This summer has been better than I ever could’ve hoped in regards to research, and the program was great until a *certain* announcement was made today (I won’t name names but we all KNOW). In terms of the program I don’t have much to say beyond how helpful it’s been? I’ve really enjoyed all the seminars and being able to joke around with fellow fellows (see what I did there?), and honestly even these blog posts have really pushed me to reflect on the work that I’m doing. The only important comment I can think to say is: more social science brown bags maybe? But yeah overall it’s really been great.
The most impactful part of my summer has been building my relationship with my research mentor. While I’ve worked with her for the past two years, there have always been other research assistants, and now I get the chance to work with her individually to really grow my research skills and take on more responsibility. Recently I asked her for advice about applying to grad school, and now she’s become a mentor in that area as well, and it’s really motivating to have someone that already went through the process to help guide me.
As for the other people posting on this blog, I do wish we all could hang more, but alas, busy schedules get the best of us. On a side note, compared to two years of UROP’s fall/winter program, I LOVE having seminars that don’t have to be extremely vague about topics. For once I can talk to people about their research and actually give/receive advice/knowledge/journal articles that apply (obviously it’s good to draw connections to all different types of research and yes I can do that but in my opinion it’s more fun this way).
I’m personally really looking forward to symposium as well, especially since I’ll take all the presentation experience I can get. I’m excited to share all the new information I’ve learned over the summer, along with learning even more from other fellows.