Every generation does it. As we get our feet under us, advance our careers, raise our families and start to leave our imprint on the world, we look at the younger generation behind us and shake our heads. How will the smartphone-obsessed, non-TV-watching, short-attention-span youth of today tackle the world problems of tomorrow? We might tell ourselves that they don’t have the imagination, the moxie or the smarts that we had at their age. Combine this with an uncertain and unsettled education system in the midst of the pandemic, and it may be easy to fear the future.
But if you actually take a moment to look more closely, you’ll see that all hope is not lost. Far from it, in fact. The youth of today are just as talented, engaged, energized and insightful as ever, and I take comfort in the countless young Nevadans already distinguishing themselves in our community.
Throughout the Clark County School District, bright students are showcasing their advanced skills in the technologies of tomorrow. The Cimarron-Memorial High School Highrollers robotics team excels year after year on the national stage, having been crowned world champion once, placed second twice and selected into the FIRST Robotics Competition Hall of Fame with 18 regional championships. Earlier this year, Spring Valley and Palo Verde high schools and West Career and Technical Academy teamed up to win the CES 2020 Consumer Technology Association Future Innovators Business Pitch Competition by developing an app that syncs a user’s calendar to change phone notification settings based on scheduled events (genius).
At Claude and Stella Parson Elementary School in Las Vegas, fifth-graders are developing their entrepreneurial spirit with the help of teachers and in partnership with Real World Scholars and EdCorps. Each day, students learn about starting up and running a business, including product development, accounting, marketing, advertising and sales, before creating their own actual businesses.
At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Martha Amaya is aiming to leave her imprint in the world of international diplomacy. Amaya was one of just 30 students nationwide selected for the prestigious Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship. She also became the first Nevadan selected as a Running Start Congressional Fellow and was among 29 students out of 600 nationwide selected as a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow at Princeton University in 2019.
Earlier this year, University of Nevada, Reno students Edward Cruz, Valeria Nava and Guglielmo Panelli were selected for the competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The prestigious grant is awarded annually by the National Science Foundation to only 2,000 students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in the natural, social and engineering sciences. Cruz was headed to Princeton University to begin his Ph.D. program in molecular biology. Nava planned to attend Carnegie Mellon University to enroll in dual doctoral programs in environmental engineering and public policy, while Panelli was enrolling at Stanford University to pursue his doctoral degree in physics
Some of our state’s brightest young minds are on the frontlines in the community fight against COVID-19. In fact, about 70 medical and physician’s assistant students at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine are volunteering to assist with health screenings, drive-through COVID-19 testing and hotline call center staffing.
These young, bright minds are just a handful among the countless examples of youth across Nevada standing out and making an impression. Sure, maybe they didn’t walk 15 miles to school, uphill both ways, like we did, but they are already demonstrating the intelligence, engagement and determination necessary to navigate an increasingly more challenging world. As they mature and take their place among us, we should not forget that once upon a time, perhaps long ago, we were that young generation, pushing boundaries, making mistakes and looking to change the world. And like us, our parents and their parents before them, the youth of today are more than equipped to deal with the challenges ahead, to solve problems old and new, and to make the world a better place.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.