Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sabrina Welch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Sabrina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I first learned how to spell on a napkin. Before kindergarten each morning, my father, Jeremy Welch, would take my sister and I to the Center Cafe in my neighborhood for breakfast. Breakfast was his favorite part of the day, and he made a great attempt to make it ours too. After sitting down at the counter to enjoy the exquisite daily delicacy of a muffin, my father would pull out a pen, and snag a napkin from the tin holder tucked at the side of the counter. This would be the start of a daily lesson. At first, we practiced spelling. Each day, a napkin would feature a singular letter, with rows of repetition of the strokes of each alphabetical character. Soon the napkins went on to feature new characters, of numbers and signs, forming basic arithmetic sequences and equations. With each napkin of the day, we were taught a new lesson, and immersed in a new, fascinating world of learning we were strangers to before. As we got older, math napkins turned into napkins with life lessons. My father would paint pictures of all of life’s concepts through stick figure drawings and diagrams of homes and family, and the value of living life purposefully. He would share with us his view of the world, teaching us the importance of life, love, and the characteristics we must always internalize, to be humble and kind. I used to think my favorite part of our cafe adventures was the daily blueberry muffin I enjoyed, but I realize now it was not breakfast which was my favorite part of the day, but rather the joy I felt from learning on these cafe napkins. He made learning fun. He made it rewarding. He made learning feel like a treat more so than any form of bakery good, and showed me how enjoyable education could be when it was made engaging. He made me feel like even as a seven year old, I could grasp the conceptually deep topics of whatever he was defining. The mind at every age is so incredibly capable, and my father has taught me this important lesson. From this, I have internalized the notion that I am capable of learning, and creating whatever I put my mind to, and I aim to share this lesson with the communities I interact with to perpetuate the beauty of embracing your unlimited potential. While I lost my father rather early in my life journey with his passing happening last year in October when I was 15, his words and lessons will stay with me forever. His messages of intrinsic motivation and curiosity for learning will eternally inspire me, and I hope to share his wisdom and insight with future minds, and to play a part in inspiring others to find their motivation and love for learning. From my father’s example of showing me how education can be made fun, this allowed me to identify how current education in traditional classrooms does not foster an environment ideal for uplifting engagement in students, and create a space best for learning. Having cognitive stimuli in classrooms which inspires students to want to learn ultimately allows them to retain information to a better extent. As my father’s napkin teachings allowed me to love learning by creating a positive and enjoyable stimulus associated with learning, instilling an intrinsic joy of learning, I wanted to make a program which could instill this same joy for learning in others by making learning fun. This is as engaging learning opens the gateways of youth minds to embrace academics. In pursuit of this, I developed a neuroscience magic show which engagingly provides advanced STEM education to students in a way which is fun, exciting, and an overall absolutely magical experience!
Sabrina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Sabrina Welch, and I am a 16 year old neuroscience-magician who aims to use the power of science, speech, and connection to make a positive impact on the world!
“A magician never shares their secrets” is a trademark line of magic makers across the board. Regardless, after every magic show I watched as a kid, I still craved the answer to how such marvels could occur. How could the limits of reality be so astonishingly challenged? As I left the library, I did not learn how to do magic, but I was introduced to something more important: the principle of magic. Because behind all of the tricks is a lesson. Magic is proof that if you believe in something, it can fruition as reality. As I grew, and developed a deep interest in neuroscience, I noticed that neuroscience and magic are quite similar. As magicians keep their secrets, often, neurology refuses to share its access as well; both are worlds full of mysteries to unlock. When I was younger, I desperately wanted to learn the magic of the brain, but had a difficult time due to the lack of digestible neuroscience resources available which were entertaining to a child. As a high-schooler, I see many children in the same predicament. I strive to remove this barrier and unlock this field for those who will become our future. Magic symbolizes the idea of breaking past reality to foster something better, something magical; that is powerful. I aim to perpetuate this message to children, and show them that although neuroscience is framed as something they are too young to harness, with believing in their capabilities, having a community, and a little bit of magic, the neurology world is theirs to immerse themselves in.
So, I created my own magic show, Mind Tricks, to present neuroscience through an innovative and creative lens that is engaging, understandable, and most importantly, a magical learning experience for kids. Mind Tricks is a comedic show held for all which utilizes the way card tricks work as physical representations of neuroscience topics. It also features activities for youth to engage in activities demonstrating neuroscience through real-world examples, such as showing how the temporal lobe regulates facial recognition through icebreaker activities, doubling as an activity for kids to get to know each other, fostering a STEM community where youth feel happy engaging in together. Integrating hands-on activities into learning helps students have better long-term retention of topics, and this is what the card magic of the show aims to accomplish, while being a fun learning method that children get excited about.
I often found that when I was a child passionate in learning STEM, getting engaged in in-depth and advanced medical science, specifically in the field I love most, neuroscience, was deeply difficult in the youth perspective due to the lecture style and traditional textbook style format in-depth information was often presented in. I strive to combat this to open up the world of neuroscience to the youth of the future to provide them a platform to stay curious, learn, and develop their passions in science by being supported by a resource of education tailored to their learning, and the youth mind. While many often believe that explaining a magic trick makes it un-enjoyable, I believe explanations accomplish meaningful and memorable learning. Knowledge of any subject should be accessible to all, including youth. As I share the enthusiasm of children interested in neuroscience, I strive to do my part in making these opportunities available for them. I aim to bring everyone access to the magic of neuroscience, because as I always end my shows, “magic is meant to be shared”.
Along with my neuroscience magic show, I also avidly enjoy STEM in my personal pursuits, and have developed a deep love for the lab, and research. Cell culture has become a lab procedure which I have found a special joy in, finding excitement in the implications of the work the cell culture I conduct will inevitably contribute to, and peace in the process. I enjoy the challenges working with cells can pose, offering opportunities to develop solutions that can impact the world positively. I love the thrill of developing solutions that can garner a societal impact, and find happiness in dreaming of a future in which I can work towards and dedicate my life to helping others both in my lifetime, and after through making medical contributions that can forever help the world as an addition to what science has access to, and has knowledge of. I hope that I will be able to both provide solutions to the present world, and provide education to those who will be the future of our world to both aid personally in contributing scientific solutions to impact the health of our communities, and inspire the future of science to take on uplifting health with passion, excitement, and most importantly, a genuine interest!
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
As a child entranced by medicine, I recall sitting through Eventbrite’s medical lectures, which my mother asked permission for me to attend after I begged her to email the organizers, and heading to the medical section of the library to read books sharing the beauty of medicine through words I couldn’t understand very well. With my routine of attending seminars and finding much failure to understand daunting 300 page medical books, there was a notable fact– after the barriers of age restrictions and inaccessibly taught content for youth, many children found medicine as a discouraging field to immerse in, leaving the world of exploring advanced STEM education as a child quite intimidating. While I am deeply and eternally grateful for the welcoming nature of the STEM community, the opportunity I was given by being permitted to attend these lectures, and for the librarians who encouraged my medical reading, I felt that a resource tailored to kids to indulge in science at their tempo would be a revolutionary endeavor to make science truly available to all, and make the STEM community have higher youth engagement. While each lecture and book was greatly informative, traditional resources did not foster what I craved as a kid: community, and an engaging way of learning for the attention span of a kid. Having a community truly encourages engagement in my belief. When I was a bit older, my mother began to take me to events which were suited for my age as STEM opportunities opened for older students. When I found this community, it felt magical. It was motivating to talk with other youth determined to engage in science. It was exhilarating to engage in fun, hands-on learning tailored to kids, and explore science through exciting and colorful activities. However, I noticed something was missing in these events too: the in-depth content which was only available in textbooks, and lectures. In each experience, learning science from a youth perspective felt incomplete. By recognizing this, as a high-schooler, I have dedicated myself to uplifting educational STEM resources for my student community that make it so future children aiming to fully immerse themselves in science can have the best of both worlds. The neuroscience magic show I created tackles advanced concepts of neuroscience, and explains them through the lens of entertaining card magic, allowing all ages to learn advanced neurology in a way that is understandable and enjoyable. I strongly believe that youth have the potential to learn all subjects regardless of difficulty level as long as they are provided the opportunities to do so and are taught in an engaging way. Building youth communities of students who are motivated to excel in science is essential to building up strong networks for the future of STEM, and I strive to be apart of creating these communities and provide opportunities for youth to immerse themselves in neuroscience in a fun, engaging, and forever memorable way. Above all, I aim to make a meaningful difference for the future of science as an enthusiastic advocate for breaking down barriers in STEM!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of my work regarding Mind Tricks is being able to connect with my community in a way where I am able to play a part in sharing joy, and the fascinating world of neuroscience with the people around me. Whether through seeing grandparents finding peace in watching their grandchildren inspired and motivated, speaking with parents excited to find an opportunity to give their children a way to learn science in a way tailored to their enjoyment, learning from neuroscience majors at my street performances at Harvard Square, or having the honor to watch little kids find their first spark of passion for science, I have had the pleasure to experience human connection on full blast through a catalyst I love, the brain. The ability to have the platform to connect with everyone, and hear the stories each person has to share is something I am most appreciative of. Kids especially have so much curiosity, ideas, and enthusiasm to share, and while I love sharing my neuroscience knowledge with others, I love being able to learn from the people who come to my events most. At the core, I love people, and having the opportunity to do my best to make the lives of others around me better is truly a personal blessing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mindtricksneuro.wixsite.com/mindtricksneuro
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mind.tricks_official/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrina-welch-69bb1a307
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SabrinaWelch88
Image Credits
Jasjot Padam
Selina Wu
Anushri Mishra
MIT CSF staff team