Beyond the Classroom: How Sara and Julia Are Inspiring Change

They may be only sophomores, but twin sisters Sara and Julia Rosenman are already making a remarkable impact inside and outside the classroom at Breck. Both are passionate about transforming education, creating meaningful real-world learning opportunities, and inspiring students to explore careers beyond the school walls. From robotics to violin to government to career exploration and more, these two have a unique group of passions that show off their commitment to learning. In this interview, they share their journey, their big dreams for the future, and advice for students looking to break into new fields.

 

What extracurricular activities are you involved in this school year at and outside of school?

 

Sara: In school I play violin in the orchestra and am co-captain of the robotics team.  I have also been a school ambassador for the last few years, and enjoy the opportunity to be able to tell families about all of the things that make Breck an amazing school.  Outside of school I practice and teach Taekwondo and Kung Fu, and spend a lot of time learning about various careers and industries.  I am also working on a number of initiatives that are focused on helping students at Breck and other schools to have impactful real-world learning opportunities.

 

Julia: I’m the co-captain of our robotics team and play violin in the orchestra.  I am also a school ambassador, which means that I give tours to prospective families – this is something that I really enjoy doing.  Most of my time outside of school is spent working on various projects that are focused on helping to improve the education that every student receives.  I love learning about various careers, so I spend as much time as I can learning from people at companies and virtually.  I also practice and teach martial arts.

 

Julia, you are on the Minnesota Youth Council representing district 5! What has that been like for you this year?

 

Julia: I have really enjoyed working with a group of students from all over the state, and learning about the priorities and concerns of the youth they represent in their respective districts.  Each of the representatives has their own area of interest, but everyone works collaboratively to further the legislative agenda of the council.  I work on the policy research committee, and spend a lot of my time focusing on education policy.  There have been regular opportunities to interact with legislators and other policymakers, and this has helped me to better understand how policies are created and implemented.  The Minnesota Youth Council has also provided me with opportunities to present the education work that I’m doing at the Capitol, the Minnesota Department of Education, to school superintendents and school board members, etc., and those experiences have connected me with many people who can help to further the work that I am doing.  So, I would say that it has been lot of work, but it’s very rewarding.

 

 

Back in the fall you both received a NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Impact Award. Can you explain your work that led to this national recognition?

 

Sara: Since we were in elementary school, Julia and I have loved learning about various careers and career paths.  We began reaching out to the CEOs and management of some of the largest companies in the world to learn about their work, and learned very quickly that most adults are happy to meet with students when asked.  Over the last few years, this has led to many unique learning opportunities at companies, including learning in over thirty areas of the medical device company Boston Scientific over three years, spending a summer there in an intensive learning program they created for us, and giving a talk at the company about our untraditional learning path in front of hundreds of their employees.  These types of opportunities led us to wonder why all students were not learning in a similar way.  We began speaking with teachers about the idea of implementing an assignment in classes that would have students reach out to and learn from practitioners outside of school, and there was immediate interest.  Ms. Yoon, our amazing 7^th grade science teacher, was the first teacher to implement this way of learning in a class, and that was four years ago.  Since that first implementation, we have continually made refinements each year to make the assignments more impactful for students.  We have also been working with more teachers in more grades, and have been speaking with many teachers and administrators at other schools as well.  Last year at Breck, we expanded from middle school and created and taught a five-week professional skills lesson plan in Ms. Thorne’s second and Ms. Moore’s third grade classes.  Students learned all aspects of how to give a proper introduction (e.g., eye contact, listening, handshakes, asking questions, etc.) and learned the importance of and reasoning behind confidently and purposefully making new friends.  We believe that students should start learning these professional skills in elementary school, and then begin to learn about various careers from practitioners in middle school.  This year we also expanded to high school classes, and at Breck Mr. Gorrill has already implemented a related assignment as the final project in one of his computer science classes.  We are actively working with other teachers to implement real-world learning assignments in other classes, and have consistently been receiving positive feedback from teachers, students, and parents.  

 

Julia: We are also working on related projects with various organizations.  Most recently, we created an award called the Technology Exploration Award, which encourages students to reach out to technology practitioners and learn detailed information about their careers and career paths.  We partnered with Aspirations in Computing and the Minnesota Technology Association to make this award happen, and students from all over the state are currently pursuing it.

 

Sara: Julia and I believe that students should learn about dozens of careers and the paths to those careers before graduating from high school, and that is definitely possible.  Once this goal is reached, a much higher percentage of students will pursue careers that they are passionate about, as opposed to careers they just happened to have passively learned about and settled on.  This improvement to our current system of education will have a very material and positive impact on societal productivity.  The Aspirations in Computing organization found this work to be compelling, and that led to the recognition.

 

You two are doing amazing things and you’re only sophomores! Do you have any big dreams you hope to achieve before you graduate?

 

Sara: That’s very nice of you to say.  There are so many areas that I hope to learn about before graduation, and I have many goals related to modernizing our existing system of education.  I want to continue to meet new people and learn about new careers and industries, as this is a great way to learn new perspectives.  I believe that people who work hard and surround themselves with good people can end up doing things that are bigger than anything they may dream about.

 

Julia: Thank you so much!  Before graduation, I hope to positively impact as many students as I can.  In 5th grade, I met with a president at Boston Scientific who told me to always set high goals and to “shoot for the moon.”  He said that even if I came up short, I still would have achieved more than if I hadn’t strived to reach that goal.  I have followed this advice and have set many high goals related to helping other students.  I’m trying to make the most out of every day so that I can achieve as many of my goals as possible.

 

Any advice for other students trying to break into new fields they don’t know much about?

 

Sara: Yes!  I could give dozens of examples of people who were happy to teach me about their work from a simple cold call or email.  My advice for all students is to not wait to pursue these kinds of learning opportunities.  It’s easy to feel like this kind of outreach is only supposed to happen when seeking junior or senior summer learning opportunities, or even after graduation, but it can be very beneficial to start earlier.  By the time students graduate, they should be very experienced in reaching out to and learning from practitioners, and already have a great professional network.  If students are interested in something, they should find someone who is willing to teach them about it.  I recognize that it can be intimidating to reach out to and learn from adults, as I was nervous going into the first few meetings that I set up, and many happened to be in the boardrooms of large companies.  But the more meetings I set up, the less difficult it became, and eventually it became easy.  If I made a mistake of some sort in a meeting (which I did many times), I learned from it and tried not to make the same mistake again.  All of this learning takes time, and if students make this way of learning a priority, they can develop these important skills earlier in life.

 

Finally, I would share a piece of advice that has resonated with me, and I think it is essential to having great opportunities.  A few years ago, Julia and I met a 3-star army Lieutenant General who is the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and we had him speak with high school students at Breck.  We love asking people we meet for the life advice they wish they had known when they were our age, and when we asked the General this question, he had a memorable answer.  He told us that his mother used to tell him, “Who you surround yourself with is who you become.”  People are often influenced by those around them, and when students surround themselves with people who influence them positively, it can help them to achieve great things.

 

Julia: Definitely!  I would suggest that students find people who work in areas that interest them, and then reach out to and request meetings with those people to learn about their careers.  It’s very easy these days to find people’s contact information, and I think that most students end up pleasantly surprised by how willing adults are to meet with them.  While many adults are not teachers by training, my experience has been that the vast majority of them enjoy teaching students when asked.  I encourage students to reach out to and meet with practitioners as it is a great learning opportunity, and can help them to connect with many different people in areas of interest.  Of course, meeting with practitioners requires time spent doing research and preparing beforehand, but it is 100% worth the effort.  I would suggest that students start doing these kinds of meetings as soon and as regularly as possible, because they help to build proficiency in seeking out and pursuing desired opportunities, and also help students to develop many other skills that are invaluable for life post-graduation.

 

The second piece of advice for students is to treat every relationship in a way that gives it the best chance of lasting a lifetime.  When students build new relationships and strengthen their network, they know more people who may be willing to help them and provide opportunities in the future.  Additionally, working to create and maintain lasting relationships can help students to build a strong community, which is beneficial in so many ways.