On March 27, Bay Shore High School hosted author, scientist, and founder of Backyard Brains, Tim Marzullo, as Ethnic Pen’s keynote speaker. Ethnic pen is an annual conference hosted by Bay Shore’s English department. The focus of the conference is to illuminate the voices of writers from diverse backgrounds. Marzullo, known for his innovative work in the field of neuroscience and his commitment to making science accessible to all, captured the attention of the audience with multiple experiments by sharing his hands-on, neuroscience tools that anyone could use to explore the brain.
As he presented his keynote, it was clear that Marzullo understood the importance of keeping his audience engaged. With high school students gathered in the auditorium, he knew that the key to drawing their attention wasn’t just in presenting facts or complex theories, but offering an interactive experience.
“First of all, it’s a very large audience—so a thousand high school students and two groups of a thousand high school students. And the last thing I want to do is bore a thousand high school students,” said Marzullo.
Marzullo, who remembers his own high school days and the challenges of staying engaged with traditional lectures, emphasized the value of making learning exciting and dynamic.
“Because I used to be a high school student too, and I hated boring teachers. So, the easiest way to make something interesting is by doing live experiments and live demos, right?” said Marzullo.
Inspired by his love of science, Marzullo, alongside co-founder of Backyard Brains, Greg Gage, published “How Your Brain Works: Neuroscience Experiments for Everyone” in 2022. Drawing from his own experiences and the habits that have shaped his success, Marzullo emphasized the importance of consistency for writers.
“I try to write every day for about 10 minutes. So I got into the habit,” said Marzullo. “A lot of people say they don’t like reading and they don’t like writing because they just don’t get into the habit of it. And once you get into the habit of it, then it becomes fun.”
Both Marzullo’s presentation and writing advice left students with a clear understanding of the importance of engagement and consistency in learning.
