UNC-Chapel Hill hosted its own Splash on Saturday, April 11. Splash was created in 1957 by MIT students who hoped to teach children in their community. This day evolved into the Splash program, a “fun and relaxed academic program that lets intellectually curious students explore new subjects.” Since then, Splash has spread to over twenty universities, such as Duke, Yale and Stanford.
At UNC’s Splash, students could register for up to six classes for only $15 and were able to apply for financial aid if needed. The classes offered varied from Indian dance to chemistry. Since they were only 40 minutes long, attendees were simply introduced to the relevant aspects of their chosen topics.
Classes were taught by undergraduate volunteers who were committed and compassionate toward their subject. For example, the journalism class I attended was taught by the editor and chief of The Daily Tar Heel, which gave the class a unique, experienced perspective of journalism.
Splash’s main goal is to get high schoolers interested in potential courses and a potential university. To accomplish this, Splash offered students the chance to tour the UNC campus, including the planetarium and art museum during free time.
Overall, Splash UNC was a successful learning day but could improve with more direct promotion. With so many classes to choose from, more students would have attended had the program been better advertised. In the future, Splash should ask schools to advertise the program over the announcements or email high school students directly. However, this was UNC’s first Splash day and a good one at that.
