PhD Candidate Jasmin Hume Finalist in Super Connector Search
“I’ve always wanted to be involved with teaching science and math to kids,” said Jasmin Hume about her motivation for entering Time Warner Cable’s (TWC) Super Connector Search. In October, TWC launched its nationwide Super Connector Search contest, asking people to share how they’ve connected young people to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Last week, Hume was named the New York City finalist and she will star in her own public service announcement for Connect a Million Minds (CAMM), Time Warner Cable’s five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative to inspire young people to pursue education and careers in STEM.
Hume has already won $5,000 for the Polytechnic Institute of New York University’s (NYU-Poly) Applying Mechatronics to Promote Science (AMPS) and Central Brooklyn STEM Initiative (CBSI) and could add another $10,000 to that amount if her PSA is selected as the winner through online voting.
Hume, who is pursuing her PhD in materials chemistry at NYU-Poly, works with the National Science Foundation funded school program AMPS through the GK12 program at the Institute. Her assignment, since starting last summer, is with a public charter school in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant where she works with 6th and 7th graders, teaching lessons during the day and coaching an afterschool robotics team.
“I think it's crucial for adults to play an important role as mentors for STEM education, especially those pursuing studies or careers in science or engineering,” says Hume. She points out that many other professions have public figures that kids can look up to, but engineering is not one of these. She continues, “In order for children to see the benefits of working hard in science and math they must have positive, engaging and fun role models who have made these subjects an important part of their lives."
