Jeremy, a June 2010 York High School graduate, interned part-time at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for nearly a year.

Through his experience, Jeremy learned a lot about electronics and had the opportunity to apply that knowledge in a practical way, including designing a programming interface that significantly improved a particular data collection process.

Moreover, he gained a greater appreciation for what he was learning in his high school classes, noting that, "All the stuff we learned in calculus and various math classes actually makes sense here when you can apply it."

Being exposed to the practical aspects of research and development at the NPS opened Jeremy's eyes to how the real world of research is different than he had envisioned it. "Before this [internship], I didn't really know what the term 'research' meant. I thought 'Oh, it's theoretical physics, and I'm not really interested in that.' But [research] definitely has more opportunity for hands-on experience than I thought."

Having gained a new appreciation for applied research from his experiences at NPS, Jeremy's next steps toward a STEM career began in fall 2010 when he started college as an electrical engineering major at UC Berkeley. Unlike many other freshmen, Jeremy brought a practical, authentic understanding of the importance of his engineering studies.