“I love my professor and my classmates as well as the law course that I chose. I had such a fun time learning as my professor made the course fun and enjoyable and the field trips that we had were amazing and interesting. The friends that I made at this program are definitely ones that I want to stay in touch with.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“The In-Focus program was a great opportunity to experience Northwestern as a student. In Dr. Rivers’ class our homemade spectroscopes allowed us to identify gases in the universe by their diffracted light fingerprints. I really enjoyed making friends in and out of my classroom, especially hanging out on the beach of Lake Michigan.” –Jeffrey S., Summer ‘24 CPP
“The program dove deep into the functions of Quantum Mechanics, and covered much more than I thought possible in two weeks.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“I am writing to share my recent experience at the program “So You Want To Be a Biomedical Engineer? Biomedical Signals and Circuits,” which ran from July 15 to July 26 this summer. It was very interesting and expanded my knowledge in the engineering field. The program offered a great variety of content and an overview of what a college class looks like.
First of all, professor Nick Marchuk and the student helpers were incredibly helpful, who explained the topics of the class very thoroughly and thoughtfully. Before taking this class, I did not know much about how circuits worked and biomedical engineering as a whole, but now, I have a keen interest in learning a lot more of it. The ability to hear from actual biomedical engineers, such as Erica Isaacs, who discussed what she does as a biomedical engineer, was very interesting as well, as it provided me an insight of what being a biomedical engineer is like.
I am very happy with the opportunity to be involved in this program, as it introduced me to a field that could potentially be my career in the future.” –Avinash R., Summer ‘24 CPP
“I enjoyed meeting many people from around the world and I also enjoyed seeing my public speaking skills improve over the last 2 weeks. Having Daniel Moser was also very great; he made the classroom experience very fun and helped me become more confident when it comes to giving a speech.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“As a person that wants to pursue mechanical engineering, this a great dive into the world of possibilities that engineering gives. This also taught me quite a lot about how aeronautical and mechanical engineering coexist and mesh together.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“We went on a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a great field trip and great experience. Overall, a very fun day.” Mason, P., Summer ’24 CPP
“I enjoyed learning about a topic I didn’t know a lot about and exploring whether I want to pursue it after high school.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“For my class field trip, we took the train and got off on Jackson to go to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District to watch a court case. It was my first time ever going through security in order to enter a court house building and I remember the elevator going super fast up to the 25th floor. It was interesting to actually sit in a live court, listening and watching a case on money laundering. It was a fascinating way to learn how our court system works.” –Mariana M., Summer ’24 CPP
“I really love this topic of neuroscience and I never realized I would be this interested in it. My teacher (Prof. Brown) was super good at explaining things and breaking down complex concepts. I enjoyed the clinical case studies and how he structured the class.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“I really recommend this course as it showed me what I do and don’t want to major in, in college. It was interesting and engaging and I built new skills in computer science and also the medical field.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“There were a lot of funny field trip stories I remembered because I don’t think that there was a moment where everyone wasn’t having fun. A story that stands out to me is from after we had spent time at the Chicago Art Institute. Our group was so hungry and wanted to go eat dinner at a local Pho restaurant in Chicago. When we were around a half a mile away from the restaurant, it started downpouring rain. In a panic, we lifted our bags over our heads and ran as fast as we could. Not even rain could stop us from eating this Pho. Many puddles and ruined shoes later, we eventually arrived (literally dripping wet with rain) and sat down to enjoy a warm, soupy meal.” –Kerra L., Summer ‘24 CPP
“As a part of the Forensic Chemistry class, we took a field trip downtown to the Art Institute of Chicago. We raced other teams to solve a murder mystery while navigating the many galleries of the museum. It was so much fun, and afterwards we had hours to spend exploring the museum ourselves. I’ll always remember me and my friends basically running around the Art Institute, it was so much fun.” –Mia, Summer ‘24 CPP
“I took the Aerospace session because I really liked the plane and rocketry. In this course, I learned the aerodynamic forces for the first time. It deeply inspired me to develop more advanced fins that can minimize the air drag for the rockets. I also got to know a friend during the Lab. We created a rocket model and airfoil on SolidWorks and simulated them to see how airflow and pressure interact with them. It was a pleasant and memorable experience.” –Haosi G., Summer ‘24 CPP
“In the “So You Want to be a Doctor?” class, we had the opportunity to take two field trips to Feinberg School of Medicine. While at Feinberg, we got to visit the anatomy lab, participate in standardized patient exams, learn how to take a patient’s blood pressure, and so much more from actual Feinberg medical students and faculty. It was a unique experience to be able to practice the same skills that medical students at Feinberg do, and it gave me a very realistic taste of what the first and second year of medical school looks like while also clarifying that I want to be a doctor.” –Grace F., Summer ‘24 CPP
“Our professor was so supportive and her passion for this course really contributed to my interest in psychology.” –Chloe W., Summer ‘24 CPP
“Let’s talk about something enthusiastic and fun about my class and my first field study experience. The class with the spirit of creating a virtual child is led smoothly and coherently by Professor Chung. Also, on the Monday of the second week, we went to a preschool to observe children’s behaviors together. I couldn’t imagine how cute they were as early childhood children and how difficult it was to begin a field study than I ever thought. However, after receiving warm encouragement from Professor Chung and an idea exchange process with peers, I gradually found out the ways and became more confident about the field studies in the future.” –Siying W., Summer ‘24 CPP
“When visiting the Feinberg Medical School, I got to do things I would never experience back home. It was really enjoyable to have the opportunity to perform hands-on activities as a person that is really interested in going on the pre-med track. The field trip and class overall was a great experience to learn and make new friends.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“I took a class on student protests, and despite expecting a more lecture-style one, we ended up with only 9 students, so it was quite a small class. We watched video clips and listened to songs from the Civil Rights Movement era, making connections to current-day protests on campus. Our professor, Jeff, always kept the atmosphere light with his humorous talks and jokes. At the end of each class, we had a mock debate on the issue of NU student protests, which was not only interesting but also required us to deeply analyze the situation. We also had the opportunity to meet actual student protestors and representatives from the ACLU, who provided rich insights on free speech. Jeff even treated us to donuts and dumplings on the last few days of class. Thanks, Jeff! We often sat near a rock, shared stories, and made lasting memories at CPP.” –Haojia X., Summer ‘24 CPP
“My favorite trip was going down to Feinberg school of medicine in the city and getting to see the anatomy lab. I got to hold humans organs including a human brain, a spinal cord, and a heart. It was so interesting to learn about the organs and be able to visualize what we were being told. Also asking questions was really helpful to learn more about the organs and get questions answered that I never knew the answers to before.” –Nora H., Summer ’24 CPP
“As a rising senior, I was almost certain I would pursue data science, but Biomedical Engineering has always intrigued me. Seeing my sister work on her Ph.D. in genetics has influenced me to consider making an impact on public health. At the same time, I love creating and making things light up—this simple interest has sparked a fascination with electrical engineering. However, textbook physics has not been my strong suit, which has held me back. But this summer, I truly enjoyed the hands-on experiences and seeing real-world applications. Professor Marchuk was especially patient with us, giving us the time we needed to figure out circuits and really understand the concepts.” –Hsinyu W., Summer ‘24 CPP
“While taking the public speaking course I was extremely nervous that I would not be engaged with a 3 hour class, however when taking the course, my professor, Daniel Moser, was able to keep us constantly engaged and excited to learn more on the art of public speaking. His body expressions and wording were enough to keep anyone engaged and with the speeches we would have to prepare and present, you would always have the excited energy to talk in front of a welcoming bunch of your peers. The class was something you have to sign up for because of how enjoyable the entire course was, I constantly had a good time and I met friends who I still constantly keep in touch with even after the course.” Andrew G., Summer ‘24 CPP
“It was a truly valuable and wonderful experience, and along with it I found friends and like-minded people. Our professor Nick was a real expert in his field, answered every question in great detail, adding interesting facts. Of course, what I liked most was not the lecture part, but the practical part, it was great to take part in assembling the robot! There were many failures during assembly, especially with the “claw”, but I really liked the fact that we designed the entire work from A to Z ourselves, without ready-made parts. This greatly expanded my understanding of mechatronics design.” –Yasmin B., Summer ‘24 CPP
“This 12-day journey has been truly magical and unforgettable. I’m so grateful to come to a place 20 hours of plane flight away to see a classroom culture so accepting, friendly and diverse.😭 I’ve fallen head over heels for Northwestern🐿️, and I’m already planning to apply for early decision next year. I just can’t imagine myself anywhere else. I particularly enjoyed the human rights fighter ACLU speaker’s sharing, discussion on woke culture, slime party, song association, admission’s “get ready” series, free speech topic, and learning about living experience in Chicago. It made me feel really warm and accessible. Our professor’s long-lasting passion for his work and sense of personal mission at 74 years old is truly inspiring. Hearing about how he still teaches prisoners to educate them has really inspired me and made me see the infinite possibilities of a fulfilling career and life. Plus, he ordered us dumplings lol. I felt lucky that our perspective added a lot to class discussion.” –CPP Student, Summer ‘24
“Our end of course assignment for the robotics course was to create a competition robot that could move blocks. However, along the course of the instructional time, our professor taught us how to use CAD in order to 3D print any parts we needed. Because of easy accessibility to the lab all afternoon, my friend and I spent all day 3D printing everything we could dream up. For example, after printing out a Cinderella model, my entire robot design took a turn, and at the end of the course, I had a working Cinderella’s carriage!” –Kaitlyn C., Summer ‘24 CPP
Ed Yohnka was a guest speaker for the Student Protest: Past and Present IN-Focus seminar.
Ed Yohnka began his job at the ACLU in June 1999. He serves as a primary spokesperson for the civil rights advocacy organization. He appears regularly on television and radio programs in Illinois and throughout the nation. Yohnka also is widely cited in newspapers and publications on legal and legislative matters related to the ACLU of Illinois’ priorities.
From 1987 until 1999, Mr. Yohnka served on the staff of the American Bar Association, spending most of that time as a Special Presidential Assistant in the ABA’s Office of the President.