Sam Peluso
The DuPont Challenge 2008
Finalist, Junior Division
Mahoney Middle School
South Portland, ME
Essay Title: Earth’s Crops
Teacher: Amy Foster
What are you doing now?
I’m currently an undergraduate biochemistry student. I plan to spend some time doing volunteer work in my hometown and traveling after graduation while I make plans to attend graduate school in the near future.
Where did you go to college?
I attend Clark University in Worcester, MA and I expect to graduate in the spring of 2016.
What were some of your favorite memories from the competition or awards trip?
My favorite memory of the competition was definitely learning that my essay was selected as a runner up. The essay was assigned to us as a school project in my eighth grade science class and nobody in the class expected anything to come from it. A few months later, the principal and a few other faculty members came to our class with this special announcement that someone had received an award. When they announced that I had won, everything felt so surreal. I learned that scientific achievements were not out of reach to normal kids like myself, that it wasn’t just another thing that people heard about but never experienced.
Do you think taking The DuPont Challenge was a meaningful experience?
I think The DuPont Challenge was definitely a meaningful experience to me. When I think about what I got out of it, I don’t much think of the physical reward I received. What I truly value from my experience wasn’t something that I could bring to a bank or even hold in my hands; being a runner up in The DuPont Challenge helped to inspire me to reach for great things in the world of science. At a time when many adolescents are confused about where they’ll go in life, DuPont showed me that I could have a future in science.
Why would you say science education is important, and what role has it played in your life?
Science has always appealed to me. As a little kid, Bill Nye the Science Guy was my favorite show on television and, once I started school, science was always the subject that I was most eager to learn about. Science has allowed me to think critically about my life and the world and has taught me to be open minded about the things that I don’t yet understand. I believe that science education is incredibly important because it encourages learning and discovery, it rewards curiosity and creativity, and it teaches the value of research and collaboration. In order for us to improve the world we live in, we must first understand it–we must understand the problems that we still face, the efforts that have been made in the past, and the implications of the efforts we may make in the future. Without science and science education, there would be no progress.