The first week of the program held many beginnings – the start of our research experience, meeting new people and exploring a new environment. I’ve never been to Austin – I didn’t think I would like the heat and humidity, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Austin reminds me a lot of Central America, mainly the weather, and it brings good memories to the forefront – inspires me to get out of my comfort zone.
It takes me a while to open up to new people, I like to be on my own, exploring and walking around campus, getting a sense of what is around me. The good thing is that everyone is so nice, it makes it easier to work up the nerve to talk and
we all have at least one thing in common – all of us are Summer Scholars
We bonded over playing ultimate football – think ultimate frisbee but with a football – in 100 degree weather and we all made it through boot camp with introductions to Wet Lab, Microscopy and MATLAB.
I like to think as the days go by, we’ll learn new things about each other and in the process learn about what we want to do with our growing research experience.
-Alex Zaharan, University of Pittsburg
