Sarah
is a student at New York University, where she is an Applied Psychology major. Sarah feels while the program at her school is enlightening, it has a strong clinical emphasis with very little research opportunity. Therefore, she had applied to Project L/EARN because it struck her as the best program available to learn about research, and get the funding to do so. She says that Project L/EARN has made her realize the importance of a Ph.D., but also the amount of work it requires.
Sarah is no stranger to research, as has been a part of Dr. Gigliana Melzi’s (NYU) research team investigating differences in narrative construction. However, she feels that she has learned more about statistics this summer than she has in her entire college career. Sarah says “I’m mostly surprised by the quality of work that came out of the program.” Indeed, this summer has motivated her to hone her research skills, and go on to produce a senior thesis that is publishable. Aside from the research experience she has gained, Sarah says she realizes that good friends are really important, and she has enjoyed bonding with the other interns.
Sarah’s project during the summer of her internship investigated the differences in retirement age and work and life satisfaction among retired workers. Outcomes of her research showed that there are significant differences in both retirement age and job categories among the different ethnic groups. Upon completion of this project, Sarah had said, “Perseverance can get you through just about anything.”
