Integrating Research into the College Experience
Despite having to come to campus at 7:00 a.m., or having to stay after a long and grueling day of classes until 6:00 p.m., I missed the steady presence of research in my life.
College course have an uncanny way of being inconsistent, from scheduling deadlines all within a two-week period to a drought of assignments until the next exam arrives. I loved my research work because it was consistent and always brought a steady sense of progress as the team and I accomplished project goals step by step.
This past semester, we were unable to research due to complications with the university’s new payroll system. Though the time not researching was well used for other rigorous coursework, I still missed working with a collaborative team and itched to jump start the projects we had proposed and received grant funding for in a previous year.
I finally decided to be proactive and popped in to see Dr. Sims alongside my research partner, Mindy. Mindy and I had talked about feeling like something was missing without our research work all semester and decided it was better to get started late rather than never. With a short one-hour meeting in the closing weeks of the fall semester, the next meeting appointment was scheduled and the team was back on track.
Though it may sound nerdy, research is something that can become so integrated and essential to a student’s life and routine that they will go above and beyond to take part in it. We certainly did.
