Senior Nikayah Etienne is majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in education. Her aim is to identify ways to merge the two. Image: Jake Belcher
Senior and first-generation student Nikayah Etienne aims to incorporate hands-on science in under-resourced classrooms. Nikayah Etienne's mother, an immigrant from the Caribbean island of Dominica, was passionate about her daughter's education. At her mother's insistence, Etienne spent her Saturday mornings in the classroom for additional schooling throughout middle school. She wasn't a fan of the extra education at the time - but looking back, she thinks it paved the way for her to become the first person in her family to earn a bachelor's degree. Etienne grew up in a largely Caribbean neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, and attended one of the city's magnet high schools, where she excelled in the STEM fields. At first, it seemed everyone was telling her to become a doctor - but her calculus teacher recognized her talent for math and science, and encouraged her to consider engineering. That's when Etienne started looking into MIT.
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