Writing Experience 2

Shelly Cox

Writing Experience 2

My VisREU Experience

This summer I participated in Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) for the first time in my college career. After hearing about other students and their experiences, I was excited to try it for myself. When I saw the Clemson REU webpage, I was intrigued by the interesting and diverse projects. The visualization aspect of this program was so unique from all the other REU programs I looked at, which sparked my curiosity and filled me with excitement to be part of something so different.

Starting off, I knew this program would require a lot of hard work, but nonetheless I was still thrilled to experience something I had never tried before. I knew I would have to write a final paper, but I did not realize how much of a process it is. I also knew there would be workshops throughout the program, but I had no idea what I would learn from them. Most of the workshops and lectures were helpful either to my project at hand or my college career later on. For instance, we participated in a web seminar about the process of applying to graduate schools.From this seminar, I learned about several websites that have lists of grants. I also learned about the two different types of graduate school programs, professional or academic. I have decided that I want to go the professional route. Through the research methods workshops, I learned more about the writing process like how to write a useful abstract. Another lecture I enjoyed was the elevator pitch lecture with Dr. Lori Pindar. She was enthusiastic and made everyone feel comfortable. These are a few examples of the various workshops we attended during the eight weeks at Clemson University.

This program was the first time I did research at this level. I was nervous since this was new to me and I really wanted to do a great job. There were times throughout the program I would become frustrated due to hitting another dead end, but I pushed through and eventually found a solution. After a few weeks in, I realized it’s better to ask anyone and everyone when becoming stuck because sometimes a new perspective will help in finding a solution not thought of before.Your mentors are there to help you therefore you should allow them to help. I also learned to save every website or resource that might be useful because it can be difficult to go back and find the source again.

Everything I have learned from this experience will help me with my final two years of undergraduate school as well as my time in graduate school. There will be several research projects I will work on and I am better prepared for them because of this program. Although I won’t make the same mistakes, I know I will make some new mistakes that I will grow from even more. My research skills will be greatly improved by the time I am ready for graduate school.As I continue my schooling I will share my story and hopefully inspire other students to participate in a REU. There are many students who have no knowledge of this wonderful opportunity. If it wasn’t for my math professors and a fellow peer, I would have been one of those students. It is our job as researchers to shareour knowledge so others can better themselves as well.