Sarah Jacobs and Luke Farrell are juniors at Hauppauge High School in Hauppauge, New York. Their passions for STEM began at a young age however they only began to culminate at the high school level. They began research in 10th grade in their high school’s independent science research program and showed great successes in their competition debuts, placing 3rd at the Long Island Science Congress in Behavioral Sciences with Highest Honors and obtaining a scholarship from the New York State Science Teachers Association. This warranted them advancement to the New York State Science Congress where they took Honorable Mention in the Biological Sciences. During their junior year they were fortunate enough to improve upon their project, a study of Twitter as an effective means of monitoring the spread of the 2012-2013 Influenza epidemic throughout the United States, so much so that they received 1st place at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair in the Mathematical Sciences as well as the Mu Alpha Theta Award; this award granted their advancement to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Los Angeles as finalists and has been the highlight of their research careers so far. Luke also enjoys many extracurriculars outside of school including the Varsity Swim, Volleyball, and Track Teams as well as Student Council. Luke also takes part in running his school’s Adapted Aquatics Program that helps teach special needs children how to swim as well as helped plan his school’s first ever Relay for Life event as a head of the entertainment committee. Luke is considering a future career in computational neuroscience with a potential pursuit in medicine. Sarah also enjoys a variety of activities outside of school including Varsity Tennis, Drama, Student Council, and traveling the world as a youth ambassador. Sarah has also helped to plan her school’s first Relay for Life fundraiser as a head of the entertainment committee as well as her theatre program’s first ever Stage the Change Conference that educates students and teachers how to use theatre as a social voice within their school district. Sarah is considering a career in the medical field or biostatistics, although she is unsure of which she knows her future career will be in the STEM fields.
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