Kemdi Ekeanyanwu, a student at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, placed in the top 5 national High School Three-Minute Thesis (HS3MT) competition.
Ekeanyanwu, a junior from Little Rock, was one of four national Honorable Mention recipients in the contest in addition to the one winner. HS3MT is a national competition that challenges high school students to turn research in all disciplines (STEM, humanities, social sciences and more) into clear and powerful presentations, according to the competition’s website. Each talk is limited to three minutes while using one slide and no props. Competitors submit videos of their presentations which are later judged. The competition follows the model for the Three-Minute Thesis competition that features college competitors.
Ekeanyanwu’s presentation focused on his research on the disparity in youth’s cardiovascular health. “As the leading cause of death, heart disease impacts millions (of people) a year and disproportionately affects communities,” he said. “My project aimed to locate the disparity and address it before it solidifies in adulthood by assessing a set of biomarkers.”
In addition to competing for a scholarship, he said it was a good opportunity to share his research and bring awareness to the lack of equitable interventions for cardiovascular disease. Creating the video for his submission, which was due at the end of January, was also a good opportunity to practice for science fair competitions.
“Which did end up paying off!” said Ekeanyanwu, who placed second in his categories at both the West Central Regional Science Fair at ASMSA and at the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair.
He prepared for the competition by looking at examples from the college competition which guided him in sketching out his presentation card. After several edits of his slideshow and video, he said his expectations for how well he’d do weren’t very high.
“Making the actual slide was amusing, especially because the information was condensed and engaging, like a commercial for one’s research,” he said. “It was at times frustrating to handle the technical difficulties that came with trying to record. Submitting the final after all the (work on) the draft felt so satisfying.”
So, when he found out he had placed in the top five, he couldn’t help but celebrate.
“As soon as I got the email, I fell out of my bed, running to my friend’s room to celebrate at 11 p.m. I immediately forwarded it to my mentors, Dr. (Whitney) Holden and Dr. (Patrycja) Krakowiak. In the morning I called my parents in disbelief. I’ve been told my project was far too progressive and bold, but to see it accepted and recognized gave me even more motivation to continue my research,” he said.