C. Braun ‘23 Participates in Columbia University’s Pre-College Summer Immersion Program and Harvard's Summer School

For Golden Knights, learning stretches beyond the confines of the classroom — even during summer break! This summer, C. Braun ‘23 spent two weeks participating in Columbia University’s Pre-College Summer Immersion Program, followed by two weeks at Harvard Summer School, a rigorous immersion program offered on Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, MA. To gain acceptance into each program, Braun submitted transcripts, requested recommendations from faculty, compiled a comprehensive list of extracurriculars, and completed eight essays between the two applications.

During the online immersion program at Columbia, Braun, an “avid STEM fan,” engaged through two courses: Big Data, Machine Learning, and Their Real World Applications and Introduction to Java. Through the experience, she “got a good look into the college workload [and] in the end, constructed a Java program [...] and a linear regression model in Python that predicted CLI.” Noted Braun, “My overall experience was fantastic. The people I worked with were so helpful [...]  and my professors were very knowledgeable and intriguing.”

During her time on campus at Harvard, Braun took an astrophysics course, Nucleosynthesis: The Origins of Elements. Living on campus with three roommates, she explored Cambridge, studied in Widener Library, and engaged with fellow students from Germany, Sweden, France, England, Puerto Rico, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Brazil, among others. Noted Braun, “The program was so extremely diverse, and every person I met had such unique talents and interests [...] The course load, the independence, and the people really introduced me to what college life will be like. Everyone I met inspired me to keep working hard towards my goals and the overall experience let me know that this is the kind of environment I want [...] I can’t express enough how much of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this was and how grateful I am to have been accepted into such a prestigious program. It was truly one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had.” Added Braun, who counted the glass plate collection in the Center for Astrophysics and the stacks of Widener Library, with its moving bookshelves, as her favorite places on campus, “it was also just so cool to buzz into places with my Harvard University ID!”

In addition to her summer coursework, Braun is spreading her passion for STEM to the masses. Check out her math blog, When Am I Going To Use This?, where she and guest writers highlight the relevance and real-world use cases of STEM-related topics. Click here to view the blog!