Texas Tech partners with the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) to offer REAP. REAP is a paid internship program that focuses on developing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among high school students.

Texas Tech partners with the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) to offer REAP, which is funded by the AEOP. REAP is a paid summer internship program that focuses on developing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competencies among high school students. 

Two students talk about their time in this program and how it has impacted them and their futures, Stephen Maddox from Cooper High School and Kami Mazzolini from Talkington School for Young Women Leaders. 

Stephen Maddox

What do you expect to get out of this program this summer?

I expect to get a better understanding of Electrical Engineering that I can take with me when I come to Texas Tech in a couple of years.

What is your goal as far as a career goes in Electrical Engineering?

I've been interested in radio frequency so I'm interested in taking more of those classes and getting to know those professors more and hopefully, that will be leading me into my career after I graduate.

What has been your experience with this program?

It has been good; I've learned a lot. I came here last year, and they invited me back this year and I was able to use what I learned last year and learn some new things this year.

What is the main thing that you have done?

The main thing I have done is PCB Board Design, it's on the computer and just finding all the components and wiring them together correctly and getting it manufactured and getting it here and testing it out.

What would you tell other students that wanted to get into this program?

It's very helpful if you want to get hands-on experience and if this is what you are interested in. They give us a project and we will figure it out ourselves and see how it goes from there.

Kami Mazzolini 

How did you get interested in this program?

They came to my school and had a presentation and I just thought it was a super cool opportunity to learn more about this specific field of Engineering.

Has Engineering always been something you were interested in?

I wanted to be a Meteorologist or a Dance Teacher, but I joined a Robotics Team my freshmen year and ever since then, I've just been stuck on it.

Where do you plan to take this experience?

I plan to attend Texas State University and will be going there this upcoming Fall. My major will be Computer Science and Computer Information Systems, I won't necessarily be an Electrical Engineer, but this experience will help me open my mind to possibly go different directions in my career.

How do you feel this program has enhanced you as a student?

A lot of this program is self-led, so you could just sit there and do nothing but have a strong work ethic has helped me go through this program and just learn a lot. There's been a lot of learning opportunities that you must go after yourself so being able to do that has helped me. We've also learned a new coding language and learned about Electrical Engineering which is something I'll need to know in college eventually.

What do you think about the lab that you guys are working in?

The lab is so cool. I came in here and I was just blown away, the lighting is cool, and you can even dim it. We have AC here whereas a lot of labs don't. It's a great space to work in and the fact that it's integrated into future labs that you'll take as a student is something you won't find at a lot of other universities.

“From Here It's Possible”, is the slogan for Texas Tech, how do you feel that your possibilities are greater leaving this experience?

I just know a lot more; I came into this program not even knowing how a breadboard works and that's the main component of this whole program basically. Just knowing exactly what I'm doing makes me feel a lot more confident and capable of my skills.