With spring session and finals over for the semester, many BMCC students are eager to start their summer vacation. But behind the doors of a science classroom at BMCC, just days after final exams were completed, a group of students were learning about DNA sequences and molecular biology.
These students weren’t taking summer classes or cramming for a late exam—these students are members of CSTEP, and they recently completed a 4-week science internship under the advisement of BMCC science professors Lalitha S. Jayant and Nanette Van Loon, who is the program coordinator.
CSTEP, which stands for Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, is jointly sponsored by BMCC and the New York State Education Department. It is an academic enrichment program for college students who are interested in science.
CSTEP fosters their success, and prepares them for professional careers in medicine, science, technology and math.
The CSTEP program at BMCC serves undergraduates, graduates, and professional students. In order to be accepted into the CSTEP program, a full-time student who is interested in science must apply for the program and meet certain academic criteria.
Summer Science Interns Focus on DNA Sequences
BMCC has approximately 50 students enrolled in the CSTEP program, and 7 of these students worked with Profs. Jayant and Van Loon for four weeks, from 10 a.m. to 5p.m., Monday to Thursday, as CSTEP Molecular Biology summer interns. This particular internship had a focus on biomedical technology.
“I’m on the track to becoming a nurse practitioner,” says student Ebony Simpson, a CSTEP student and intern. Simpson first saw a flier on the BMCC campus for this particular CSTEP internship and decided to apply for it. “I was lacking on the math side of things. I wanted to strengthen my math skills in this program.”
One of the requirements for CSTEP is to complete a science internship. This is one of the reasons why Van Loon wanted to form an on-campus CSTEP internship program for BMCC students. Most CSTEP students hear about the CSTEP program itself from their science professors, who encourage them to apply.On the last day of their on-campus internships, each student intern talked about a different DNA sequence to the rest of the class, discussing its structure and what type of gene it is. They learned how to use the Web to find gene sequences.
The student interns also were given homework assignments throughout the four-weeks that focused on molecular biology.
According to Van Loon, CSTEP internships can help science students focus on a career path. “A lot of students who study science want to become a doctor,” she says. “With an internship, they can find out about other things in the medical and science industry and they may change their minds about what they want to study.”
Program “good way to meet other students”
CSTEP intern Tarin Shaw wants to one day go Pre-Med. “We get to execute the techniques we only just talked about in the classroom,” says Shaw. “With this internship, we learned so much more than we did in class, and it’s hands-on. You go beyond what you learn in the classroom.”
Kwame Amin, also one of this year’s CSTEP interns, says that this internship program “broadens your horizons about what you can do.” Amin also says that joining CSTEP and applying for an internship program is a great way to meet new friends at BMCC who can help you academically throughout the program.
“Doing a CSTEP internship is a good way to meet other students at BMCC who are interested in what you’re interested in,” agrees Shaw. “Also, this internship in molecular biology helped me to remember some stuff about biology I learned in the past, but forgot about.”
This is the first time that BMCC has introduced a summer internship program for CSTEP students, although some CSTEP students have interned at other schools in New York that had a CSTEP internship program.
Students can also transfer into the CSTEP program at another college so long as they maintain the requirements to stay in the program. In the future, Prof. Jayant will be the BMCC CSTEP internship coordinator.
