As my research project wraps up and I begin to design my poster for the final presentation, I realize that I’ve been lucky to be able to explore research in a setting that works mainly with data and understanding data. While I still think it would’ve been cool to learn how to pipette and use CRISPR and hopefully will explore such hands-on work in the future, learning how to work with data has been rewarding in its own ways— it is less time-consuming, and there is less room for error because all the procedures before the data have been collected are already done by the time I get to it. I’ve also been able to practice my critical reading skills on the many papers that I was able to read this summer to better understand schizophrenia, its risk genes, and all the brain regions involved. Shoutout to the Endnote app for helping me organize all the papers I read!
Beyond the many technical skills and basic knowledge on my area of focus that research has taught me thus far this summer, perhaps one of the most salient lessons that I have begun to understand is that no one goes into science knowing all the answers. Even the acclaimed scientists who have come in and spoken to us about their life’s work have all been in our shoes: clueless and in awe of the unknown. As author Haruki Murakami said, “Everyone has to start somewhere. You have your whole future ahead of you. Perfection doesn’t happen right away.” This summer I was given the opportunity to dive headfirst into a field I knew next to nothing about, and while we are obviously not expected to be on par with the experts of our respective fields, I was able to get my first glimpse of all that I still don’t know and understand.
