I’m a high school junior considering majoring in linguistics and/or cognitive science in college. I seek to gain work, education, or volunteer experience relevant to these fields of study before applying to college in order to help me better decide whether I do in fact want to seriously consider pursuing them or related fields, as well as perhaps show strong evidence of my interest in these fields to schools I apply to if I end up indicating one of them as my intended major field on my applications.
With a love for research work and a potential interest in an eventual academic career, I would especially like to gain experience in linguistics or cognitive/science-related research projects. Relevant opportunities local to where I live in central New Hampshire unfortunately seem to be nonexistent, and I would therefore need to temporarily live somewhere else to pursue this type of work, and I would likely only be able to do so this summer.
I’m writing to see if anyone on this forum might be able to recommend any relevant fellowships or internships that might be worth my while to apply to, as well as labs, centers, professors, or other research professionals to reach out to? I’m willing to go anywhere on Earth if I can make it work! I would be able to offer to any projects I work on skills gained from significant relevant experience in my education studying and receiving high grades in language and cognition-related subject material, including in IB-diploma psychology, digital technology, theory of knowledge, beginning Spanish, intermediate Latin, and French and English literature courses; paid work experience in digital information management projects I’ve completed in a job at my town’s public library; volunteering I’ve done in archives classification and digitization at a history museum and in assisting coordinating ESL and Buddhist meditation programs at a church my family attends, and music performance and composition for several different choruses I’ve belonged to. I would ideally like to be paid for my efforts but I’m also interested in learning about potential unpaid opportunities. I would really appreciate learning whatever recommendations anyone might be able to provide me.