do that, it would make way for more
people for their dreams to come true.
>> Athena: I feel like I've been really
fortunate with this program because,
yes I've been spending my summer
working nine to five almost for my
entire summer, but I'm actually
contributing to something that is
bigger than me.
I'm contributing to scientific
research that hopefully in a few years
will reach the general public and
be mainstream.
That's just a feeling that is really
hard to grasp until you get back to
school in the fall and you're talking to
your classmates and you're seeing what
they did over the summer and you're like,
"well, I worked at Hopkins," and,
"I did this for this research study,"
and it's just an amazing feeling.
>> Franklyn: Doing the day-to-day
grind in the lab can definitely be
tedious.
Early hours, late nights,
but when you have a breakthrough
it's definitely exciting and it
really makes you feel like what
you're doing is worth it.
>> Athenia: The lab atmosphere has been
incredible.
Everyone here has been so welcoming,
but they've also each really been
willing to teach me and to guide me
if I need.
I've been really lucky to be placed in
the lab like this.
>> Brown: It's very transformative to
see the students not knowing anything
about the topic they're researching,
and then speaking at the end with authority.
>> Robinson: They grow immediately
in terms of their grades,
and they will go back and they will
infect all of their classmates and
family members with the enthusiasm and
potential that they now feel for
themselves.
>> Bidii: My parents, they're very
proud of me.
My whole family, they're very
proud of me.
>> Robinson: You know, science is hard.
Science is about trying something,
having it fail, keep trying, and
having it fail.
Maybe if you're a student who's
coming from a background where you've
had to struggle may actually benefit
you in the longrun in helping to be
able to endure.
>> Brown: These programs provide a
lifeline where they're able to
transcend any of those setbacks.
>> Destiny: I didn't have a
traditional upbringing.
I was born in my own home,
my mom delivered me by herself,
and she was just 15 years old when
she had me, so a lot of things in
my background wouldn't say
particularly that I'm supposed to
do what I'm doing right now, but
that doesn't define the success
that I can have.
>> Brown: Hopkins started out as
a very small hospital and really
did a wonderful job of extending
its message and its reach internationally.
It's really exciting that the focus
has returned to the community.
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