Robert and co. requested that I write up a little review of my experience… so here we go!

 

As far as I’m concerned, this summer was a phenomenal success.  I came into this experience with one goal: To have a quintessential research experience.  Luckily, because my mentor was so incredibly accommodating, that was made into a reality for me.  I really like that I was able to explore the research process largely on my own, with the occasional, light nudging in one direction or another.  Because I was allowed to do this, I feel a lot more capable… that whole process is very much ingrained in me now, and I feel like I could do it again.  The project itself had its ups and downs, which was as it should be.  I’m lucky that I had some adversity with this, actually, because a completely pain-free experience may have left the whole thing a little too sugary for comfort; that is, I would find myself doubting the picture-perfectness of my experience as I was considering this kind of research as a career.  From what I observed around me, however, I feel very comfortable looking at my experience as an authentic window into that existence.  I will absolutely recommend the experience to all my little IEEE underlings when I get back to school.