COSLI May Newsletter
The COSLI newsletter is written and edited by students on the COSLI Student Advisory Board.
Enjoy student updates, perspectives, events, and opportunities.
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Letter from the Student Advisory Board President
Dear friends of COSLI,
As we near the end of the school year and start devising plans for a normal-ish summer, I took some time this week to reflect on what an extremely adverse year this has been for students, especially for seniors. During this time of reflection and during the last meeting with our student board, I had the opportunity to look back on all the amazing initiatives our COSLI community undertook to increase teen voter engagement, increase youth’s ability to express concern on sports cancellation, educate ourselves on contemporary issues, give new students the COSLI experience by continuing the COSLI opportunity this summer, and contribute enriching pieces to the newsletters that so many have enjoyed. This is just a small list of accomplishments our student board achieved this year, illustrating the resiliency and desire for community change through public service possessed by our members.
Pushing through a year of pandemic, virtual education, and unprecedented politics, as well as weighing college choices, the senior class of 2021 has just about been through it all. The hardship of maintaining mental health alongside a superb academic record has completely reshaped education, and the senior class has been directly impacted most. As they embark on their educational and public service pathways beyond COSLI, I express my greatest gratitude and respect for the COSLI members leaving us. However, I am well aware that the change and progress they implemented here with COSLI will carry on into their college careers and life. Thank you, seniors!
Thank you and all the best,
Mohamed Ibrahim
COSLI Class of 2019
Student Advisory Board President
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Letter from the Founding Executive Director
Friends of COSLI is proud to be a Project of the Rose Community Foundation
This year’s seniors, all seniors--not just COSLI’s, deserve so much. They are about to graduate after a year of missed opportunities and mixed enjoyment of long-held traditions. At the same time, they have shouldered and experienced what has been one of the most difficult times in our world’s history. The conversations many of our students have shared with you in this newsletter have been difficult and confronting. Our students have asked all of us to think deeply about where our nation and our globe is headed. They have demanded that we lean in more fully to listen to what our youth expects for their future.
What I have heard is a changed voice--one that is older than its years. It saddens me in some ways that these seniors won’t be so jovially headed to shop for the fun accoutrement needed for their dorm rooms nor will they be choosing which fraternities and sororities to join based on parties and fun to be had. Instead, I predict they will include on their to do lists to solve the very items our students have seen during their time in COSLI--racial equity, homelessness, use and preservation of natural resources, substance abuse, gentrification, economic development for all who seek it, effective entrepreneurship and, at the very top, mental health.
From them, we expect much. For them, we hope much. To them, we wish so much more.
So to the Class of 2021, please remember the words of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Best,
Celeste
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2021 NCoGS Logo Design Competition
Following the events of last year and the need for increased logo recognition, the National Conference of Governor’s Schools (NCoGS) is pleased to announce the 2021 Logo Design Competition. Click here to enter your design for the new logo and to read more about the expectations. Below is the current logo; enter and make yours the next one! All designers receive a prize and the winning logo’s designer will be awarded $500!
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Lessons Learned
By Bryce Li
In the 21st century, technology is critical to how we live our lives. Technology guides us from the minute we wake up to the minute we fall asleep and allows us to discover information and knowledge like never before. This effect has only been exacerbated by the pandemic over the past year and a half, a time when technology has quite literally become the way we live. Now, oftentimes, it is also how we educate ourselves, how we connect with friends and family, and how we spend our free time.
Last year, during the pandemic, COSLI — a residential program — had to shift online. This changed the trajectory of much of the program, but also provided unique and distinct opportunities.
Of course, there are numerous benefits and harms of technology. While it is quite interconnecting, it oftentimes results in a loss of direct, personal connection with those closest to us. And, although technology allows us to access an unprecedented plethora of information, we can find ourselves in "filter bubbles" where we only see information, viewpoints, and ideas that we associate ourselves with, largely because of AI social media algorithms.
These information "filter bubbles" often group similar-minded individuals together and threaten to exacerbate political polarization in America. Worst of all, this threat is often underlying — we don't know when we've entered these isolated spaces until we've already become accustomed to it.
Luckily, the solution to this problem is quite simple: reach out across the aisle and listen. Americans do not do this enough, but the simple act of understanding different viewpoints can crack the foundations of polarization, breeding a new era of cooperation, trust, and collaboration.
COSLI hopes to foster these solutions by bringing together diverse individuals from across the state of Colorado to engage in conducive conversations amongst themselves and with diverse speakers of note from various industries — oil, technology, business, and more — who shed light on their practices and how they aim to make the world a better place.
All in all, I'm glad I attended COSLI in the summer of 2019 because it allowed me to break my barriers of thought and become a better citizen of Colorado.
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Student Features
We want to give a special shout out to the seniors who have taken a lead with this newsletter. Many thanks to them for their hard work!
Sophia Truex has been THE amazing editor. She is headed to Tufts University.
Hagan Archer has provided memes and articles.
He is headed to South Dakota School of Mines.
Emma Davis has provided so many opportunities to all who have read.
She is headed to University College London.
Timi Kola-Abiola has written about all that COSLI students learn.
He is headed to Tufts University.
Sheila Ta has shared birthdays, CO History, and a few other thoughts.
She is headed to University of San Francisco.
Izzy McCarty has graciously shared the accomplishments of others.
She is headed to Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO.
Laith Ibrahim (2020) is the Regional Champ and 2A Heavyweight State Champ in wrestling. Keep on fighting for good!
Sofia Casini (2019) received the Morehead Cain Scholarship to attend University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Way to go Sofia!
Ava Warren (2020) was inducted into her school’s National Honor Society Chapter this month. Congrats, Ava!
Sheila Ta (2018) received a $10,000 scholarship from the Hurliman Foundation. So proud of you, Sheila!
Ayush Shekar (2019) was a National Semifinalist for the National Honor Society Scholarship, receiving $3,200 for his education and access to the NHS alumni network. Fantastic job, Ayush!
Kirsten Kochheiser (2014) was accepted to begin a MA program at CU Boulder in Fall, 2021 - a continuing Buff!
Hagan Archer (2018) and his engineering team placed second in the MESA robotics competition and his We the People constitutional law team became regional champs!
Timi Kola-Abiola (2019) has been awarded the Sachs Foundation Scholarship - this and a portfolio of other impressive awards allow him a full ride!
Happy Birthday to our COSLI Alumni! May your day be full of smiles!
Love, your COSLI Family.
Tyler Garris - 5/2
Johnny Valdez - 5/3
Ayush Shekhar - 5/8
Zakarias Abdulkadir - 5/8
Juan Jesus - 5/9
George Slowey - 5/12
Jeremiah Ravenscroft - 5/15
Sydney Davidson - 5/16
Spencer Threlkeld - 5/17
Carlos Erives-Cota - 5/21
Jessica Kalloor - 5/21
Cerna Sanchez Alfonso - 5/22
Jaise TwoCrow - 5/22
Elena Varney - 5/23
Silvia Lopez - 5/24
Eric Gonzalez - 5/29
Gabriella Guzman-Rodriguez - 5/29
Colorado History
What else happened in May?
Did you know these historical events occurred in May?
May 9, 1936 - Civilian Conservation Corps stops working on all other projects to start building what is known today as the Red Rocks Amphitheater.
May 24, 1962 - Astronaut Scott Carpenter becomes the fourth person to orbit Earth.
May 26, 1992 - The Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge Act is signed by U.S President George H. W. Bush.
We are so proud of our COSLI alumni! Contact Ava Warren (warrenav@s.dcsdk12.org) with college acceptances as they start rolling in and any other cool projects or successes!
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Opportunities and Events: May 2021
The Indiana University Foundations in Math And Science Summer Courses are online programs through Zoom done by the Indiana University College of Arts and Science. The programs give higher education and preparation for college to students in math and science. More information here.
The Civics Secures Democracy Act is a bill that was introduced to Congress to advance students’ civics and history education. The YMCA is asking for student sponsors for the Civics Secures Democracy Act from around the country to support the act and try to get the bill passed. Information on the bill here and sponsorship nomination form here.
Are you looking for internships and opportunities this summer that are available to students in Colorado? Take a look at this registry: https://www.internships.com/high-school/colorado .
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The Importance and Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines and How to Get Vaccinated
By Moriah Dominguez
Vaccinations can be very impactful to the public health of a community. They help prevent outbreaks of disease and keep unvaccinated individuals within a vaccinated community safe. This goes for the COVID-19 vaccines as well.
The Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines are a new technology for vaccinations in humans, which may understandably cause fear around getting this type of vaccination. mRNA vaccines differ from most vaccines, as mRNA vaccines utilize the ability of messenger RNA to encode proteins. In this case, the proteins are used to fend off infection from COVID. mRNA COVID vaccines encode a protein called “spike-protein” found on the surface of Sars-CoV-2. The instructions the vaccine gives the body to make the protein are deleted soon after to keep the protein from being replicated. The immune system can then practice an immune response to the protein, so it can protect you from COVID in the future (CDC information on mRNA vaccines). Vaccines are used to make a person build antibodies to a certain disease or virus, and therefore they won’t get sick and can fight off the infection from that virus much easier. The COVID vaccines are no different; they just use a different technology than most vaccines that are currently widely used.
Vaccines are highly regulated by different organizations, such as the CDC and the FDA, to keep them safe and administrable. Adverse side effects from vaccines can be reported to the CDC and FDA (information on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System here) for investigation.
The three approved vaccines in the U.S.--Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and Pfizer-BioNTech--may not totally prevent illness, but all have been proven to be safe and effective enough to prevent severe illness and death from COVID. These vaccines do tend to give mild side effects after vaccination, such as joint and muscle pain and soreness of the vaccination site (The World Health Organization). Most people I have talked with who have gotten vaccinated only had soreness in the arm they got the vaccine in. In some cases, though, people will have more severe reactions. These reactions are normal. People tend to have worse side effects with their second dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. The effects of the vaccines are something to be aware of, but not necessarily something to fear.
How can I get vaccinated?
The CDC's vaccine finder tool is a very easy way to find vaccine sites and available appointments in your area. All you have to do is put in your zip code and the vaccine(s) you do or don’t want to receive (if you are eligible and under eighteen, you can only receive the Pizer-BioNTech vaccine). The website will show you vaccination sites near you and their availability of the vaccine. The vaccine finder can send you to the website of the vaccine sites, so you can easily schedule an appointment from there.
After getting vaccinated, there is a bit of a wait until the vaccine takes full effect. For example, the Pfizer vaccine takes three weeks after the first dose and two weeks after the second dose to take full effect.
After getting vaccinated you should register for the CDC’s v-safe vaccine and symptom tracker and answer its surveys, so it can monitor vaccine side effects and keep the vaccine precautions up-to-date.
* Please note that we acknowledge the importance for those who have valid religious and medical exemptions to be able to claim those.
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Alumni Feature: Hagan Archer
Hagan Archer has been a part of COSLI since its beginnings and has experienced the program as both an outsider and a student. Because of his mom’s (Celeste Archer) role as a founder of the program, Hagan has watched COSLI grow from weekends at a Denver hotel to an unforgettable summer program that continues to grow in popularity and establishment. As a somewhat-member of every summer of COSLI, Hagan has met many impressive students of the program and watched the program develop into what it is today. His favorite memories were formed when the program first started and he had the opportunity to hang out with the group of older kids who helped establish the program. Hagan has also been witness to the barriers that passionate students and contributors to the program have overcome to ensure that COSLI continues to thrive and benefit students across the state of Colorado as one of the top Governor’s Schools in the nation. Hagan credits his mother and the students of the program for the continued growth, as they consistently contribute beyond their time spent on campus.
Though Hagan has been a part of every summer of COSLI, he was also a member of the class of 2018. While he enjoys his time with the program each summer, he preferred his time as a student because of the freedom he had to interact with his peers and do things on his own. His favorite memories of his experience as a student were the pseudo-college experiences of late nights in the dorms and events the class would organize amongst themselves. His advice for future COSLI students is to take full advantage of the opportunities offered and realize that the program is there for all its students beyond the summer spent on campus. Hagan’s experience with COSLI has led to his future plans to support the program in any way he can, whether it be as a donor, serving on boards, or volunteering for the program.
In the fall, Hagan plans to attend the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for mechanical engineering. He hopes to become a successful and recognized engineer in the aerospace field. Hagan would like to thank everyone who has made COSLI possible, as the program would not be possible without the support it receives from donors and the services from participants on the program’s boards. He would like to give a huge “thank you” to his mother, to Kayla, and to their families for the time and dedication they put into the program each year.
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COSLI Reads
Need book recommendations? Well here’s a list of what the COSLI alumni are reading- take a look, you might find one you like! Enjoy!
See what your COSLI alumni have been reading!
One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson
The Black Witch by Laurie Forrest
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
Youth To Power: Your Voice and How to Use It by Jamie Margolin
Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
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COSLI Meme
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COSLI Newsletter Contributors
Sophia Truex, Editor (Crested Butte, CO)
Tobin Wheeler, Editor (Salida, CO)
Hagan Archer (Denver, CO)
Riley Cooper (Broomfield, CO)
Kaya Crawford (Crawford, CO)
Emma Davis (Aurora, CO)
Moriah Dominguez (Denver, CO)
Mohamed Ibrahim (Wiggins, CO)
Timi Kola-Abiola (Denver, CO)
Bryce Li (Broomfield, CO)
Izzy McCarty (Elizabeth, CO)
Sheila Ta (Pueblo, CO)
Ava Warren (Highlands Ranch, CO)
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