For many, summer break has just begun. The weather is just at the perfect temperature to be outside and soak up the sun. I just get to do that a bit differently this summer! While others are sun bathing, my laptop and I are overheating and threatening to shut off sooner than most- unless sun isn’t for you. This means I’ve got a new mentor! I will be conducting research during the summer in hopes to present in late August.
My mentor was my former Biology teacher, a class that has not only intimidated me, but others as well. I got to meet him personally under different circumstances before asking to be taken in as his mentee. Religion is a big part of who I am, and as someone who is in love with science, I wondered if there were more people like me. A CREW member had referred me to Dr. Gingerich, who also has interesting views in how we as religious people integrate science in our hearts. I was instantly intrigued and inspired as the conversation went on. I’d like to think Dr. Gingerich felt the same as the topic of research came up and had offered a spot if I ever needed, which was great because I did need a mentor!
We agreed to meet to talk about his research and what it meant to be a part of his research team. I have a great amount of respect for Dr. Gingerich, although I hate to admit that chatting with him about his passion and a topic of research was a completely different encounter. Dr. Gingerich is a highly intelligent professor who knows exactly what he’s talking about, and with that, I wanted to prove to him that I was worthy of taking on a part of his research. He explained his research in a quick but efficient way, however, there were things that I hadn’t yet understood, and that intimidated me.
As the month of May ended, I was to have read 20 to 30 scholarly articles related to his topic of research and summarize each one of them. I felt confident and supported enough to ask Dr. Gingerich for clarifications if I needed them, I was able to ask the right questions, and further explain what I understood from these sources. I feel a lot more confident in our research, and I am extremely excited to present what I’ve learned these past months!
