By: Amiracle Williams-Anderson, junior psychology major
This past summer I had the opportunity to study at Michigan State University for a Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP). This opportunity was brought to my attention through the McNair Scholars Program at Roosevelt University. The Summer Research Opportunity Program is an intensive summer internship where students attend an institution and conduct research under one of their faculty members, either alone or in a team.
While many schools offer summer research opportunities, I applied to and was accepted to Michigan State University’s program through the Big Ten Academic Alliance Application which focuses on Big 10 institutions. I worked with Dr. Kaston Anderson-Carpenter on his research dealing with risk behavior and stigma in gay Latino and Black men. This research was different from anything I thought I would ever work on because while I am a psychology major, I plan to specialize in developmental or child psychology. However, the knowledge I gained from this project can be applied to future research projects. I learned how to run statistical analysis on SPSS and Stata. I also learned how to code and look through a codebook from questionnaire data. The project had a lot of variables due to the questionnaire, and my mentor allowed me to choose what I wanted the focus to be.
Besides working with a faculty mentor, part of the program included professional development classes, GRE prep, as well as panels with professors, graduate students and alumni. It was interesting to see how much faculty and graduate students were willing to interact with the student researchers and help us with the journey. We also learned how to create research posters, effective PowerPoints and got to present at a conference.
The social aspects of the Summer Research Opportunity Program were also great. All the interns were in the same building, so I got to interact and bond with people from different stages and places in life. I got to see how research looked in different fields such as chemistry, history and political science, while also developing bonds and friendships with people I might otherwise never have met.
Despite the long nights and early mornings, my Summer Research Opportunity Program experience is one that I will never forget. The experience showed me that in a short summer I could improve socially and academically. And because of my experience, I am even more excited to attend graduate school.
By: Amiracle Williams-Anderson