The Appalachian STEM Academy is a program where kids from across Appalachian get a chance to go to Oak Ridge for a one week long academic camp. When you’re there, you get opportunities to go to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which has the world’s 2nd fastest supercomputer and had lots to do with WWII.
While we were there, we stayed at Comfort Inn, the hotel was pretty comfy. In the mornings we would eat breakfast, go to the classroom which was just down the road at Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). Then we would do various things after that such as games, group rotations, or going places. The group rotations were AI, 3D printing, and city planning. A few places we went were Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a silent disco, a riverboat cruise, and an escape room. We went to a college the first full day there where we went into this forest type setup where many obstacles had been set up to test our teamwork. We were also given lunch and dinner every day which was usually really good. We would usually go back to the hotel after these activities. We got to play games or swim for about an hour before having to go back to the rooms. I never went swimming or played games because my bed was pretty comfortable.
Overall, it was pretty enjoyable despite the homesickness the first few days. Having the opportunity to go to one of the most important cities in America, in terms of research, is quite awesome to think about. Not only that, we went to a science museum that taught us about science and energy, mostly around stuff in Oak Ridge, which was very interesting. The entire week was something I won’t forget and I appreciate being able to do it.
(The Appalachian STEM Academy was held in July, hosted by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities in Oak Ridge, TN. The program is a gateway to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for students residing in the Appalachian region. He worked with award winning scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to conduct guided group science, math, computer science and technology research projects.)
