During the summer of 2018, 10 students were given the opportunity to engage in hands on research on our campus in the field of stem cell biology. Under the mentorship of a graduate student or post-doctoral student, the high school interns learned how to design and carry out research experiments. The students also attended lectures about the basics of the stem cell field taught by graduate students. They also attended additional lectures taught by prestigious Faculty on a variety of topics to widen the students’ knowledge about current topics in the biomedical field. Special seminars on topics such as how to write a research abstract and make a research poster were also taught in the summer. As part of the program, the students also had the opportunity to participate in a campus outreach tabling event for the bone marrow registry, participate in a panel discussion with a patient/doctor , and attend weekly lab meetings and other program events. At the end of the program, these students presented an oral powerpoint presentation within their group and they also presented their research poster at a poster session held on campus. The students’ projects varied widely and each had a unique focus of study within stem cell research. The internship experience had a great impact on all the students and mentors and for the future of stem cell research in California. For many of these students, this was the first time they had an opportunity to work in a research lab. As these students came from very diverse backgrounds, this experience had a great impact on how they viewed scientific research and the many career options that they could explore in the future. This experience also taught them valuable techniques and skills that they will be able to use in future lab experiences in college and graduate school. The students had the opportunity to meet other students who were excited about science research and through the many small group sessions, they were also able to build strong peer relationships within the group. These students were also able to learn the value of what it means to work collaboratively as part of a lab and to have interactions with other trained scientists within the lab. Furthermore, because of this opportunity, one of the major benefits was the self confidence that could be built in these students as they were able to contribute in a meaningful way to each lab’s research aims. This internship also provided valuable mentoring experiences for the direct mentors for these students. In summary, this internship provided students from various backgrounds the opportunity to engage in cutting edge research in stem cell biology, and to be part of the pipeline of students who will be our future researchers.