About

NHSEMP Freshman Bridge began in the summer of 2006 as a six-week residential program with industry shadowing experiences. Freshman Bridge has evolved in order to address the needs of its students - some of these changes include:

•  Increasing the program duration to 10 weeks in order to provide more time for faculty-driven research internships;

• Participants have the opportunity to enroll in Calculus II summer course for credit (pending UHM Math department approval)

• Our workshop events, now called "ʻOi Ka Naʻauao Spotlight Series", includes professional development, cultural engagement, and guest speakers. 

In 2020, NHSEMP offered its first completely virtual Freshman Bridge program. Students were placed in research laboratories and completed their research experiences remotely; Calculus I, HWST 107 courses, and the daily tutoring sessions were held via video conferencing platforms; students logged into our ʻOi Ka Naʻauao workshop series every week via Zoom; and our Freshman Bridge mentors created weekend interactive team building activities! Since the summer of 2022, Freshman Bridge has returned to in-person participation.

Since our first summer cohort in 2006, there have been 13 cohorts and over 100 Freshman Bridge alumni! Alumni have gone on to receive their BS/BA or MS degrees and have entered the workforce at federal agencies and STEM private companies locally and on the continent.