Like many ambitious high school students, I searched for activities to do over the summer to be productive and to supplement my college applications. I (or should I say my parents) found a program offered by Harvard University, called its "Secondary School Program" (SSP). Initially, I wasn't too keen on even participating, but given that my request for a research mentorship at Rockefeller University was declined twice, I took the offer, which was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

The main benefit of participating in this program is that high school students have the opportunity to take college-level classes at Harvard (I mean the legitimate credit-bearing college classes and not the zero credit pre-college enrichment classes offered by similar programs). I took an introductory biology class for seven weeks, which was eight credits. Each meeting was two hours long every day, along with eight hours of labs every week.

An eight credit class in the summer session meant that a full year's worth of material was being crammed into seven weeks, less than a quarter of a normal fall/spring semester. To describe the class pace as intensive would be an understatement, as we covered a chapter in the textbook with every class session (which meant reading from a dense textbook nightly). We were also given weekly problem sets that weren't collected but provided a good review of the material, which helped immensely for upcoming exams, which were difficult but doable if enough effort was given.

The professor, Dr. William Fixsen, was one of the best professors I've ever had. The way he presented the course material helped me understand biology on a level that none of my high school teachers could compete with. I didn't just want to take biology because I loved the subject; I wanted to hear more lectures and presentations by Dr. Fixsen. Going to his office hours was a very good idea on my part because I initially struggled with mapping two-three linked genes, and these sessions were excellent. The TAs were extremely helpful as well and ran the laboratory component of the class.

In the lab, we performed several experiments, such as measuring chloroplast activity by adding it to methylene blue and measuring the absorbance as light was added, as well as a multi-day experiment on yeast genetics and genetic mapping. However, my favorite lab activities involve anatomy and dissections, so when we were assigned a rat dissection, my heart was bursting with joy. Each lab concluded with a report or a quiz, which would be graded by the TA and then returned.

Unfortunately, I didn't make the most of my experience at Harvard, as I was mostly a shut-in cooped up in his room who had less than five friends. I did that for good reason, because my class was genuinely very hard given the fast pace. I spent most of my time outside of class simply studying for my exams, which meant that I reread my notes and tried to do problem set questions. I would make sure I understood every component of the material being tested thoroughly as opposed to just memorizing the material, which came in handy for my exams. Through my hard work and grit, I thrived in the class, earning an A (no grade inflation here!)

Harvard claimed that my course would satisfy the biology requirement needed for medical school, which meant that successful completion would let me take one less pre-med requirement in college. Even after I couldn't use the class to skip classes at Stony Brook despite receiving all the credit, I'm still grateful for what Harvard helped me learn with its extensive resources. I want to go into Stony Brook and use the knowledge I gained from Harvard to help me get a head start in my biology classes as I currently pursue a biochemistry degree.