Christina Martinez is a rising junior at Rutgers University, where she majors in psychology and is a 2009 Rutgers academic excellence award recipient and a member of Phi Sigma Pi national honors fraternity. She is also a Nursing student hopeful. Christina aspires to be a pediatric nurse practitioner and also hopes to pursue a master’s degree, perhaps as part of an accelerated joint program. Previously involved in community health through an internship offered by Institute for Women’s Leadership, Community Leadership, Action and Service Project (CLASP) at the Eric B. Chandler Health Center in New Brunswick, Christina was looking for research experience. She was excited that Project L/EARN coincided with her interests and goals. Participating in Project L/EARN allowed Christina to broaden her horizons and she has begun looking into a wider range of graduate programs.

Christina recognized the challenges of preparing a dataset to answer her research questions. Aside from the coursework and working on her research project, Christina enjoyed the opportunity to attend the AcademyHealth research conference in Chicago and network with more experienced researchers. Christina also feels fortunate to be able to meet Project L/EARN alum and learn how the skills they gained in Project L/EARN have aided them in their various academic journeys.

Appreciative of the opportunity to work with her mentor, Dr. Robert Atkins, on a project evaluating the relationship between objective and perceived knowledge, risk behavior and adolescent sexual activity, Christina recognizes the priceless opportunity of working closely with someone who is knowledgeable in her topic area and is able to offer different perspectives and guidance.