John Bokman, Entry #5, Over But Not Completely Finished

Boston Skyline

The time has passed so quickly and I am already home again. As far as research is concerned I am realizing what a small period of time six weeks is. I feel like, despite the progress I was able to make, there is so much unfinished work left behind. I have been remaining in contact with the friends I made in the lab and continuing to do some work from home. I still have to clean up and send in a commented version of the scoring program I finished writing.  I am also still coordinating with my undergrad as we work online on analyzing the data creating models for the dyslexia intervention study.

In the past week, the undergrad and I had worked quickly on the analysis but had some trouble with the data. The sample size of the study was small to begin with, but an error made by someone during data collection forced us to cut some participates from the analysis.  Despite the difficulties with the data set and later with the modelling, the undergrad and I showed there were significantly better scoring results from the intervention group and were able to present a program that demonstrated the comparison in progress with a visual.

Also, Mrs. Honsel came and visited my lab this Thursday. It was great to show her what I had been working on and introduce her to everyone in my lab. Everyone in the lab was excited to meet her and talk about the research.

I have learned a lot in Boston. In addition to what I read and studied, I also had to figure out how to live by myself, which presented a whole new set of struggles that created some funny moments. Altogether, I really had a lot of fun and I am grateful I had the chance to go. I didn’t expect to become so comfortable and make as many friends inside the lab, especially with the older students. As the weeks passed by, I realized that many of the important things I gained were taught to me by the undergrads and other interns and that making a connection with them is a huge part of the experience. I also saw that when working on a project you learn things faster than you can often teach yourself. Having a situation in which to practice skills, and the pursuit of a goal guiding the acquisition of the skills, makes the process more interesting and quicker.