Most students spend their summer at the beach or with friends. Few consider doing anything academic, with the exception of maybe a few college visits. Senior Rebecca Della Croce, however, decided to spend four weeks at Rutgers to expand her interest in a STEM field and prepare herself for college.

After being one of the few high school students from the state to be accepted to the New Jersey Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology, Della Croce experienced an exciting month of diving into the world of science and math.

“I’ve always known I wanted to go into a STEM field,” Della Croce said. “But I hadn’t really gotten the chance to experience engineering at the high school.”

At Rutgers, however, Della Croce was exposed to an entirely new field, where she met new friends and made connections.

During her time with the program, she was able to gain experience in biomedical engineering, which she realized is what she wants to study in college. Della Croce learned about recent discoveries of black holes and other dimensions and how to code a robot.

“I had one class where we built an earthquake resistant structure,” Della Croce said. “We later tested it on a shake table.”

Della Croce’s final research project involved the effects of solvent in biomass processing by means of infrared spectroscopy where spectra was observed to improve the efficiency of reactions.

“We got to work with a professor and his graduate students on the research,” Della Croce said. “And we all gave a presentation and wrote an academic article on it.”

Della Croce’s favorite part of the program was being able to learn in a relaxed environment. There was no worrying about grades, credit, or homework. She and her peers were able to simply enjoy learning.

Della Croce feels that it is important for young girls and women to get involved in STEM fields because there are so many options for them. Women have so much to offer to science and math, and are more than capable of succeeding and contributing to the fields.

“Women shouldn’t let the fact that it’s a male dominated area scare them from doing something they love and are good at,” Della Croce said.