Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University
It’s not often you hear somebody say that they’re ready to make a difference in the United States and are getting that opportunity to get to do so. Oklahoma State Junior Harrison Schroeder is getting his chance to make a difference in the world this summer.
Schroeder is an engineering major at OSU whom was selected to attend the prestigious internship in Washington D.C. called WISE. This internship is through the American Nuclear Society where he will be able to begin research in the areas of Engineering that he is interested in.
“As Nuclear Engineering and Policy is something I intend to pursue in Graduate school,” Schroeder said, “I elected to use this opportunity as a platform to launch into that research now.”
This internship is not one that is easy to be accepted to as only as many as 12 people are selected out of almost 600 applicants. Knowing that he was ready to pursue his dreams he took a lot of time and dedication to complete the best application he could.
“The preparation for this application involved weeks of intense research, several books on Nuclear Physics and Engineering and many lessons in technical writing,” Schroeder said, “This preparation went into an application that asked me to detail the importance of scientists and engineers in public policy and asked me to submit a proposal of a technical subject for which I would be interested in creating legislation.”
Finally being accepted and ready to take on D.C. and the world, Schroeder became excited to start the process of his dream and needed to come up with the perfect proposal. He knew that this opportunity was one of a life time and after a lot of hard work and dedication he is now ready to show the nation what all of his work has been leading him to.
“I came up with my topic: Domestic down-blending or conversion of High Enriched Uranium, used in nuclear weaponry, to Low Enriched Uranium, used for nuclear fuel,” Schroeder said, “the United States has yet to launch a major initiative in this area let me know that I could be doing some groundbreaking work this summer and beyond.”
In a few years give or take, be prepared to see your fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy make a huge difference in our world. He is ready to take on this huge project in order to better our country by giving us cleaner energy but also decreasing proliferation threats from other foreign countries. After this internship our fellow cowboy is going to be pursuing his dream but also making a difference in the world, a good one.