We are always proud of the experiences of our pterodactyls. Our Community Spotlight features the stories of alumni and community members during and after their time at Marvelwood. To submit your story or nominate a Marvelwood graduate, email alumni@marvelwood.org.
Marvelwood senior and Student Body President Rasmiwan "Pear" Ingkasampan ‘25 had an amazing summer. As a self-proclaimed science buff, Pear did her own research on STEM-specific programs and was accepted into The Science Internship Program (SIP) through the organization “Creating Equity in STEAM” (CrEST). Located on the campus of UC Santa Cruz, SIP offers high school students from around the world the opportunity to spend their summer working in person or virtually on authentic, open-ended research projects in science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and art under the mentorship of UCSC researchers. Pear, who is from Thailand, was one of 400 high schoolers selected to participate and was thrilled she was accepted into her first choice program – Astronomy and Astrophysics, with an emphasis on RR Lyrae Stars.
Under the mentorship of distinguished Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Raja GuhaThakurta, Pear had the incredible opportunity to assist Professor Raja with his research, “RR Lyrae Stars in the Remote Halo of the Milky Way and Weak CN Stars in the Disks of Andromeda, Triangulum, and the Large Magellanic Cloud.” I was able to chat with Pear this fall back on campus to get a first-hand account of her time in Santa Cruz and learn how she plans to continue this work throughout the school year and beyond. Written by Advancement Associate for Alumni Engagement, Abbey Gelineau.
How did Marvelwood set you up for success in the program?
When I was a sophomore here, I was one of two students in my AP Physics class. We worked together on many things and we learned from each other while we did that. This summer, I worked with only two other students on this Astronomy project. My experience at Marvelwood had taught me how to work collaboratively and productively within this kind of really small setting. Also, because I’m a boarding student at Marvelwood, dorm life is something that feels natural. Many students in the SIP program had never had roommates before, and they found it difficult to navigate that new relationship. My experience with roommates at Marvelwood made it easy for me to offer helpful advice to my struggling peers, and was also one of the ways I was able to demonstrate my leadership skills within the program.
As our Student Body President, those leadership skills are imperative! How did you share this strength with faculty and peers during SIP?
The two other students in my Astronomy group were younger than me. This reminded me of that AP Physics class, because I was lucky to be able to learn from the older kids in my class. I felt a real sense of responsibility to mentor the students I was working with this summer because I knew I had more experience and knowledge about the topic. The program also offered all students an opportunity to present at the Global Showcase. Even though it wasn’t required, I wanted to participate, and I used my free time to work on a presentation about my home country of Thailand. I even got up on stage during the talent show portion of the Showcase! That was a very impulsive choice for me!
There were a lot of ways to be a leader at SIP, but I think my biggest opportunity will be this coming January. I am the lead author of our poster presentation on RR Lyrae stars in the Milky Way, and I will be sharing our group’s findings at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Maryland! I’m really excited about that!
How do you plan to continue your work within the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics?
I honestly couldn’t be more grateful for my experience in Santa Cruz. But even though I loved working with Dr. Raja and taking a deep dive into Astronomy and Astrophysics, I also saw that because the study of Astronomy is so concentrated, the chance for burnout can be really high. With this in mind, I think pursuing a broader field like Engineering will give me more options while keeping me curious!
Pear does, however, plan to stay close to her SIP mentor, Professor Raja. He was so impressed with her work over the summer that he invited her to Yale University to sit in on a colloquium that covered the extent and structure of the Milky Way's stellar halo and the discovery of unexpected surface chemistry in red supergiant stars in three Local Group galaxies. Pear assisted him with these findings over the summer and was thrilled to be invited to Yale to hear him speak this fall. The Advancement Office was proud to accompany her to New Haven for this incredible opportunity.
To learn more about the SIP initiative through the CrEST program, please visit their detailed website here.
