WAGSFP was such a fantastic program overall, especially with getting a chance to work more independently on my research project, prepping it up to make it into my thesis over senior year, and meeting other fellows over the two months we spent together (and their own co-workers/mentors in WAGSFP Lunch). My favorite part of WAGSFP was the freedom we all get with what we want to ultimately make of our own projects (with a few guidelines here and there to make us symposium-ready) along with the fun activities outside of seminar where we get to know other fellows and their own lives, viewpoints, likes, and dislikes. The couple of Brown Bags I went to also did manage to be very informative of the kinds of research done throughout the campus (and even beyond it). Moreover, it was also my first time actually living in an apartment (realizing I know how to cook absolutely nothing) while still doing medical school applications. So overall, it’s been a pretty busy but exciting summer.
Some really valuable parts of the program included realizing the impact each fellow’s identity and career goals have on the research they choose to do. Moreover, I saw how crucial it is for aspects of ourselves to be really examined in a research setting to flesh it out in real world environments. I hope future fellows part of this program get to explore the knowledge within Ann Arbor, their cohort, their lab, and themselves as they do their own research and make something great out of it.