Jasmin Nitu, finalist

I had the honour of working with Jasmin Nitu, a year 9 student of Heston Community School (my old secondary school) where I gave her a few tips on how to deal with the grueling judging process that she was going to face at the finals of the National Competition that involved writing an essay titled Why I love science? which was held at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL).

Her sheer enthusiasm for making a change to the world with science shone through her essay which led her to present her work at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory alongside 15 other finalists. Here is an excerpt of her essay:

“When I started secondary school, we had the opportunity to undertake more experiments such as chemical reactions and energy. First came energy, where we had to understand different types of energy. This was a fun experience as I learnt about the different types of energy. Next were chemical reactions, which is my favourite part in science. We did experiments such as testing for oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. We also did mixtures of acids and the PH scale. This was an exciting thing to discover as I always wanted to play with acids and see what different things I can do with them. As you can probably figure out my favourite topic is chemistry.”

“Next comes the crucial year, year 9. Now that I have found out that science can change the world, we all should contribute to research such as pollution, recycling, medication, plants and water resources. We should all start thinking about the fact that global warming is happening such as melting glaciers, nuclear powers, cutting trees, wasting water and erupting volcanoes. We could all help in some way by donating and supporting science.

As a conclusion I love science because science can change the world in all aspects.”

Her efforts were rewarded with a certificate from a leading scientist at RAL. 

It is young, curious minds like Jasmin's that push us to be the best that we can be. Here is some evidence that no matter your age, ethnicity, or background you can still achieve - just believe in yourself and you shall be pleasantly surprised. You can achieve anything you put your mind to, so go on do something amazing today!




Now for some cool scientific facts about RAL!

• It houses one of the world's leading laser facilities with lasers that can recreate the conditions inside the fireballs of nature, stars!

• It was named after the discoverer of the nucleus and hence the modern picture of the atom, Lord Ernest Rutherford

• RAL Space has been involved with more than 200 international space missions, including Herschel, the largest space telescope ever launched! - it examines the early stages of star birth and galaxy formation.