Sharing my experience of LIYSF: Etienne Dreyer, Canadian Participant

Last week, we spoke to Etienne Dreyer, a participant representing Canada at LIYSF 2014. We'd like to commend him for the work he's been doing to promote science to those in his community and home country. At the London International Youth Science Forum, we encourage participants to champion science and be ambassadors for enthusing young people into science in their communities.

We spoke to Etienne about science engagement in the wider picture of LIYSF.

Etienne Dreyer

Many including myself have struggled to describe two extraordinary weeks in London. Somehow this experience called LIYSF continues to inspire us, and 425 stories, which began last July, remain unfinished. The eye-opening tours, fascinating lectures, and constant interaction with like-minded friends left an impression that still speaks on my path in science.

There's something about engaging with youth from all over the globe that cultivates perspective. To me, LIYSF was a biconcave lens that brought my ideas about outside cultures into sharp focus. This clearer outlook on my global horizons helped me see the role of science in a wider context.

Another vital lesson that LIYSF taught me was to appreciate the collaboration between all areas of science. Before attending, I often minimized other fields of research, but now I celebrate the multidisciplinary nature of modern science.

Perhaps the greatest gift LIYSF gave me was a glimpse into the frontiers of science. Seeing innovation in action served to energize and empower me about my future and the commission laid on us young scientists.

Because of how it's served me, I'm passionate about sharing my experience at LIYSF. From hosting a day-to-day blog of the adventure to presenting for potential LIYSF applicants, I aspire to advance the vision of LIYSF. Hopefully under my initiation, Canada will soon sponsor top young scientists from our national fair to attend.

However, the vision of LIYSF goes beyond finding next year's applicants. The heart of the forum is to encourage an international team of young people on their journeys of discovery. It's about cherishing knowledge on an individual, communal, and ultimately global scale. So as I watch my new friends from Russia, Australia, Brazil, or Japan progress in their fields of study and research, I see the vision of LIYSF unfolding in their collective pursuits. Likewise, as I anticipate graduate-level studies in physics this September, I have new incentive for the importance of my work and its place in the world.

While I continue supporting science in my community through physics demonstrations, science fairs, event coordination, and presentations, I look forward to communicating knowledge on a broader tier. Perhaps in the future I will have the privilege of revisiting my two-week home at Imperial College and sharing my journey with a new generation of LIYSF participants. Perhaps only then will my story of LIYSF be concluded.

Now, over seven months after I awoke from the dream called LIYSF, I still carry a deep impression from the friendship, the experience, and the science, which ties it all together. And though it's difficult to describe this impact in words, I left LIYSF with a renewed vision of pursuing science as part of a worldwide team of collaborators. Thus, in this true sense, LIYSF never left me.

Read Etienne's blog here.