Hurdles and Inspirations

Hurdles and Challanges:

An Introvert in an Extroverted World:

One of my greatest hurdles ever since I was young has been being the quiet one. The one who would rather keep to himself meandering in the woods than raging at some party. The one who would rather simply keep to himself instead of striking up a conversation with any individual that passes by. In other words I feel I am society’s example of an introvert. Keeping this in mind I feel our society and culture is structured to better benefit extraverts. I have always felt pressured by society and family that I should be an outgoing leader that is involved in several organizations. This is very doable if you are a gregarious soul, unlike me. Now I want to make it clear I am not downing extraverts. I am a strong believer in keeping a balance in our societal structure. The world couldn’t function with just one or the other. However, being a timid soul in a livewire world I feel I struggle more than ever figuring the difference between what I should do and what I actually need.

Time Management: the Double Sided Coin

Another Achilles heel I have struggled with is my bad habit of procrastination and horrible time management. It always creates way more stress than needed yet I feel I can never shake the habit. However, this annoying routine is a double sided coin. On one sided it stresses me out to a very unhealthy level and it does not serve me well when it comes to studying. However, when it comes to projects and papers I feel that’s when I’ve done my best pieces. For some reason whenever I try to start early I just stare blankly at the screen not knowing where to start but when I know I just have few days left it’s like a switch is flipped and I am unstoppable. I believe it has to do with drive and push it gives me, almost like a rush.

Inspirations:

My Mentor, Dr. Davis:

My freshmen year I knew I wanted to get involved into research so I attended the professor research symposium to learn more about the different opportunities. Here is when I first met Dr. Davis. After speaking with him the next semester I became part of his research lab, the ecophysiology lab. From attending those my curiosity for science and the natural world grew! From there on I worked Dr. Davis in the lab with the Madagascar hissing cockroaches. In turn, he became my mentor. I feel if it were not for I probably would not have made it on the RARE team, not because he had a bias opinion to let me go but due to him educating and me to be strong developing scientist.

The RARE team:

The RARE team was definitely a great inspiration. I am still amazed how 13 strangers can meet for a couple months and then spend an entire 3 and a half weeks with barely any squabbles. As mentioned above in my life challenged of being an introvert I have struggled with finding my clique or a group I belong in. There wasn’t a single moment where I felt out of place and from what I could tell it seemed that way for the rest of the team.