High School Student Chalisa Pusitdhikul
Chalisa Pusitdhikul
High School Student
• Favorite Quote or Motto: "Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas" - Marie Curie
• Work Experience:  High School Student 
• Find me on:  FacebookTwitterLinkedIn

My Story

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Our education collaborators are working on programs to implement the app in STEM classrooms and clubs for kids and teens nationally and around the world to learn about how engineering shapes our every day lives. Kids and teens in these programs will be invited to connect with engineers through the app so they can meet and interact with professionals in their fields of interest. Please contact us to learn more about the program and how you can participate.

I am...

a rising senior high school student living in Bangkok, Thailand. I am intending to major in Chemical Engineering in university.

I chose to be a High School Student because...

I initially planned to apply for medicine, but after interning and job shadowing, I realised that I want to create changes that impact more than just patients who visit the hospital. From that point, my interest grew towards pharmaceutics which involves researching and manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. There were of course times when I was confused of what I really want to pursue because I love STEM as a whole and deciding between science and engineering was initially tearing me apart. However, the A Levels curriculum and doing an EPQ made me confident about my choice and also help me understand myself of what I really want to spend my whole life working on. I hope to create solutions for patients by providing effective medicine at its highest quality. As a result, I hope to pursue Chemical Engineering during undergraduate before specialising into Pharmaceutical Engineering where I can work on controlling the manufacturing pharmaceutical processes to ensure that each batch has the least defects.

I like my job because...

there is something new to be discovered everyday. Being a STEM student means being full of curiosity and drive to make changes. The fact that there is no dead end to any research field is just incredible, because this means as the years proceed we get to learn more about ourselves, our environment and our universe. What I love most about pursuing STEM career is to connect with different professions because STEM is actually the centre of everything. It acts like the main hub where we can extend our knowledge to other fields, making we become more aware of the world around us. For example, forensics can lead to law, mathematics can lead to economics, electrical engineering can lead to music, and many more.

My typical day at work involves...

studying, eating and sleeping. As a STEM high school student I believe studying is the largest fraction of a typical day. Since it is competitive to get into university, working hard in high school is therefore seen as a must. However, what I mean by studying also include activities outside lectures for example, working on independent research project, meeting with supervisors and preparing for presentation. Since this take a large share of the time, eating is one of the most recreational activity in a normal routine. We are usually questioned for eating very sweet food and beverages even though we know the mechanisms of sugar within the body. Sleeping is of course a very important daily routine which many of us find it hard to cope with. However, I am aware that advancing into university and beyond will probably take away more of my sleeping time due to workload, so as a high school student, I would take the advantage and sleep early so that I have energy to focus on my project and school work the next day.

I want others to know...

that it is never too early to start something. Usually for inspiration, we would tend to hear 'It is never too late' but I actually think that we should also consider 'It is never too early'. Especially for youths, many people believe that running a brand new project, getting involved in conferences or going to university fairs are not for their age group. However, starting early is actually preparing yourself for the future and it will also help you realise so many things you never realise. From my experience, I used to not be confident to go for university fairs or seminars because I thought I am not a high school senior just yet. However, it comes to a point where I realise that I need counselling for my university and career path. It was so surprising to realise that I have missed so many opportunities just because I thought it was too early to do so. It was my deep regret but a lesson that I want to share to everyone so that they realise starting early is the best way to grasp valuable opportunities. Being able to join RePicture STEM today; collaborate with different STEM professional levels; enjoy researching about STEM; and publicly publishing it on my profile is probably one of the best decisions I have ever did because I thought 'it is never too early'.

My STEM education has helped me ...

STEM education has helped me grow as an individual. STEM involves scientific theories and mathematical relationships that is right and wrong, but also ethics in conducting research and art of designing that prepares me to be an all-rounder. Although I am just a high-school student, I continuously pursue STEM subjects since I was young and always put it in the front line of my priorities. After continuously doing that I do not find myself being bored of it at all, but just want to continue it in the future. I started to appreciate little things in my everyday life such as how we breath, how milk diffuses as I pour it into coffee, how long it takes for me to smell perfume after my mom sprayed it, etc. In my opinion, STEM education teaches me to become curious today while using the past to reinvent the future and by appreciating that fact, I have made my decision to embark on this path. Continuing STEM education in University is challenging, they say, but I believe that as long as I am still curious about what I learnt today, I will be able to handle that challenge.

This is My Story

From medicine to pharmacy to chemistry and now to chemical engineering, I have always been confused with what I want to pursue all this time in school. However, my main aim does not change. I still hope to be part of the change that can provide solutions for patients. While growing up, many people praised me for aiming medicine. It was surprising to acknowledge how they changed after I insisted to go for chemical engineering. 'Engineers are not for girls' or 'Aren't you a girl?' are some of the questions I faced after making my decision. It did make me lose confidence and think if I should go back to medicine because I have been building my resume for it throughout the years. However, everything changed within one year of my lower sixth form. Doing an EPQ project on the topic 'Should sugar be considered as a psychoactive drug?' changed me forever. It was because I dislike the suspense of concluding a project with a true or false statement. Having my hypothesis answered does not satisfied me as much as how I designed an Archimedes screw with my science team for plastic collection. It was this realisation that made me realise how working in a team, communicating to find optimal solutions using science and technology and bringing ideas into reality made me clear of doubts and can move on to my next goal. As a result, I do not hesitate, at this point, to aim for Chemical Engineering. Now as a rising senior in high school, I have decided to join the RePicture summer program to discover STEM careers and make connections with international professionals. I really look forward to what the program has to offer and how it will tailor me in preparation for my tertiary education.

Hobbies and interests

Learning a LanguageViolinArtPhotographyComposing MusicTravelling

What classes have you used most?

I took Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Further Mathematics for my A-Levels. I personally believe that Mathematics is the centre of every other subjects since I was young and that perspective never changed until today. Since Mathematics is involved in every aspect of our life (shopping/paying bills/booking appointment) it is indeed the most useful subject to be studying. Furthermore, as a STEM student, it becomes even more important. Whether studying pure science degrees or engineering degrees, Mathematics still play a large role in education and at work. In my opinion, the class that I used most would have to be Mathematics and Further Mathematics as the skills I learnt are applicable to my other two subjects and also what I have to take in the future such as Thermodynamics or Kinetics.

What skills have been most important to your career?

Different students have different study habits and therefore have personal approach to how they can succeed in their respective classes. In my opinion, the three most important skills include personal development, discipline and communicating skills. As students, we are bound to show improvement whether it's advancing from year to year or dealing with much more difficult exams that before. However, personal development is also equally important which involves reflecting on your work and attributes as a student to be able to identify how you can make changes to yourself to elevate your success in the future. Having discipline is also a key element, because after reflecting yourself, it is important to stick to it and make sure improvement occurs long-term. Communication is indeed required for every field of study and work because it is the only way to present the things an individual has done which would showcase what they are capable of. Being a good communicator will allow a student to be uniquely recognised for who they are and is important for the rest of the career path yet to come.

Examples of Projects I've Worked On

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