One of the main reasons why I decided to attend the University of Washington was because UW is one of the leading research institutes. Since my first quarter at the UW, I participated in research. The first lab I joined was the Sokurenko Lab. Here I assisted researchers with plating E.coli, purifying DNA, preparing freezer stock, performing PCR, preparing and running standard agarose DNA gels, and performing antibiotic resistant testing. The second lab I joined was the Clark Lab where I assisted researchers in handling and feeding rats, running animals in behavior boxes, making chronic electrodes, performing histology, and assistant in surgeries. The third lab I joined was the PSYC lab. In this psychology lab I acted as a judge and a moderator during a stress research study. My last research opportunity I joined was a part of the department of Bioethics and Humanities where I acted as a history researcher exploring the historical relevance of antique medical equipment on modern medicine. 

 

Learning and Reasoning: Research

When working in all of these labs I learned various skills that are necessary in order to be a successful researcher. I learned that research does not just mean gathering any information, but the best information. I did this by thinking about the research question, what variables will best answer that question, what methods should be used in order to test these variables, and what resources do I need to answer my research question. For example in my psychiatry and behavioral science research I spent approximately 40 hours sifting through past research in order to design the best experiment to study the effects of adolescent binge drinking and their risk taking behavior.

 

Personal Behavior: Resiliency

Resiliency is the drive to never give up. It is important to realize that persistence involves facing failure. During my time as a researcher I learned that failure is a normal part of the progress and it provides a change to learn from our mistakes. Mistakes should be embraced as an opportunity to learn. It is difficult to remain persistent at times. In all of my research labs I faced problems and obstacles, but at the end of a project there is always a payoff. Persistence is essential to developing and carrying out a thorough project. I even saw this reflected in my research mentors. The majority of researchers write several grants before they receive one to fund their research. This process unavoidably involves rejection and the motivation to rewrite and edit grant applications is crucial to conductive research, the research project, and a productive research career.