If You Don’t Know, Now You Know

This summer has been an amazing experience. I had no idea that I would learn as much as I did when I first started, and I am so glad to have developed a better understanding for the world of science and found my place within it. And I am so thankful to have done it alongside such wonderful people in my lab and in BSURF, thank you all so much!

One of the biggest things I learned or came to realize is how big the world of science is. From the faculty talks, chalk talks, and the poster session I got to hear about the incredibly diverse and important research brilliant people are doing just here at Duke. Previously I had this notion that once you really get fundamental understanding of a topic, you just move on. But this summer I learned there are always more questions to ask and always new perspectives to take. I learned this while working on my own research project, as I needed to approach my problem differently and ask new questions as I learned more. I also learned that science is an incredibly slow process. Everyone says it, but you don’t fully understand it until you’re waiting for the results you really really want to see and they don’t come. But luckily, research doesn’t stop just because BSURF is over. These eight weeks have been a great introduction, but there’s so much more to discover!

The biggest take away for me this summer was that the research you are doing is useless unless you communicate it. Before this summer, I often overlooked this portion of research and thought hands on work in the lab was most important. But I soon realized that posters, papers, and presentations give your work meaning and direction and make it impactful. I am so grateful for the opportunity to both observe and practice this communication of science, and I hope to only get better from here. Again, I am so glad I was apart of this program this summer. I will surely never look at science or fruit flies the same again.

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