Did You Know You Wanted to be a Scientist at age Four?
From a young age, Jessica Kisunzu loved solving puzzles, this love for critical thinking eventually led her to find a passion for chemistry.
From a young age, Jessica Kisunzu loved solving puzzles and mysteries. She loved looking for clues that would help her put together the big picture, and this love for critical thinking eventually led her to find a passion for chemistry.
Her passion grew as Jessica began to volunteer for BASIS three and a half years ago, giving Jessica even more reasons to love science. Her favorite classroom science experience she gets to share with students is a demonstration of how gases take up space. She pours liquid nitrogen into a flask with a balloon attached to the top of the flask and the kids watch as the balloon fills up with the nitrogen gas.
She adds, “Kids love it and inevitably ask me to do it again… And again and again!”
Jessica and her team from the Sarpong Lab at UC Berkeley have their challenges, too.
“Sometimes, the students aren’t really interested in what we’re saying and it’s hard to get [the students] focused and engaged,” she says.
Still, Jessica believes getting kids exposed to the world around them is valuable.
“One time, a student asked me, ‘When you were 4 [years old], did you know you wanted to be a scientist?’ That question has stuck with me because it reminded me how much they think about the world around them and what they want to be as they're growing up,” she explains. “It’s so important to show them all the possibilities and get them excited about learning.”
Jessica has also volunteered at the Family Science Night put on by the American Chemical Society. Though different from BASIS as she worked with a wider age range of kids, Jessica notes that the opportunity to get students excited about science is the common driving thread.
Not only is she able to grow the kids’ excitement about science, working in classrooms reminds Jessica of the importance of looking at science concepts with fresh eyes.
“It’s so easy to lose some of the excitement about learning and Chemistry when you become focused on the intricate problems of a research project or a specific concept. Watching the kids make connections and ask questions reminds me to find new and relevant ideas.
Jessica’s volunteering experience has been “great,” she says. “Kids usually ask if they can eat the dry ice that we bring. One kid even asked, ‘What if we cut into little pieces?” she laughs. “Helping kids get excited about science helps me get even more excited about science.”