My CITI Certification by Taylor

My CITI Certification by Taylor - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

During my junior year of high school I signed up for a class called Science Research. This was a new class started by one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Stahl. Though I was not quite sure what this class would entail, I was excited to be one of the first students in the school to experience it. As it turns out, Science Research was the most rewarding classes I have ever taken. Through this class I became CITI certified, which is the school accomplishment that I am most proud of.
Becoming CITI, or Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative, certified means that I am legally allowed to perform human subject research. This was an online course that the entire class of twelve completed. The course consisted of reading about and learning material before taking a series of tests on it. All in all, it took about a week and a half to complete and pass the program.
The reason that I am so proud of this certification is because this training is meant to be completed by actual scientists. Adults that specifically went to college to be able to dedicate their careers to human subject research. Then, I, who has only a background in high school science courses, was able to successfully pass this program without missing even a single question on the exams.
Mrs. Stahl did not intend for us, the students, to actually conduct human subject research. We completed the program to get an idea of what professional science researchers do in their careers. Many of us took this science class because we had aspirations to become scientists ourselves one day. I myself wanted to become a marine biologist so I could study my favorite animal, the blue whale. Today, though, despite wanting to major in history now, becoming CITI certified is still my most proud accomplishment.