This past summer, I had the opportunity to mentor four undergraduate students in the lab. As a big believer in the power of mentoring, and as someone who benefited from the mentoring of older undergraduates in the lab throughout my research career, I knew that I wanted to give the younger students in my research lab the same type of support that I received when I first started my research career. I am the third of four Laidlaw Scholars in my research lab at Tufts, and I greatly benefited from the compassion and advice that the two older Laidlaw Scholars gave me during their time in the Oudin Lab. As a result, I advised and mentored the four undergraduate researchers in the lab this past summer, one of whom was another Laidlaw Scholar. I enjoyed getting to know each of them individually, and I spent time understanding what their passions and goals were, both personally and professionally. For two of the students, I was able to use my network to put them in contact with people who could help them obtain positions in the fields they were interested in working in. The other two students are interested in pursuing graduate degrees, so I was able to tell them about the graduate school application process and advise them on timelines for their application cycles. To all four of them, I’ve talked about ways they can build their scientific communication skills and present at conferences likes the BMES Annual Meeting. I’ve loved watching each of them grow as scientists and people, and I am happy that I can provide guidance for them as they grow and progress in their scientific careers.
To fulfill another one of my Leadership-in-Action SMART goals, I took advantage of two opportunities to present my research. My first presentation this summer was the Goldwater Scholar Community Research Symposium, a virtual poster session for Goldwater Scholars across the nation. It was very exciting to engage with researchers, both my age and older, and both hear from them about their research and be able to teach them about my research. In early October, I also presented my research, this time as a presentation, at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting, a national conference with over 5000 attendees. The conference was hybrid, but thanks to my Laidlaw Scholarship Research and Travel Stipend, I was able to attend in person in Orlando, FL. I presented my research alongside other scientists in my field, at all levels in their careers, which was a very rewarding feeling. In addition to presenting my research and strengthening my scientific communication skills, I also had the chance to meet faculty from other universities while at the conference. Meeting faculty was exciting and important to me because I am applying to PhD programs now. I was thrilled to meet with people from across the US who work in my field of interest and build new relationships with them. Those conversations will help in writing my graduate school applications. I have so enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had through my Laidlaw Scholarship to connect with others in research and both learn and teach others. The communication and networking skills are ones I will take with me into my future research career.