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We got to really see the real CDC.
It definitely helped me decide a little bit
where I want to go in the future.
It's a great experience,
and honestly, I think it would change someone's life.
I applied for the Disease Detective Camp
because I was always really interested in the CDC's work.
I'd read some books about what they do,
and I was really interested in the epidemic side of it,
to learn about outbreaks and how they're caused and spread.
But then, I got here, and I realized
that there are so many other opportunities available.
Open to upcoming high-school juniors and seniors,
the CDC Disease Detective Camp explores...
careers in public health, basic epidemiology terms,
infectious and chronic disease tracking,
public health law, and outbreak investigations.
The Disease Detective Camp allows me to bridge that gap
between an idea that I knew I liked
and actually how I could find a career path
that would help me do that.
I came here because I was not sure
whether I was interested in the science in medicine
or the public-policy part,
and I learned that I could combine the two.
I would say my favorite part of the camp was the PulseNet labs,
where we got to see what the biologists and the chemists
get to do in the lab,
and they get to work with real viruses and bacteria
and figure out which one matches
to see if it's an outbreak or not.
My favorite part was the global health fair.
It's a great opportunity to see different perspectives
and, around the world, what you can do to change people's lives.
Hearing the different speakers, I thought --
that was my favorite part,
to hear, like, people that were actually involved
with the smallpox eradication --
I mean, that's just amazing to be able to hear them
and to see them, like, in person.
My favorite part was actually trying on
the hazardous-materials suit.
It's actually harder to get into,
and moving around makes me really admire the people.
I was very impressed by how high-tech everything looked.
There are huge TV screens everywhere.
And it really made you feel like
you were in the middle of some sort of government operation,
trying to figure out, you know, the next pandemic.
Well, one of my favorite parts
was the Epidemic Intelligence Service, when they talked.
They told us what they did, and it just sounded really nice
because I would like to travel when I get older,
and it sounds like that's something that they do.
Well, my favorite, if I had to pick,
would be, probably, the press conference
because it was a firsthand experience
of how the CDC communicates with the public.
My favorite session was...
[ Sighs ]
Hmm.
I don't know. I really liked all of them.
I thought the CDC Camp was really awesome.
It was really a great learning experience.
When I heard about it,
I didn't really know what epide-- epidemiology was.
I had never really heard of it, and then I came here,
and I'm thinking about majoring in it now.
It sounds really awesome.
If you're looking for something fun to do over the summer,
come to the CDC Camp
and don't spend your time just watching TV at home
because it's really interesting
and you'll learn a lot of fun stuff.
Actually, I'm thinking about being an epidemiologist now,
after learning so much about it.