STEM scholar gains hands-on experience at Vertex

Crawford High School graduate and STEM scholar Sumeya Aweys emailed us this week from San Diego State University, where she’s in her first year as a nursing major. In her email, she told us about her six-week summer internship at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where, with scientists from the histology department, she focused on diseased kidneys.

Sumeya operated a scanning electron microscope and learned PCR techniques—a laboratory practice that employs temperature changes to copy DNA.

“The mentorship I received was amazing,” Sumeya wrote. “Scientists guided me and helped me understand complex procedures as well as teaching me about networking. These skills and insights have been really helpful in my college journey, showing just how impactful this internship was for my academic and professional growth.”

That’s what we like to hear!

Sumeya says became interested in healthcare when, as a 12-year-old, she would translate doctors’ instructions for her parents, refugees from Somalia who spoke no English.

Sumeya’s brother, Salim, is a STEM scholar who graduated in 2021.