How to Become a Scientist — High School Years 103 



not being met by local public schools. Some of the larger 

 religious denominations also sponsor good boarding schools 

 and it should be well worthwhile to discuss the possibili- 

 ties with one's minister or priest or rabbi. It must be recog- 

 nized, however, that secular and religious schools vary 

 almost as much in quality as do public high schools, and 

 the prospective student should be prepared to ask the same 

 sort of questions and to take the same sort of responsibility 

 for making up his own mind in both cases. ^ All we wish 

 to emphasize here is the probabihty that it is a good deal 

 easier for a really bright and ambitious boy with limited 

 means to get a hearing from a good private boarding 

 school than most people think. 



There are many things one can do outside of formal 

 school hours to help in becoming a scientist. Extracurricu- 

 lar school activities, hobbies, and certain sorts of jobs offer 

 many opportunities for meeting professional scientists and 

 acquainting oneself with what science is all about. One 

 of the best organized of the hobby activities is ham radio. 

 Many high schools have clubs that offer an easy way of 

 getting into this activity. If not, there is almost sure to 

 be an amateur operator in the neighborhood who will be 

 glad to introduce the newcomer to the mysteries. Although 

 ham radio is principally concerned with applied science, 

 it does provide an interesting and pleasant way of learning 

 a good deal about basic electronic theory. 



The science contests that have grown up in recent years 

 have stimulated a wide range of activities on the part of 

 high school students, some of which have reached sur- 

 prisingly advanced levels. Even hot-rodding has its scien- 

 tific aspects and at the very least provides an opportunity 

 for mastering machine shop techniques and principles which 

 will be useful in the laboratory later on in hfe. 



The enterprising high school student should be encour- 



