Hello! My name is Evelyn Schecter and I am the Oregon State University Extension Service intern for Wasco County, Oregon. I have just graduated high school and I am going to South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for biomedical engineering in the fall. Throughout college, I hope to find the path within biomedical engineering that most interests me and then pursue it after I graduate. In the past, I participated in many 4-H camps, and I have worked as a 4-H STEM Teen Leader for the past three years. This involved helping out by running summer camps and afterschool clubs, along with coaching VEX IQ robotics at The Dalles middle school. This past experience is what inspired me to apply and become an intern for OSU Extension.  

As an intern this summer, I will continue to help lead and plan summer camps for 4-H youth, and in August, I will help at the Wasco County Fair. So far this summer, I have helped lead many STEM camps, including Intro to 3D Printing, Game Maker, Sphero Coding, and Introduction to Vex IQ Robotics. I have also led a group at our archery camp and helped lead a few local hikes. These camps are meant to be an opportunity for youth in Wasco County to discover new interests and have fun while learning something new! For me, leading these camps allows me to partake in the community and help spread educational opportunities. Through my role as an intern, I am able to give back to the community through activities that I am extremely grateful were available when I was a 4-H member.  

In the second half of my internship I will continue leading more summer camps and will also be helping Susan McCourt with an Invention Convention teacher training. The purpose of this training is to spread knowledge of the Invention Convention (IC) to possible schools and teachers that will then be able to support it in their classrooms. While IC has been around for 43 years, it is just now being brought to Oregon, and I am super excited to be a part of spreading it throughout the state. I am also excited for this August as I will be helping out with the Wasco County Fair and 4-H program through planning and logistics, and offering service through tabling. 

I am very grateful for what I have been able to do so far, and I am looking forward to whatever comes next!