A Pen-Pal in the Time of Covid

By Deanna Haunsperger

I felt like a kid again as I “tore” open the email marked, “A letter from your pre-scientist is attached!” and read the pdf.

My name is Manuel [name changed] and I am going to be your pen pal this year!\

And immediately we were off and running.

Although I like writing letters, I haven’t had a pen-pal since my teacher arranged for us all to have pen-pals from another country for a writing assignment in sixth grade. Needless to say, that was a few years ago. My new pen-pal Manuel is in California while I live in Minnesota, so there wasn’t an international border between us, but a generational divide that separated us. Manuel was starting 7th grade when we first started exchanging letters (or, in Covid era, emails) last fall.

My colleague Caroline told me about the Letters to a Pre-Scientist (LPS) program last year. It aims to match students in middle school classrooms up with STEM professionals who can answer their questions and provide them with first-hand information about what it’s like to have a career in STEM.

In a time when many of us were desperate for social interaction, if not actual physical connection, reading the hopeful forward-looking stylings of a 13-year-old considering his future was just what I needed.

In science class we are learning about molecules. My favorite subjects are math and science because in science I learn so much about the world in cool and fun ways. Also math is another favorite because I understand it very well and I feel that numbers are very interesting. This year I hope we learn about the human body more to understand how our body develops and what happens on the inside with all the blood. (Quick fact I am grossed out with blood.) So far my favorite thing about 7th grade is not much homework thankfully.

His first letter ended with a list of getting-to-know-me questions. My response perhaps showed a little over-enthusiasm for the process on my part, as it was four typed pages, including teaching him how to do KenKen and teaching him some basics of my field, voting theory.

Theme 1: Career Pathways

Over the course of the next letters (we each sent four), we got to know each other and became quite friendly at the same time that I was feeding him information (along the LPS suggestions) about being a person in STEM. LPS’s goals include humanizing scientists, demystifying STEM career pathways, broadening awareness of who can be a STEM professional, and inspiring curiosity in STEM.

After high school I want to study computer science in college, because I want to become a hardware developer. I also like to create games so being a videogame developer is also a career I like. In order to do that I have to do a lot of computer science and programming and studying it in college would be great. Do you have any advice for me to help me be successful doing my studies in the future?

Theme 2: Higher Education Journeys

Scientist pen-pals have suggested themes for their letters, so on letter-opening day in a classroom that participates in LPS, the teachers can have their students read parts of their pen-pals’ letters and share that information, garnering a more complete picture of the various paths to STEM careers that people have.

Thank you for your letter! I was very excited to read it. I researched a bit about graduate school, and I learned that commonly in a semester students spend 48 hours in a classroom and study from 144-192 hours at home which blew my mind! One question I still have about this topic is why exactly do they have students study a lot more by themselves rather than in a classroom? Can you send me more information about requirements and courses that they have?

I can tell you, when I was in 7th grade, I did not know graduate school existed, let alone have the maturity to ask a professional about the pedagogical aims and requirements!

Theme 3: Overcoming obstacles

I had a hard time figuring out which obstacle in my past Manuel could best relate to, so I decided to share with him the fact that I am a paraplegic from a car accident when I had just finished 7th grade, the same age that he was while we were writing. I showed him a picture of myself in a wheelchair (we don’t see pictures of the students) and of my family, and I told him all about it. Then he shared a story with me.

Thanks for sharing about your experience overcoming the car accident when you were young. I wanted to share how I solved a challenge in my life. The challenge was having to move four times as a kid, three times was to different states, and one time was to a different country. It was difficult because it would always be hard to adjust to a new place and I would have to say goodbye to my previous friends, routine, and almost like saying goodbye to my old life entirely. To solve the problem, I had to learn to be optimistic, learn to adjust, and learn great social skills to make new friends. I learned that I like meeting new people and seeing new areas which was something I didn’t know about myself.

What a truly impressive young man. Optimism shone through in his letters, and he has made a new friend in me.

Theme 4: End-of-year Reflection

One final question I have is how do you feel about everything you have achieved in life and do you feel like you have come a long way since you were young? Thank you for writing letters with me this year. My favorite part was getting to know each other and learning about things we have in common. I’ll always remember you because you’re a great friend and I have enjoyed this so much especially in these difficult times.

I can’t wait to read your last letter!

That last letter was tough to write because I really wanted our correspondence to continue. I don’t know what he looks like or his last name, and I have no way of contacting him again. I do know that he was a little bit of sunshine in a bleak year and knowing him makes me a little more optimistic about the future of STEM.

To learn more about Letters to a Pre-Scientist, how you can support the program, or how you can, as they say, “be a friend and an inspiration,” go to their website or sign up for their mailing list. Recruitment of new pen-pals happens in July; don’t miss out on this opportunity to touch the life of a young person and to have them touch yours.

Deanna Haunsperger is a Professor of Mathematics at Carleton College. She is a former President of the MAA, and she is the Editor of Math Values. In her spare time she likes writing letters to friends.