Cranbury youth finds nothing nerdy about School of Sciences

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Cranbury youth finds nothing nerdy about School of Sciences

When an enthusiastic high school senior spends four summer weeks living at Drew University, taking science classes and conducting groundbreaking research at a graduate-school level with 84 of his peers, isn't that the definition of nerd camp?

"One of the coolest things was that it was actually like the antithesis of nerd camp," Vrajesh Modi, of Cranbury, said of his stay at the Governor's School of Sciences (GSS). From July 16 to Aug. 12, he lived out this "once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Vrajesh, who underwent a selective process before he was chosen to participate in GSS, submitted an application with two essays, his transcript, teacher recommendations and PSAT scores. After Princeton High School nominated him, his application was sent to the county level, and finally to the state for evaluation.

From the start, he and the other scholars explored the realms of their interests. While these teenagers usually take three classes in the morning, Vrajesh signed up for another class to go along with Ruler and Compass (on number theory), Molecular Orbital Theory and Modern Physics: Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

"I wasn't initially signed up for the neurobiology, just the chem, physics, and math, but I went to the neuro lecture on the first day and asked if I could sit in. And it was fascinating," he said.

Following these morning lectures were either labs or a team project until dinner. On Tuesdays and Fridays, Vrajesh attended his lab on organic chemistry, and on Mondays and Thursdays, he worked with 10 other students, a teaching assistant and a few professors to answer "Can we develop the new Teflon?: Developing coatings and looking at surface molecular dynamics."

These projects were so cutting-edge that "we had trouble finding research papers (on the topic), and according to the professor, it was equivalent to work that she would usually give to her graduate students," Vrajesh said.

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