Flashback: it’s spring 2019 and Covid is something few of us could ever imagine. We’re sitting in the Pratt at the end-of-year Independent Science Research Program Symposium. We watch in awe as the then-seniors are presented with their lab coats and able to speak so knowledgeably about their niche research topics. We are giddy to start our own lab experience.
After three incredible years, oh, and a pandemic, we are those seniors and we couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished as a group. We have navigated professional lab settings and collaborative classroom spaces. We have learned how to speak for almost twelve minutes straight without our sentences being interspersed with “likes,” “ums,” and “you knows.” We have attempted to understand professional research papers and even write and publish our own. We have competed and presented in competitions, learned from countless mentors and guest speakers. We have spent nearly 6,000 collective hours in labs and have participated in groundbreaking science, many of us becoming experts in our fields, always ready to learn more and teach others. Scrolling through this program you will see that our work spans science research as a field: neuroscience, physics, cancer, ecology, computer science, mechanical engineering, mental and physical health, chemistry, and biology, just to name a few.
But more than any technical skills we could master, Science Research has taught us how to push through challenges, rely on one another, believe in our abilities, and embrace our passions. We’ve learned how to work hard and manage our time, how to communicate and collaborate with others. We’ve learned what it takes to be a scientist in today’s world, and we could not be more excited for what’s to come.
We are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this program. We would like to sincerely thank every mentor, teacher, and student who has helped us along the way; you made this experience possible for us and we could not be more grateful for your unfaltering support. We wish the best of luck to everyone in the program on their future research endeavors!
The Science Research Class of 2022