<p>Hi, I am a senior in a public IB school in Canada. I have always loved to do research in science but here in Canada, (at least where i live), there's no internships or research opportunities for HS students. However, there's always the annual science fairs. I have went to the science fairs twice but due to lack of resources and funding, the highest awards i've received was a provincial award and bronze medals at the regional level. I still wanted to do ISEF-type research and i contacted lots of researchers w/ my resume and transcripts before i got a volunteer position in a lab. My mentor and lab managers are really helpful and they encouraged me to participate in the ISEF (in gr.11). I then talked to my teacher about this but he said that this would not be considered my "own" because i worked under the guidance of a mentor and i cannot participate in the local science fairs because of that. </p>
<p>Even though i couldn't participate in the science fairs for recognition, i still continued working as a lab assistant.. my question is, would this be considered to colleges as a waste of time (bec. i received no recognition nationally/internationally for this work)? Would they criticize me for not entering the SciFair (bec i couldn't bec i needed my teacher to sign forms and support)? Should i spend time on something else that would get myself recognized? I really don't know what to do, all help appreciated =)</p>