High School Summer Research Program

On June 22, 2015, I was heading towards the Engineering IV building on the UCLA campus; it seemed like my first day of school because I had no clue of what might happen or what type of people I would meet. But I was actually going to the first day of an engineering summer program called High School Summer Research Program (HSSRP). For the next eight weeks, I was immersed in the world of graduate research, which was a challenge that I felt was necessary in order to learn the true nature of engineering.
Working in the electrical engineering department with two other students from different high schools, we had to work as a group to design, fabricate, and test a Quasi-Yagi antenna. Not only did we have conduct research, we also had to present

But this fear then disappeared as I progressed in my understanding of antennas. This was still a challenge in of itself since I had to act as my own teacher; although my lab supervisor was always present to guide me through the project, I had to seek a deeper, more comprehensive understanding on my own.
Instead of having specific directions like a typical high school project, I had to research topics which were foreign to me like electromagnetism and microwave antenna design. Overcoming this challenge made me proud because I was able to gain a basic understanding of how antennas work in an independent environment away from any high school-like teachers.
Not only did I experience how intriguing and engaging research is, I also learned how it can sometimes lead to a dead-end. I experienced this when my group’s progress staggered while designing the main components of the antenna. There would be weeks where I had to come into the lab knowing that we were still unable to solve the problem at hand, even if we had a greater understanding of how Quasi-Yagi antennas