The Independent Study and Mentorship (ISM) program is a rigorous elective offered at Frisco ISD high schools, where students conduct interviews and research in their chosen topic or career, in order to work with mentors and acquire experience in the real-world. ISM student and senior, Michelle Eu, obtained a major feat when she carried out a health-related research project based in Indonesia and presented it.
Eu’s zeal for the study of public health pushed her to dig deeper into this topic and formulate a research project.
“Since I am from Indonesia and passionate about public health, I wanted to study the disparity within the country regarding the public health sector,” Eu said. “I wanted to use my research to teach individuals about topics such as medical microbiology and other science related subjects that they might not have access to.”
Eu described the process that went behind her success.
“I reached out to different schools in Indonesia, one being the Happy Hearts Foundation,” Eu said. “They work with schools in rural parts of Indonesia and I was able to build a curriculum and teach kids in that school.”
As members of ISM, students achieve fundamental skills that will help them in the long-run.
“First and foremost, I gained communication skills,” Eu said. “In ISM, we had to do presentations and really put ourselves out there. Through those presentations, I built my confidence, considering the fact that I was a new student at Emerson. I also learnt how to converse with professionals, specifically the ones that worked in my chosen career field. For example, I talked with professors, doctors, and various other medical professionals which helped me socialize more sophisticatedly.”
Emerson’s ISM teacher, Peyton McCutcheon was a major factor that drew Eu into joining ISM.
“I discovered the ISM program through a friend, and that’s when I was introduced to Ms. McCutcheon, the ISM teacher, ” Eu said. “I fell in love with her class, her teaching style, and the community that ISM brings.
Aside from the skills that Eu secured, she was exposed to various cultural ideas and knowledge.
“I learned the importance of cultural competency and how to translate different words in my native language. Another thing I was able to gain understanding of was coordinating an educational curriculum, and through that I familiarized myself with the teaching and public health system in Indonesia. This whole experience gave me knowledge of epidemiology and disease transmission.
However, ISM was not the only accomplishment of Eu’s, as she was involved in other impressive extracurriculars throughout her high school journey.
“I am going to be publishing an article in Malala Yousafzai’s newsletter called ‘Assembly’ and I am really excited about that,” Eu said. “Additionally, I founded a magazine where I collaborated with Indonesian students and we featured various types of art. I also was a part of a research group at UT Austin where we studied ecology.
Eu will be taking her fondness for public health further at Johns Hopkins University.
“After graduating, I will be attending Johns Hopkins University in the fall as a public health and molecular and cellular biology major, ” Eu said. “I was also accepted into a direct matriculation program, which means I will be getting my graduate’s degree automatically in global health and economics or epidemiology. I chose this field of study because I am still uncertain whether or not I want to practice medicine or be behind-the-scenes of it. I am really looking forward to my time at Johns Hopkins.”
