The RockEDU summer program confirmed my passion for being a peer mentor and my desire to work in a wet lab environment. Straying from a traditional summer research program, the RockEDU summer program resulted from a relationship between Wesleyan University and the Rockefeller Summer Science Research Program (SSRP). It allows undergraduates without prior wet-lab research experience to serve as peer mentors to high school students and work alongside them in developing and executing an independent research project.
Being an international FGLI student, I recognized how daunting the admission process for college and college life could be. Therefore, I’ve always tried to seek ways for me to support people who are in the position where I once was. This program allowed me to do that, where in the empty spaces between experimental procedures, I found myself answering questions from my peers about navigating the college admissions process and sharing my experiences as a college student.
Additionally, I enjoyed the process of wet lab research itself. Like most research programs, this was a collaborative project. Paired with a high school student on a research project, I realized that placing myself as a peer as opposed to a mentor was the key that allowed my research partner and I to contribute equally in developing a research project that we are proud of.
With my research partner, I learned the iterative process of research, where the period after submitting a research proposal is often followed by a deeper dig into the literature to identify research gaps and outline a more logical research question. This is how our project went from investigating the effect of temperature on stem cell development to looking at the interplay of neuromodulation, inflammation, and cancer development.
Ultimately, our project culminated in a presentation at the hall of Rockefeller University and another under the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History. It was a busy summer of work, but I appreciated the opportunity and experiences that I gained, including my first dip into a wet lab research environment.
