What do a 16-year-old immigrant from Bosnia and a 16-year-old Nigerian immigrant of extremely modest means have in common with the greatest scientists and inventors of all time?
They wake up every morning with the single-minded belief that anything -- yes, anything -- is possible.
What Raliat Abiola and Suad Causevic have in common with little old me is that we're all proud standard bearers of the Myrtle and the Gold -- Lane Tech High School Indians through and through -- and are all proud to call ourselves "Alphas," as part of the elite club that Lane Tech, lo all these many years later, still calls the Alpha Science and Engineering Program. And that's pretty much where the similarities end.
Unlike me, who nearly failed my accelerated Biology class freshman year due to an unfortunate incident in which I killed my science experiment, these two are going to change this world dramatically within our lifetimes.
I met them when I had the privilege of judging Lane Tech's science fair a few months ago. Amidst the projects on the sound wave patterns of electric guitars, the effects of food dye on mice, analyses of carbon particulate in our air and way-too-complex molecular-level experiments I could barely understand, these two really stuck with me.
Raliat, whose father -- well-known for helping others in their village -- died when she was just 10, gave me a stunningly passionate presentation on the effects of Eastern medicine on microbes, a science experiment very much out of the ordinary.
"Where I come from medicine is vastly different from the way Western medicine is administered here," she told me in her regal accent, referring to the panoply of holistic principles, herbs and other treatments that are the hallmarks of Eastern medicine. "I want to be a pioneer in this field, I'm setting out to prove that this is actually a form of science and it can help millions of people in the world."
Raliat stands a great chance -- she's already been singled out for scholarships, which she needs because her single mom is working toward her own degree and they need all the help they can get. And I've no doubt the future Dr. R. Abiola, who'll be spending the rest of the summer sharpening up her project for next year, will someday make major additions to the practically-non-existent literature out there comparing Eastern and Western medicine techniques.
Now Suad, he's waaay out there. Like, so brilliant that this weekend he'll be presenting his project "Keep it Cool" at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science Exposition in Urbana-Champaign. His breakthrough research -- the design for a cooling system for microprocessors -- has already drawn in university money and attention from big tech companies worldwide. The totally unassuming kid who does Taekwondo when he's not toying with molecular biology, is one of 62 students who won at the city science fair (10 are from Lane), and an alternate for the International Science and Engineering, Fair in Reno, Nevada, later this month.
"Basically, I designed a system that uses magnets and thermo-electricity to disperse the heat of the microprocessors in a computer with no fan, and therefore, no noise," Kausevic said.
Why?!
"Because a while ago my dad and I fried a computer because we overheated it, and I was thinking, 'liquid metals, nuclear reactions, no more fried boards.' I thought it would make a pretty fun science project." This is the kid's idea of "fun."
Now let me put it all into context for you: Lane Technical High School is one of the best schools in the city and has provided high-quality educational opportunities for more than 100 years. Lane is administering approximately 1,800 Advanced Placement exams this school year in 29 content areas. In fact, Lane submits more than 50 percent of all the AP Studio Art Portfolios in the City of Chicago.
It's truly a school of champions, and is one of the most diverse -- in race, ethnicity and family income -- high schools in Chicago. According to Assistant Principal Chris Dignam, the driving force behind reviving the Alpha program three years ago (it has grown to approximately 300 kids), "Lane Tech has the highest number of students at or below poverty level in any of the College Prep high schools in Chicago -- 60 percent -- and the highest percentage of Hispanic students in any of the College Prep High Schools in CPS, they make up 41-42 percent of the school population."
Dignam stresses the importance of his program passionately. "There is an alarming deficit with regard to the number of students exiting high school and going on to major in engineering, science and mathematics in the United States," Dignam said. "There are many talented, interested students of diverse backgrounds that are in need, and Alpha provides students a unique program that focuses on developing research skills, as well as reading and technical writing skills -- skills all students need to achieve and succeed in college and upon entering the workforce."
He's right. The number of kids going into science and math-based fields of study in college is low and the number of black and Hispanic kids doing so are painfully low, despite their representation in the U.S. population. But workplace equity is not what gets the kids up early -- and keeps them up late -- honing their research to perfection. These kids are inspired and having fun, which is a nuclear reaction in and of itself.
"Sure its hard," said Suad, "but it's just fun and when you work hard for the science fair, you can know that when the future comes, you'll be prepared."
"I want to make something of myself and then go on to be a doctor and be successful so I can tell others that anything is possible," Raliat said, "If they can send a monkey and a man to the moon you can do anything. And though you might want others to reach out and give you a hand, that would be nice, but you can do it yourself."
Follow Esther J. Cepeda on Twitter: www.twitter.com/estherjcepeda
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