ROSELLE, NJ (CBSNew York) – Three New Jersey high school students who were frustrated with trying to find internships and other opportunities developed new technology to help others in the same boat.
On Monday, CBS2’s Meg Baker spoke to the brains behind the idea.
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Mehar Johal is a 17-year-old tech-savvy.
“I kind of realized that it’s a bit difficult to find summer programs for yourself. Many college sites or sites have pay walls or you have to go through, say, many different websites to find only one opportunity, â€said Johal.
So he wanted to create a way to facilitate research. Interested in IT, he and two friends, Dhruv Rai and Arsh Batth, created a website with a search engine for pre-college opportunities.
It’s called High School Navigator.
“You can find things in competitions, internships, scholarships, summer programs and volunteers,†Rai said.
“If you want to go to some universities like the University of Michigan or UT-Austin or Columbia, you can find programs there. And, of course, there are some that offer an allowance. So if you want to get paid for your work, you can do it, â€said Batth, a 16-year-old who attends South Brunswick High School.
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As you roam the site, there are camps at Princeton University, photography, art and journalism competitions, and more opportunities in math and science, Baker reported.
“They leveled the playing field for communities like mine,” said Roselle City Councilor Denise Wilkerson.
Wilkerson invited the teens to give a presentation to parents, students and guidance counselors, knowing that many may not even realize these opportunities exist.
“Roselle is a small urban community with a large African American and immigrant population, and I knew the tool had the knowledge our community needs to be successful,†said Wilkerson.
“There are about 800 children in a class and there are only eight counselors. It is important that they get all the help they have and if they get, for example, that they know the opportunities that they can pass on to the students, â€said Johal.
Motivated teens hope to help their peers build a foundation before entering college in areas they might be interested in, and they even give back. They organize an online internship with High School Navigator.
For more information on High School Navigator, please click here.
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Meg Baker of CBS2 contributed to this report.
