A Letter To Future Lauren

Dear Lauren,

I know we have have been well-aware transitioning into my senior year of college that this summer would be important to us. I would be a bridesmaid for the first time, I would begin a new volunteer position at the humane society, and I would cherish the memories of being with our college friends for probably the last summer. But I also knew that getting into and going to graduate school is our top priority, as getting my PhD is a daunting but glittering goal of ours. As I am starting to get my footing in the WAGSFP I hope we gain skills focused in research that are more often learned through experience and application rather than in a lecture hall. I’m looking forward to becoming more confident in not only my analytical, statistical, and computational skills, but also my curiosity. However, if I wanted just those developments alone I could have gone about this in another way. This particular fellowship program will allow me to put into practice a feminist research lens that I have carefully studied during my time at UM. My work in women and gender studies have played a large part in directing my focus in psychology and guiding my interactions with others. 

I come into this program knowing that I will likely face challenges or roadblocks throughout the process. Perhaps I would overestimate how much time I had before starting the poster, perhaps I would make errors in the new programming I will learn this summer. Regardless, I have to expect to make mistakes in this process and have grace with myself, while also striving for improvement in every step of the way. 

It’s safe to say that I’m looking forward to strengthening my research “voice” and to refine the skills that help to put that voice in practice. Through this program I hope to further learn to bridge the fields of psychology and women & gender studies. Future Lauren, you’ll have to let me know how we do.