What is the Young Scholars Senior Summit Program?
The Young Scholars Senior Summit (YSSS) program is a three-week residential, inquiry-based enrichment experience housed at the University of Connecticut exclusively for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Young Scholars. During the program, scholars will participate in challenging creative projects and research investigations under the supervision of university mentors.
Accomplished university professors and/or advanced graduate students will host Young Scholars in their labs and studios as well as work with them on projects in shared areas of interest. The YSSS participants will spend 6-7 hours per day at the mentorship site and may complete additional work in the evenings or on the weekends. Scholars' time at the site would be a balance of developing background knowledge and engaging in inquiry and experiments around new questions. Scholars can assist in running trials of ongoing experiments, recording data, developing interpretations and questions, and engaging in other activities relevant to their particular sites. Participants and mentors will become a community of scholars working together on important issues on the cutting edge of various fields of study. All scholars are expected to participate in an end-of-program conference, at which they will give presentations on their work and the expertise they have gained by participating in the program. Your three-week stay on campus will give you a preview of the college experience.
The YSSS program has five main goals:
- To allow scholars to grow toward their highest potential by participating in experiential research projects that provide direct, apprentice-based involvement with faculty members and advanced graduate scholars who are conducting research.
- To increase scholars' awareness about their career opportunities in a chosen field and options for nurturing their talents.
- To demonstrate that high-level talent potential can be found and developed across cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
- To support scholars in building a strong, intellectually stimulating community of peers as well as and positive with college professors and/or advanced graduate scholars working in fields of interest.
- Support scholars in navigating the need to both care for themselves by prioritizing physical and mental wellbeing, while simultaneously building a close community with collective traditions, memories, and norms around a shared investigative learning experience.
What are the personal benefits of participating in the YSSS program?
As a YSSS participant, you will:
- Take on the role of a practicing professional.
- Experience real-world research.
- Challenge and feed your creative abilities.
- Develop a collaborative relationship with mentors in your area of interest.
- Enhance your awareness of your talent areas and career opportunities.
- Interact with students who share common interests.
- Experience college life and the nature of research in your selected field.
- Present your research/project to your peers and mentor(s).
- Earn 3 college credits under a UConn Independent Study.