Wesleyan University

Research Intern

May - July 2018 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

Opportunity to focus completely on my research project Built relationship with advisor and other lab members Enjoyed being on campus

What I wish was different

I wish I could have stayed for longer

Advice

Research is slow sometimes, but be flexible and stay positive.

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Alumni and Parent Relations Intern

June - August 2018 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

The people and how much of a community the department is.

What I wish was different

Given more responsibility in my work.

Advice

Be proactive about taking on more responsibility.

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Recipient of a Summer Experience Grant

June - August 2018 • Berkeley, CA

What I liked

Applying for and receiving the Wesleyan Summer Experience Grant allowed me to pursue a non-traditional research project last summer. I was able to get on the ground experience working with and interviewing organizations that related to my academic field of interest, as well as embark on a once-in-a-lifetime hiking trip to self-explore in the service of rethinking a connection to "nature" and the built-environment.

What I wish was different

I wish I had some more time before the experience began to properly prepare. Coming out of a very busy school year I had to jump into a difficult experience that at times I wish I would have been more mentally and physically prepared for such a radically different day-to-day from what I had experienced at school.

Advice

I think if you are able to get a Summer Experience Grant the best piece of advice I can give is to take advantage of the freedom it can afford you before entering a more restrictive environment. Put yourself out of your comfort zone, try new things and explore, because you will never know where you may find inspiration .

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Research Assistant

June - September 2018 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

The environment was warm and accepting and everyone was willing to help in anyway possible.

What I wish was different

N/A

Advice

The experience is short and there are so many wonderful and helpful people to meet. The best thing you can do is build strong connections that will persist long after you have left so that everyone here is just an email away from helping you when need be.

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Research Fellow

May - July 2018 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

During the first few weeks of the program, I learned how to perform basic lab procedures such as making LB plates, running western-blots, running colony PCRs, etc. Then, I was able to apply these basic procedures to my own research project and obtain results which I could analyze. I became more comfortable working in the wet-lab and obtained basic skills necessary in the lab. I also learned how to analyze my western-blot results using semi-quantitative analysis using the programs ImageJ and program R. I also loved working at Wesleyan during the summer because I had to become independent and live on my own instead of relying on my parents. I had to cook, work out, work, and also do my own laundry; it was a good experience to carry so many responsibilities.

What I wish was different

I wish I had lived on campus because the walk was a little bit inconvenient and the place I lived in also had no WiFi or AC which also was a big inconvenience.

Advice

I would advise that you learn how to cook on your own and also learn about which items in the grocery stores are perishables. I went grocery-shopping on my own for the first time and made a lot of mistakes, but the experience has helped me learn a lot about which foods to buy in bulk, and which to buy every week.

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Research Fellow

May - July 2019 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

I was able to work on an independent project with my mentor for 9 weeks during the summer and spend more time in the lab completing my wet lab experiments compared to during the semester when I have other activities and less time to spend in the lab. I was glad I had the weekends to myself and was able to find a good balance between working in the lab and spending time outside with friends and myself.

What I wish was different

I wish there were more people on campus because it can get boring and lonely at times. I did not really have time to meet anyone outside the lab, and no social interactions except when we had lab meetings. I also wish there were more social events with other people who did stay on campus so that there were more social interactions throughout the work days.

Advice

I would advise being prepared to be independent and being able to use your time wisely. Some days I would squander my whole day doing nothing and would panic the next day about articles I forgot to read for research. Even though it is the summer, I felt like I should have reminded myself to be productive on the weekends so that my weekdays felt productive and planned out. And also to find a better balance between working and self-care. Since it was a 40 hour work week, I never tended to bring any work back home during the weekdays and I think that helped a lot with the balance of work and self-care.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

June - August 2019 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

I loved getting the opportunity to spend the entire summer working in a field of research I was interested in doing in the future. I enjoyed the opportunity to go off campus to present at conferences.

What I wish was different

I would have like to have had more things to do around campus.

Advice

Doing research on campus enables you to have one on one advisor experience with a faculty member which is not something you would get anywhere else. You will be able to broaden your skills and work on challenging projects. You take on the responsibility of progressing the research of your assigned project. However, far you want to push the project is up to you and the only limitation is your imagination when it comes to integrating cross-disciplinary ideas to solve the problems you face during the experience.

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Senior Interviewer

June 2020 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

I love the people I worked with in admissions. They are very responsive and we’re incredibly helpful.

What I wish was different

I wish we had started earlier, but that is the fault of the pandemic more than anything else.

Advice

It’s a really great program, so make the most of it.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

June - August 2020 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

The flexibility due to COVID, I was able to work with another student residing in California while I was in Mumbai, India. Instructions about the work was very clear and my professor was very encouraging.

What I wish was different

Maybe more feedback would have been nice.

Advice

Communication is important. If you don't understand something just ask and communicate your concerns.

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Biology Laboratory Assistant

May - August 2020 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

The lab I worked for studies vertebral column and muscle development in zebrafish and is generally very wet lab oriented, but this summer due to COVID-19 and restrictions that prevented us from conducting in person scientific research, we were able to adapt to a virtual lab environment using uCT scans of adult zebrafish skeletons that we had from the lab! We had to exercise both our resourcefulness and flexibility in order to make this work, and along the way I learned incredibly useful data analysis skills and learned how to use a 3D scan software called Meshlab to analyze the skeletons. This adaptability and opportunity to learn new dry lab skills was an amazing learning experience.

What I wish was different

As we all wished was different, a part of me still wished I was able to integrate more wet lab work into my summer research to complement the dry lab data I was able to collect. There’s nothing quite like being at the microscope and working at the bench!

Advice

I would advise to always be flexible and open to new learning experiences! I was nervous about transitioning to dry lab/computational work because I didn’t have much previous experience in that field, but it’s been so rewarding an valuable to immerse myself with that type of research. Don’t be afraid to be put in a different learning environment, it will only help you to grow! And who knows, maybe you will enjoy a new change of pace from what you normally are used to.

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Psychologist Research Assistant

May - August 2020 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

We were allowed to be very autonomous and have control over our projects. We were also given great alumni contacts to reach out to for help with our research

What I wish was different

I would have liked some more general deadlines

Advice

Being organized and finding a topic you are passionate about will make research much more enjoyable and productive.

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Physics Research Intern

May - July 2020 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

I liked gaining new computational skills and pursuing a project tailored to my interests.

What I wish was different

I wish I could have done more hands-on lab work, but understandably this was not possible due to the on-going pandemic.

Advice

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Summer Research Fellow

June - July 2021 • Middletown, CT

What I liked

I loved being able to devote my full time and energy to my research project. I also liked forming really strong connections with my labmates and PI.

What I wish was different

I wish there had been more inter-lab interaction, but COVID made that tricky.

Advice

It's so valuable to spend this uninterrupted time diving into your research on campus. If you enjoy your research during the school year, I recommend staying on campus during the summer instead of taking a research internship elsewhere.

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