Nearly 25 Gateway High School seniors attended the UC system-wide Grad Slam contest on Thursday, May 3, at the LinkedIn Headquarters in San Francisco. UC Grad Slam is an annual contest in which graduate students across UC campuses – in disciplines ranging from hard sciences to humanities – compete to sum up their years of research in three minutes flat.
The contest was emceed by UC President Janet Napolitano and culminated weeks of spirited competition across all of the UC campuses. Winners of campus events faced off in this grand finale to win a $6,000 prize, a trophy, and the title of 2018 UC Grad Slam winner.
Competitors were judged on their communications skills by a panel of change leaders in media, business, and academia, including Gateway’s very own Julia Avila, Gateway High School senior and incoming freshmen at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who has led many social justice activities events at Gateway.
Hundreds of master's and Ph.D. students take part in the contest. The contest encourages them to look at a broader perspective of what their work is about and why it matters, something easily forgotten in the day-to-day toil of research.
The winner of this year's competition was Joseph Charbonnet of UC Berkeley who presented "A stormwater solution.”
As special guests to UC Grad Slam, Gateway students were given the opportunity to envision themselves as master’s and Ph.D. level students and researchers, while also providing them with the opportunity to network with researchers and leaders in their fields, including UC President Janet Napolitano.
Participation in UC Grad Slam is just one example of how Gateway partners with Bay Area organizations to help students gain real-world exposure, connect with mentors, and participate in experiences that fuel ambitious college and career aspirations.
The competition was recorded and can be found here.