Jupin Malhi writes:

I have participated in the Dallas Science Fair since 7th grade, and I am now a Biology major at Southern Methodist University. It has taken 6 years, but I have finally come to understand the complete impact of Science Fair in so many aspects of my life. I was lucky early on to have been exposed to advanced research experiences, and I worked on two different projects during my years with the Science Fair, both based intensely in electron microscopy.

During middle school, I won an Honorable Mention each year. During high school, I got increasingly independent in my project, I started realizing the great responsibility of a young researcher. The expectations seemed to loom above me from every angle: my mentor, my parents, my teachers. I can't begin to count the many times I shed tears over the failure of an experiment or the spontaneous decisions I made to give up on research altogether. It's hard to imagine the emotional involvement that science sometimes creates. Nonetheless, I stuck it through, and presented a continuously improving project year after year. I can't deny that I got the results I wanted, slowly but surely. Freshman year, I won 2nd place in Botany in the Senior Division and was thrilled. I finally got to see what was so special about that Awards Banquet!

The year after, my sophomore year of high school, I began a completely new project under the mentorship of researchers in the Microbiology Department at UTD. I won first place [at the Dallas Regional Science & Engineering Fair]. I was invited to attend the International Science and Engineering Fair in Portland, Oregon. That is, without a doubt, the most influential experience of my life, to this day. During that one week, I met the most awe-inspiring students from 40 different countries around the world. The 1300 projects, the 10 Nobel Laureates we met, the countless students I got to know (many of whom I still keep in touch with), made a difference in my life.

My last two years of high school, I continued with the Science Fair and was honored, my senior year, with the Priddy Young Scientist Award, sponsored by UT Southwestern. A team of MDs and PhDs from the medical school choose one project out of the Senior Division which they feel shows the most potential for the student. The award offers a 2 month internship in a research lab of the student's choice at UT Southwestern. Despite my initial fear that I wouldn't be able to step up to the expectations of the team from UT Southwestern, I found myself spending the summer before college working in the Mendelson Lab in the Biochemistry department at the medical school. That would have to be one of the most enriching experiences in my life. I spent my time among the company of people who had devoted their life to research, and were on the cutting edge of scientific discoveries internationally.

Although science fair technically ends in high school, it continues to be a part of my life. I was accepted into top-notch universities, including Ivy League schools, when applying for college. SMU and Austin College offered me the President's Scholarship, the highest merit-based scholarship at their universities; I was offered the prestigious McDermott Scholarship at UTD. Why? Because of my experience in research through Science Fair. I can't tell you how many college interviews ended up in discussions of my work and I sincerely believe and have been told time and time again that science fair played a big part in my success. It has put me a step above the rest: my experiences in research will obviously be attractive to medical schools, and will therefore help me pursue my dream. Despite the tears, the doubts, and the fears that often stemmed from Science Fair, I can only hope that I continue being a part of the Science Fair community, and, someday, find myself judging students just like me.

Jupin Kaur Malhi

Southern Methodist University

Undergraduate Student

Biology, Pre-Med