Gearing up for grad school


As I walked out of the classroom after the Mod3 research proposal presentation I felt a massive sense of relief and pride. The last major assignment of 20.109 was over – I had done it! The road had been far from smooth – the mod2 report had been a towering mountain that I still can’t believe I was able to scale. The mod3 presentation had been an intimidating concept – it was definitely overwhelming at first to have to narrow down literally all of biology and select a single topic of interest. However, once my group and I had an idea we were able to have a great time discussing and fleshing out the concept.
Do I think it was the greatest idea for a research project ever? Probably not, but I think it was much better than I could have come up with before starting 109. Although it was hard to find enough time to dedicate to the proposal and to sleep with a busy final week for all my classes, I’m proud of myself and my team for the work that we put in and the resulting presentation. I’m particularly proud of how far I feel like I have come in my public speaking skills. Watching the journal club presentation for 109 had been a great way for me to see where I particularly struggled and I tried to improve on those things in presentations for other classes and during the research proposal presentation.
Overall, the best thing about 109 is that I feel vastly more prepared for graduate school than before taking the class. The class taught me how to read scientific papers, prepare journal club presentations, work in the lab, come up with a research proposal, and write research papers. I feel like my scientific communication is greatly improved. All of these are incredibly valuable skills for a PhD program that I am proud to now have because of 109.

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