Being a transfer student, I feel as though I lost out on many opportunities my first few years of college. At my previous schools, I didn’t know of any research internships or many other educational programs outside of the classroom. Coming to UM has given me so many new experiences and learning opportunities— UROP/WAGS being a huge part of that!
I was so lucky to have my first interview be with a professor I instantly felt so strongly about working with as well. During the zoom call Dr. Cook even took the time to give me good questions to potentially ask other labs I’m interested in. For example, she said that especially during COVID and with things being remote it is a good idea to ask people what the lab dynamics are like. Also, to ask what communication styles are used between RA’s and with supervisors/the primary investigator. In this lab we mostly use Slack to communicate daily but we also have some email exchanges. We meet in groups ~2 times a week and who ever is running the meeting always takes the time to ask folks how they are doing before jumping into the work. Another tip Dr. Cook gave me was to ask to speak to former or current RA’s from the lab. She gave me about five different people’s emails and I was able to talk to most of them before officially deciding on the lab… but, to be honest, my heart was already set on working with Dr. Cook after this half hour conversation.
Going forward I feel way more comfortable with how to interview for research positions and the past few weeks have been giving me a well-rounded experience in the process of conducting research as well. The study we are doing is in the earlier stages so I get to see all the steps in recruiting, getting certain approvals, consenting participants, and help participants go through the protocol. I am especially excited that I will get to look into some of the preliminary data! I’m looking forward to another month of learning 🙂
I hope you all are enjoying your summers as well!!
-Olivia