Looking into the future as a high school student isn’t easy. What should I study? What school should I attend? What makes me different than the rest of my peers?

This year has made it increasingly more difficult to answer these questions, let alone imagine a future like students in the past have had the ability to do.

But this year at ShadOnline, students had the opportunity to explore new ideas, learn from industry experts, and come one step closer to imagining the type of impact they will make in the world.

As part of Shad2020’s real-world design challenge, Shads were introduced to a range of industry experts—researchers, engineers, Canadian Space Agency experts, professors—who helped them with their designs by brainstorming and answering their questions.

“It’s great to be able to talk to educated, accomplished professionals, not just for our project, which was extremely beneficial, but also to see the job opportunities in the world, and be able to talk to people who have learned so much and have so much knowledge to share with us,” says Shad2020 Jennah Stewart.

On top of having access to professionals in STEAM fields, Shads get introduced to an array of different topics that they might not have been able to explore otherwise.

“The stuff that Shad has taught is very in-depth and high tech, I think that’s going to give me the opportunity not only to do that in my last year of high school, but also in university,” says Shad2020 Mary England.

After Mary took part in this year’s virtual Texas Instruments’ coding workshops, she was inspired to take her interest even further by becoming a coder on her high school’s robotic team.

“I think it’s awesome how I can carry the skills that Shad provided me in high school and beyond.”

81% of Shads in the post-program survey said that Shad helped them feel better prepared for the workforce.

For Shad2021, Shads will be placed at virtual university campuses, providing them with the unique opportunity to connect with professors and get a sense of what learning at a Canadian university is like.

Learn more about Shad2021, and apply here. The application deadline is Dec. 7, at 11:59 pm ET.