I know, I know, this is really late. I am just now getting time to ponder of the experience I had this summer, but words cannot express how thankful I am for being able to participate in BSURF this summer. The friends I made, the faculty talks, and the research experience all made this summer very special and one that I will truly cherish. I was honestly so nervous beginning this program. I was so nervous about not being smart enough and I was nervous that I was not going to enjoy research. But with all new experiences, I believe uneasiness can be a good thing. It’s good to come out of your comfort zone, and the fact that participating in this new experience initially made me uneasy (but excited of course) meant that in some way, what I was about to do was important for my growth as an individual. I can happily say that this program did cause me to grow– in academic knowledge, confidence, knowing my strengths and weaknesses, and setting new goals for myself. Furthermore, BSURF has definitely influence my career endeavors because research is definitely something I want to do again in the future.
As I elaborated on in my previous post, one aspect that I really enjoyed about BSURF was the faculty talks. I really liked how the faculty not only talked about their research interests, but their own career paths–the ups and downs– and how it got them to where they are. This was really influential to me because I was able to see and understand that although things may not always go as planned, life works its way out.
I just want to give a special thank you to the people in my lab for making me feel welcome. I also want to thank my mentor, Connor, for teaching me about different aspects of research and allowing me to work on your project. Furthermore, I want to thank my PI, Dr. Calakos, for letting me obtain this initial research experience from your lab. Finally, I want to thank Dr. Grunwald and Jason for this summer and for facilitating my, and my fellow peers, ability to make connections with professors and important faculty in the various fields of biological sciences. Man, this was such a fun summer and I hate to see it end, but I know this experience is only the beginning and has provided me with a clearer lens of what I want to do in the future. 🙂