In the PASH summer opportunity, I can take what I learned from the PASH program and apply it to the research program. Seeing what dermatologists and doctors learn, opened my eyes to what it would be like to do this myself. I liked the hands-on experiments and the reward you get after experimenting. I was able to see and identify warts under a microscope. It was cool to see that. When I go to college that is something I want to do. I don’t know exactly what job I want to have but I know I want to do something hands-on. The PASH program showed me that jobs like that exist and are something that I can do in the future.  

–10^th grade Black woman 

I never knew waking up at 7 am to catch the 8:10 bus for 4 Saturdays would be the highlight of my day. For every Monday that rolled around, I couldn’t help but wish it was Saturday again so I could attend my PASH workshop. Every Saturday was as blissful and exciting as the next. There was a whole new world of learning to be uncovered the minute I stepped foot on the elevator and up to the 10th floor.  During the PASH program, I got the opportunity to learn and hear from many different outstanding dermatologists and skin experts [and] the privilege of using my knowledge that PASH has given me to educate my teachers and peers about skin health. Like, come on, what other 10th grader was given the privilege of looking at a basal cell carcinoma under a microscope.

–10^th grade Black woman

During the PASH workshop, I was able to learn about the skin through many valuable lectures and labs, as well as gain experience working with research equipment. My favorite labs were when I swabbed my hand DNA on an agar plate, used PCR on a bacteria colony for amplification and genotyping, loaded agarose gels for viewing, and sequenced the bacteria by doing a BLAST search. The lectures were very informative and helped me to gain a keen understanding of the structure and diseases of the skin, as well as expand my overall knowledge in various specialties. 

–10^th grade Latinx woman 

Ultimately, I hope that the summer research and PASH gives me a leg up during my future career in medicine from the extensive knowledge and experience PASH and the summer research will bring. Secondly, I could use the college prep sessions talked about in the summer research opportunity. As opportunities like this are hard to come by, and due to the limited help I do have from my family on this topic, I would be grateful to get accepted into the OER Summer Internship program. Lastly, I would be extremely thankful and overly thrilled to work with the mentors in PASH again, or perhaps even meet new mentors and friends; as through PASH, I was able to gain many new friends and mentors. 

–11^th grade Asian man