The past few weeks have gone by extremely quickly as the Summer Fellowship is coming to a close. Currently, I have mixed emotions of happiness over the work I’ve done and sadness over its coming to an end. Overall, however, I feel this wave of relief knowing that I have learned much of what I wanted to learn, primarily within the field of Data Science. As I exit the program, I will carry with me the technical skills of computational statistics as well as the ability to present my findings within a formal academic setting. As per my letter to the future, I was absolutely right to anticipate the challenges of working outside of my field; it makes me appreciate the help I have received from my peers even more. The challenge of learning certain coding strategies independently was what made me feel defeated at times, but my teammates’ understanding truly helped me along the way.
The contributions of working in the Fellowship and the Blind Project will carry on with me far into the future. For one, I believe the skills I have gained from working in a fast-paced project has led me to become more independent in my work. Additionally, my communication skills have deepened in its readiness, which I believe makes me a reliable member of my team.
With all the lessons I have learned and challenges faced, I wish to leave a few pieces of advice to the next cohort of WAGSFP.
- Be active! Be immersed in your project, even if you find the subject something to be difficult to understand. Ask your mentors for more information on the purpose and premise of your project, and understand the relevance of your work! It will be beneficial to your work ethic in the long run if you understand why your job is important.
- Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! As I said before (and three times more here), an essential part of a successful team is if everyone understands the challenges each member has, and work towards a solution collaboratively. Get to know your team!
- Be fluid! Be open to unconventional solutions to last-minute problems. Understand that research, though meticulously planned, can also go through waves and shakes, so you have to move with the direction of your team as well. Sounds frustrating, I know, but being fluid with your thinking is extremely useful in all fronts of life.
With that, please take this last piece of advice: HAVE FUN! Research is an expansion of public and personal knowledge, and this should be exciting to you. Regardless of the research you do, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and a great research experience!