Week 5 Post 1

Today something unexpected happened. In the morning, all the undergraduate students had a meeting with Dr. Voyles. While I was reporting on the status of my project, I was told by Dr. Voyles that my supervisor and a mentor who is guiding me with my project are leaving to go to India because of personal issues. I was surprised as I did not expect that at all. I started doubting that I would be able to accomplish the goals for my project if I just worked by myself. I started feeling anxiety all over my body as my future in that internship was unclear. However, Dr. Voyles assured me that Mythra, my supervisor, is still going to keep in touch with me over Slack. Still, I had some worries because I am new to the field of AI and Robotics, so I started doubting myself about being experienced and knowledgeable enough to keep working on the project. I shared these doubts and worries with Dr. Voyles, and he understood me. He said that another person who works on the Arms project but a different part of it could help me. At first, I got scared as I realized that I would have to switch completely and start learning new tools, concepts, and algorithms from scratch again. However, after talking to the new mentor, Deepak, I understood that if I put effort and energy into what I am doing, there is nothing to be scared about. Such drastic changes in my routine teach me to be more adaptive to new environments and situations. They also teach me how to set my mind into exploratory and curious mode. I realized that it is not about the mentor but it is about my ability and desire to learn new things. If I am not curious enough, then I should immediately quit research because research is all about experimenting with something that I most likely never even heard of and pushing through all the obstacles to find my way into Academia as an undergraduate intern. Personally, I learned today that I am willing to explore the unknown, and that is what is driving me towards being a successful intern, working alongside graduate and Ph.D. students. I also realized that failure is not what I should fear. Not trying and being passive are the only things I should fear. On the other hand, failures help me discover something new, whether it is new mistakes or new ways that do not work, and that is how I will be able to reveal new and unexpected things that people before never even thought of. I am starting a new journey learning about image quality for ultrasound, and I cannot wait to bring my ideas to the table once I am more familiar with the topic!

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