High schoolers get a taste of university life during Emory’s pre-college summer program

Whether unpacking the psychology of social media, discovering ancient Rome’s buried secrets or delving into other topics of interest, high school students engaged in an all-encompassing college experience through Emory’s pre-college summer program.

From Colombia to Maryland and Puerto Rico to Tennessee, rising high school juniors and seniors traveled from across the globe to experience life as an Emory College student.

After more than 17 years, Emory’s pre-college program continued to provide unparalleled opportunities to prospective students. Participants were fully immersed on campus, getting a day-in-the-life view of Emory. They lodged in Emory residence halls, had full access to campus facilities like Michael C. Carlos Museum and were admitted into innovative, college-level courses. The summer also featured visits to local attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, High Museum of Art and Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Current Emory undergraduate students served as resident advisors, guiding participants through the program. 

With 80 noncredit and credit courses offered this summer, students were sure to find something of interest. Topics included the science of diseases, neurodiversity in society, healthcare challenges in the 21st century, developmental psychology, astrophysics and more. 

In “Psychology of Social Media: The Science Behind the Scroll,” students learned about the effects that different forms of media can have on well-being and how it can result in stress, anxiety and depression. 

Elaine Johnson is an assistant teaching professor in Emory’s Department of Psychology. Her clinical and developmental psychology training, plus experience working with teenagers in private practice and teaching college students, led to her producing the pre-college course. 

“I wanted to create a class that taps into understanding the psychology behind why we're so impacted by social media, why our biases might lead us to be impacted in different ways and what we can do about it. Having this information can help us build awareness as we continue to engage on social media,” Johnson said. 

The two-week course incorporated modules like neuroscience, motivation and positive psychology. The class also unpacked developmental psychology while discussing mental health, social media misinformation and trends. Johnson wanted to give students a meaningful understanding of the digital age. Plus, focusing on social media made the class engaging for teenagers. 

To enrich the students’ experiences, Johnson took them to Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and the Georgia Aquarium. 

Her goal? Expand the students’ perspective. Johnson thinks art allows students to look past biases and question what’s presented to them — a theme she is passionate about encouraging people to do while engaging with social media.

Olivia Decastro, a pre-college student from Tennessee, agreed with Johnson’s approach. She was interested in how relevant the course was to herself and her peers.

“I was kind of confused about how it would connect to the course, given that it's an art museum,” Decastro said. “I thought that was a really interesting way to connect that field trip to the social media and psychology aspect of the class.” 

In another pre-college course, “Archaeological Investigation: Pompeii and Herculaneum,” students became historians, deconstructing the ancient ruins of Roman cities like Herculaneum. They deciphered archaic graffiti, probed the city’s preserved artifacts and examined its history to outline a complete story. 

According to Tori Burke, a PhD candidate who helped lead the course, students were able to “find a sense of connection with real people who lived almost 2,000 years ago.” 

Students walked away from this course understanding how to synthesize various data and translate it through writing and presentations. Gaining insight into the culture and lifestyle of the Roman Empire allowed students to understand unique perspectives across today’s society. 

Burke and fellow instructor Tyler Holman — who is also a PhD candidate — are both studying Roman art through Emory’s James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies. 

“I think it was very interesting because I have visited the museum on my own before, but I didn’t have new background knowledge on the statues, history and what’s represented,” said Hla Zar, a rising senior from Dalton, Georgia, who took the class. 

Holman and Burke wanted the museum visit to bring Pompeii to class participants. Instead of relying solely on textbooks and pictures, the instructors say they preferred a grounded approach to the course — allowing students to uniquely interpret artifacts. 

Equipping high schoolers for college

The Emory pre-college program simulates the college admissions cycle, preparing high school students for the process well before they apply to a university. Students submit their high school transcripts along with two teacher or counselor recommendations and test scores for consideration. They also choose which courses they would like to take. The 80 courses taught this summer — with all but 25 awarding class credits — offered students unique learning opportunities across multiple areas of interest. 

“This was the main class that kind of sparked my eye because it's something kind of new,” Theo Gerson said of Johnson’s psychology course. Although he is from Maryland, after completing the summer program Gerson said Emory is “definitely a top option” for his college years. If so, he won’t be the first Emory Eagle in his family: Gerson’s dad is an Emory alum, and his brother will be a senior this year. 

Decastro also said her pre-college experience influenced her decision to apply to Emory.

“I think now that I've gotten to see the campus, gotten to see what a class would look like and met people like my RAs, I think I want to apply because they all seem very inviting and the campus is really nice,” she said.