I think there’s no better place to intern than in my hometown of Santa Barbara. Most of my experiences in this small town often seem so familiar to me. This opportunity to come and participate in the research program, AIM was a daunting one. Before this, I have never been exposed to research. Coming from a community college, I did not know what to expect.

On my first day at UCSB, I got a tour of the engineering science building. The same building I drive by almost everyday on my commute to work or to visit friends in the neighboring college town, Isla Vista. It was an inspiring visit because I never realizing the magnitude of progress taking place inside that building. It was great to see all of the dedicated graduate students and professors. My initial nervousness had diminished quite a bit and I felt ready to begin.

Aside from the wonderful and helpful staff and coordinators, the mentors were a surprise to me. They are young and so alike myself. It was a reassuring encounter. I began the week by reading and taking notes on material given tome by my mentor. By the next week I was able to participate in graduate student meetings with the professors. I took great pride in that. It’s nothing like school work in which you study notes and take tests. There is no dependence on whether you can finish an exam on time but rather being able to apply new knowledge to a field in which very few individuals are participating in. It is more dependent on the effort you put into it.

This leads me into my time management and getting into the rhythm of research. The first week in the program, I felt like I had to be very strict with my schedule. I worried about being at my desk at a specific time or about being late. Now, into my third week I realized that you have some flexibility in time management. Of course, there are time specific meetings and my mentor isn’t available all the time. Aside from that, I’m able to choose how to lay out my day. One day, I might wake up and walk my dog in the morning then get to work. This isn’t the typical 9-5 job as I had imagined. Other days I start early in the morning leaving me the rest of the day to do the typical summer activities.

Aside from research, the workshops and presentations with my group are so helpful in developing myself for the future. I can already tell that my oral presentation skills and confidence has improved. I feel that I will only continue to get better as I continue this internship. I think the most valuable aspect I’ve acquired is confidence in myself. I think all of us are here for a reason, and all we can do is put aside any doubts and take full advantage of the opportunity we’re in.

As undergraduates, we attend classes, complete homework assignments, follow weekly routines, and have deadlines by which we must finish certain tasks. Generally during the school year, the goals we set are short-term, whether they be reading a physics chapter or writing a recommendation report. There is a clear path and purpose to this routine; each class will last for a quarter, there will be homework and midterms, and our knowledge will be tested at the end of the quarter. Although learning continues throughout one’s lifetime, the specifically targeted goals regarding a particular subject area may last for a relatively short time.

This can be vastly different from research. Without a clear question that needs answering, as well as at least a general idea of the means necessary to achieve an end goal, one will lack a sense of direction when conducting research. Here, the goals one sets are more independently drafted than those in a course-filled routine. When conducting research, one is his or her own boss and has more control on their actions and behavior on a day-to-day basis. Hence one must set goals in a manner that maximizes productivity without sacrificing much enjoyment.

When setting goals for research, I found that planning ahead to a few weeks was beneficial. This does not mean creating a strict daily schedule where one accurately approximates the amount of time required to complete each individual task. I tried this, and felt too confined to this schedule. It is important to be flexible in case an experiment takes longer than anticipated or needs to be repeated due to an erroneous lab setup. However, because research is a long-term process, having a general idea of the progression of tasks on a weekly basis is important. At the beginning of each week, one should also set goals for each day of that week.

Whether one wants to complete this by creating a to-do list using post-its or a smartphone app is their choice, as long as it is easily accessible. By having a list, one validates the tasks at hand, and more importantly, can refer to the most important objectives that need to be accomplished. At first, this could seem overwhelming. However, it is ultimately an excellent means of reducing procrastination and the likeliness of dates being pushed back.