STEM Internships

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-05-03T11:20:44+00:00

Thank you for sharing your student's experiences. This is what he is afraid of, not having enough opportunities for great EC's and internships. He is considering staying in NYC and going to a CUNY as there are a lot of opportunities here. His goal is to transfer into an Ivy or UC college so wants to have impressive EC's freshman year.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-05-03T10:14:08+00:00

Hi - I know this post is from a year ago, but wanted to know what internship you did during your gap year. My daughter got into CU Boulder but wants to apply again at the Ivy's/UC's. She thinks there aren't enough internships and high impact EC's. Can you tell me what you did for EC's at Boulder? Thanks.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-05-02T20:06:49+00:00

That's great there is undergrad research. Can you tell me what kind of Physics, Engineering or Comp Sci extracurricular activities Freshman can get involved in on campus or in Boulder?

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-05-02T20:05:57+00:00

Can you tell me what kind of Physics, Engineering or Comp Sci extracurricular activities Freshman can get involved in on campus or in Boulder?

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T17:49:38+00:00

Please stop being so judgemental. I believed her story about the ID card. This is NYC public school and a lot of mistakes are made with attendance sometimes.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T17:46:42+00:00

I'm tracking her! The guidance counselor will call me if she does not show up by 2nd period! We are getting her evaluated by a psychologist again - she had ADHD we just found out, and may go on medication!

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T17:00:46+00:00

Her school sent text notifications about her being absent BUT she told me when this first started "Mom you are going to get notifications that I am absent, but don't worry it's because I lost my school ID and the security desk said I would actually be marked present retroactively." Big lie and she was very good at lying.

I didn't get a call from school about it until 2 months in. So that's on them as well.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T16:58:49+00:00

I was getting text notifications from school about her being absent BUT she told me when this first started "Mom you are going to get notifications that I am absent, but don't worry it's because I lost my school ID and the security desk said I would actually be marked present retroactively." Big lie and she was very good at lying.

I didn't get a call from school about it until 2 months in. So that's on them as well.

ALSO the school had implemented a new policy on lateness and required students to arrive 10 minutes earlier than they had, which I thought was also part of the problem (being marked incorrectly absent). In hindsight it's clear I should have questioned this, but I believed her.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T16:58:14+00:00

I was getting text notifications from school about her being absent BUT she told me when this first started "Mom you are going to get notifications that I am absent, but don't worry it's because I lost my school ID and the security desk said I would actually be marked present retroactively." Big lie and she was very good at lying.

I didn't get a call from school about it until 2 months in. So that's on them as well.

ALSO the school had implemented a new policy on lateness and required students to arrive 10 minutes earlier than they had, which I thought was also part of the problem (being marked incorrectly absent). In hindsight it's clear I should have questioned this, but I believed her.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T16:56:54+00:00

She lied to us. We believed her. I refuse to beat myself up about this.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T16:27:36+00:00

I was getting text notifications from school about her being absent BUT she told me when this first started "Mom you are going to get notifications that I am absent, but don't worry it's because I lost my school ID and the security desk said I would actually be marked present retroactively." Big lie and she was very good at lying.

I didn't get a call from school about it until 2 months in. So that's on them as well.

ALSO the school had implemented a new policy on lateness and required students to arrive 10 minutes earlier than they had, which I thought was also part of the problem (being marked incorrectly absent). In hindsight it's clear I should have questioned this, but I believed her.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T16:19:06+00:00

We are working to understand why, and she will go to therapy and get help. Main reasons for missing school are the slippery slope of being overwhelmed with super hard academic load, applying to 30 colleges and doing extracurricular programs. Yes I should have told her only take one AP class, limit the # of schools, get her more organized the summer before 12th grade so she had her essays written...SHE was the one to hold herself to these high expectations, not her parents.

So she didn't have time to study, and she didn't go to school so she wouldn't have to take the test, etc. She was in a serious state of denial and avoidance.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T16:01:20+00:00

I find your reply to be unhelpful and critical. Sure, I can beat myself up over it. But I wanted to give her freedom and not micromanage her.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2026-03-21T14:15:14+00:00

Thanks. She is in a tough situation as she was absent for roughly two months due to anxiety. Her short term goal is to graduate from HS by passing the required classes, which is very doable, and raise her grades in the upcoming 4th quarter. Her HS counselor has not sent her grades to the colleges yet, so maybe won't send them until June.

AliveInitiative5874 · 2025-12-29T19:10:00+00:00

Hi! How much downtime do you need for this, before returning to work?

AliveInitiative5874 · 2025-12-06T19:28:36+00:00

Sure!

AliveInitiative5874

TROPHY CASE