2024-2025 EVOLUTIONS REFLECTION
By Emeka Oguagha and Sahithi Aliminate
Since receiving our EVOLUTIONS acceptance letters, we were so excited to get started as we’ve heard such great things about this program from prior alumni. We were excited for all the opportunities in this program including college preparation, research internships, museum jobs, and educational field trips. Also, since EVO is open to all New Haven/West Haven Public School students, we knew that we would get the opportunity to meet new people and make friends. For instance, we did a team activity where we a college of our choice and create a poster with specific information about that college including tuition after financial aid, popular majors, mascot, location, etc. I felt that this activity was really fun because it got us working with new people and let us learn about what everyone is interested in, in terms of college and areas of study.
Towards the start of the program, in order to gauge interest of what galleries and exhibits we’re all interested in. Along with our group, we were told to email the teachers with a couple exhibits that we found interesting, and specific objects we found cool. For example, some exhibits many were interested in included anthropology and even the herpetology collections (where we saw a bunch of lizards and a giant bin with crocodiles - it smelt great!)
During the program, we had opportunities to view the inner workings of the museum. For instance, we got to see video creations/animation of ancient objects in the museum, we asked them questions about how they got to where there are, what software they used, and similar questions along the lines. We also learned that they did podcasts too. Additionally, we got the opportunity to visit the UCONN Storrs campus. On this trip, we were guided by a tour guide who showed us some of UCONN’s popular spaces, labs, stadiums, and dorms. We were able to have lunch at one of the dining halls, which was so delicious (there were so many options). Furthermore, we learned about what makes UCONN unique, the admissions process, and course selections (specifically UCONN’s wide range of concentrations and studies). We ended the day off with ice cream at the dairy bar, which was also very delicious! Overall, it was a great experience!
All in all, this semester of EVO was definitely a memorable experience as we got to meet new people, make friends, participate in college preparation activities, and learn about the different exhibits in the Yale Peabody Museum.
One specific aspect that we enjoy about coming to this program every week is that we are encouraged to work in groups and collaborate with others!