Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2010 - (Page 32)

MUSEUM by Alex Mabanta NIGHTS AT THE Volunteering at the Tech I USED TO GROAN at the thought of volunteer work. I used to think of it as timed manual labor oﬀ ering little more than a way to fulfill community service hours for school. I certainly did not imagine it as a meaningful, gratifying way to give back to my community, or as something that would teach and inspire me. But that was before I volunteered at the Tech Museum of Innovation. volunteers and promptly applied. In one week’s time, I was briefed during a host of orientation meetings; in two, I was fully trained in operating all the rides and labs; by the end of the third, I was ready to perform alone. I started with two Friday evenings a month, working with nine other teen volunteers on one of the few all-teen shifts. Our job was to host the many exhibits. One of the most popular is the earthquake simulator, which allows guests to hop onboard a metal platform and take a crazy ride to see what it’s like to experience earthquakes, such as the famous Loma Prieta, which were programmed into the simulator. I also worked at the Jet Pack exhibit, a mechanical chair that allows guests to simulate floating in space as they fix broken satellites with laser flashlights. In the sustainable energy simulation, where guests power a battery with mini solar panels, wind turbines, and dams, I showed demos and explained the importance of using diversified sources to create an optimal device. I even got to be a biotech scientist in a lab where I showed guests how to bind jellyfish DNA to bacteria to make them glow. Science Fridays California’s Silicon Valley is sometimes called the IT capital of the world. An impressive array of high-tech companies are based here, including Adobe, Apple, Cisco Systems, eBay, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, SanDisk, Symantec, Yahoo!, TiVo, Tesla Motors … the list goes on. It makes perfect sense that in San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, you’ll also find the Tech Museum. Known informally as the Tech, this three-level museum embodies Silicon Valley ingenuity in its engaging exhibits and cuttingedge labs. People from around the world gather here to be immersed in the sheer awe of science, technology, math, and innovation. My family lives nearby, so we visit regularly. From a young age, I wanted to be more involved with the museum, but I knew that volunteers had to be at least 15 years old. At the beginning of my sophomore year in high school, I learned that the Tech would host Star Trek: The Exhibition. I was as excited about the exhibit as I was to realize that I was now old enough to volunteer. On the museum’s website, I saw that they needed teen 32 imagine Sept/Oct 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2010

Imagine Magazine - John Hopkins - September/October 2010
Contents
Big Questions
Big Picture
In My Own Words
Biotechnology is
A Survival Guide for the Biotech Revolution
The Indiana Jones of Biotech
Stemming the Monster
Transgenic Animals
Building a Better Hydrogel
Immortal Cells & Bioethics
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Nights at the Museum
One Step Ahead
Middle Ground
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Creative Minds Imagine
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2010