Talk to Your Professors!

Since I am now a sophomore, I decided this year that I should take advantage of all the awesome opportunities that the University of Illinois has to offer. One of those being the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research. I really enjoyed the class ANSC 101 last year, so I took it upon myself to email Dr. Johnson to see if we could meet up and talk about her research and if she had any need for me in her lab. I met with her yesterday afternoon and I am so glad I did! She has so many different projects she and her graduate students are pursuing, and each one of them is different. She said I could be trained to do some observation and testing of samples, and then be integrated more into what the research is really about. I think that this is a great opportunity for me to get a feel for what research is, and ultimately if graduate school is something I would like to do post-grauation. I have to send her my availability and meet with her grad students to see where they need me, so I'll be posting more about what goes on with this! :) Looking back now, my biggest regret from freshman year is not getting to know my professors. I always thought they were so busy and wouldn't be willing to help a random student. I now realize this year that they are so easy to talk to and if you have any questions or would like to meet with them, just shoot them an email. It is so simple and you'll be glad you did! They are all (or mostly all) very willing to help and nice! Also, next year I will have to choose (I think we get to pick?) a new academic advisor, and they may not know me so well since last year I didn't talk to any of them. To make up for this, I am trying to start a nice foundation this year to broaden my horizons and to make more options for myself in the future.