While college application fervor is coming to a close for MSMS seniors, students from both grades are now preparing for the upcoming two-plus months of summer.  From posters hanging in Hooper to counselor emails, information on summer programs and other education opportunities is everywhere. Last year, I spent the last two weeks of my summer (and the first few days of the school year) at the “Science, Policy and Innovation” session of the Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) program based in New Haven, Conn.

During my two-week stay, I lived in Yale’s oldest residential college Jonathan Edwards, and learned with a diverse group of students from across the globe. In seminars and lectures lead by Yale faculty and students, I learned about international issues and developments ranging from the global efforts to combat climate change to the viral infection process of HIV. YYGS offered two other sessions focusing on political science and international security at varying times during the summer. This year there are six total sessions focusing on various topics in sciences and global affairs.

During the program, I also got the chance to make connections with other high school students from vastly different backgrounds and cultures; from daily dinners in the dining hall to an end-of-the-session talent, conversations and interactions were nearly as educational as the official lectures. For an MSMS student, YYGS was a more global version of what we experience in the classrooms, residence halls and cafeteria (on a much more architecturally-impressive scale also).

This year, YYGS is hosting a similar “immersive week-long academic enrichment and skills-based practicum designed for outstanding high school students from around the world” in Singapore to allow students to experience “residential life at the state-of-the-art Yale-NUS College in Singapore,” according to the program’s blurb located at left. The YYGS-Singapore program begins in late May and ends in early June, allowing time for later summer activities. A full tuition need-based scholarship is also being offered to one student from the United States; to qualify students must reside in the U.S., have attended a U.S. high school and have completed the YYGS-Singapore application. Part of the reason I enjoyed YYGS was because the short two lecture-packed weeks gave me the opportunity to do other things whether it was summer research, camp-counselor work or family-oriented activities.

If I was planning on attending a summer program this upcoming June, I would likely apply to YYGS-Singapore or YYGS again, and when recommending a fun yet educational program to other students, I would give YYGS and its affiliate programs the highest recognition.