Science Alliance Meetings!

We’re officially five out of six meetings into Science Alliance this year, and it finally feels like things are super smooth.

The first few meetings were all about getting every buddy’s project approved. We had to make sure their questions were testable, their variables were clear, and that they had a realistic way to collect quantitative data. A lot of them start with big ideas like “How does sleep affect people?” and we have to help them narrow it down into something measurable and doable. Watching them refine their ideas has honestly been one of my favorite parts.

Now that projects are approved, we’ve shifted into making sure everyone is actually on track with their reports. We’ve been checking in on background research and data collection, reminding them to record numbers consistently, and helping them turn raw data into actual graphs and conclusions. There’s a big difference between “I have an idea” and “I have results.”

Managing the club as president has been busy but really rewarding. There are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes that people don’t always see. Planning meetings, coordinating each officer, communicating with the advisor, mentors, buddies, and parents, etc. But each meeting has genuinely been getting better. The officers are more confident, the buddies are more engaged, and the overall energy just feels stronger. We’ve started officer applications for next year. We’ve been interviewing candidates, asking about what they’d bring to the team, as well as some fun questions like those from the USC quick takes.

Our egg drop experiment during Meeting #3!

And today was probably the highlight so far: elephant toothpaste. I actually spearheaded that experiment last year with our Activities Coordinator, so seeing it happen again was such a full-circle moment. This year it was even better. It’s one of those experiments that never gets old, and it reminds me why hands-on science matters.

I’m so excited to see how the last meeting and Science Fair unfold!

- AnthroManTalks