Moving onto senior year

Summer 2020 is over! It was May, I blinked, then it was August. This summer has been nothing but unpredictable. It is full of learning, improving, practicing self-discipline, and growing.

A year ago, Summer 2019, I was finishing up my study abroad experience in Florence, Italy where I had the best summer of my life. Who knew the following summer would be so sad and different? This summer, I spent most of my time working(two jobs), researching and preparing for graduate school applications. Not only are we suffering from a worldwide pandemic, but we are also suffering with the Black community as I stand with the #Blacklivesmatter movement against police brutality. It is hard to act as if everything is okay when in fact it's not. Our country is divided down the middle, and a lot of people seem to confuse politics and with basic human rights. I am tired of mourning the deaths of strangers who did not deserve to die. Staying focused on my schoolwork has been challenging, but I've learned to continue moving forward.

I've officially completed my first summer research and I've never been so proud of myself! Challenging myself to attempt new experiences outside my comfort zone has helped me grow tremendously.

Looking back to the beginning of summer, I was nervous to begin my project and did not know what to expect from myself. A method I found useful was keeping monthly goals and then reflecting back on them at the end of each month...

For the month of June, I had weekly goals such as:

Week 1: Meet my new research mentor, and update him on my project and hopes for the next couple of months

Week 2-4: Begin and finish IRB application(construct a cover letter, research tools, consent form etc.)

Outside obligations included working at my part-time job and begin studying for the GRE exam.

For the month of July, I had weekly goals such as:

Week 5: Search for related articles that will help construct my literature review.

Week 6: Wait to hear back from IRB, continue analyzing articles, and discuss findings with my mentor.

Week 7: Wait for approval from IRB, begin preparing to reach out to participants for interviewing.

Week 8: Begin interviewing participants.

Outside obligations included working at my part-time job and continue studying for the GRE exam.

For the month of August, I had weekly goals such as:

Week 9: Move onto scheduling interview meetings.

Week 10: Begin transcribing interviews and focus on improving my interviewing skills.

Week 11: Finish the second participant's interview.

Week 12: Finish interview two and transcribe. Finish interview three and transcribe.

Outside obligations included working at my part-time job and continue studying for the GRE exam.

End of the summer deliverables

The month of August will be the month where everything that I worked on during June and July come together. Time is important in order to have a successful month of August. I hope to gather the data collection of at least 5-6 participants, which will hopefully be sufficient to complete the interviewing step of the project. Along with interviewing, I hope to transcribe at least 3, or half, of the interviews, which will be the most time-consuming.

Although most of my planning did not occur in that exact order, it was useful to have a guide to rely on and keep me focused throughout the summer weeks.

Two of my favorite summer 2020 pictures of myself