One of the most rewarding things about working in research is getting your name on a publication. It's extremely gratifying to know all your hard work is actually contributing to something concrete that you can be proud of and share with others and just generally show off to the world a bit.
The summer after I started my post-bac I was hired as a research assistant for the Hansel lab at Harvard University following an interview with Julia, a new post-doc who had just started with the lab. I owe so much to her for looking past the fact that I had no background in research and had never worked in a lab before. I remember earnestly telling her that what I lacked in experience I more than made up for in effort and perseverance. I love learning and was more than willing to start from scratch. Julia was amazing and gracefully took on the responsibility of teaching me everything I needed to know to work at a microbiology & geochemistry lab. Working in research can be difficult and it can take years to get authorship on a paper. I was incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to work on a project that culminated in a manuscript in less than a year on which I was able to put my name.
This manuscript has been through a lot; after submitting it to and getting turned down from Nature, we sent our creation in to Science and were told there was interest but it needed more revisions. This apparently happens fairly often especially with a publication like Science, which is an extremely high caliber research journal. Our paper was resubmitted and I got an email (screenshot below - Dr. Mendes!!! It makes me so happy to see that in print)* telling me to fill out a few authorship forms in order for them to accept the manuscript. ACCEPT?!?!?!! I was nervous to actually tell people it's a definite thing but since that initial email I've gotten confirmation that they're moving ahead with publishing our research! I'm incredibly excited and it really makes all the long hours and wrestling with data collection 110% worth it.
There are a host of things I worry about when I consider how competitive of a med school applicant I am but then something like this happens and it's so reassuring. It's just a reminder that it's always worth it to try your best in everything because it WILL pay off one day. It may sound trite, but it is true. So if you're struggling now just remember that it's not just your test scores and grades that matter, it's everything you do that is a testament to your intelligence, your work ethic and your willingness to keep on keepin' on.
*I am not actually a Dr. of any sort, I'm pretty sure they just address all authors as such in order to not step on any toes.
The summer after I started my post-bac I was hired as a research assistant for the Hansel lab at Harvard University following an interview with Julia, a new post-doc who had just started with the lab. I owe so much to her for looking past the fact that I had no background in research and had never worked in a lab before. I remember earnestly telling her that what I lacked in experience I more than made up for in effort and perseverance. I love learning and was more than willing to start from scratch. Julia was amazing and gracefully took on the responsibility of teaching me everything I needed to know to work at a microbiology & geochemistry lab. Working in research can be difficult and it can take years to get authorship on a paper. I was incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to work on a project that culminated in a manuscript in less than a year on which I was able to put my name.
This manuscript has been through a lot; after submitting it to and getting turned down from Nature, we sent our creation in to Science and were told there was interest but it needed more revisions. This apparently happens fairly often especially with a publication like Science, which is an extremely high caliber research journal. Our paper was resubmitted and I got an email (screenshot below - Dr. Mendes!!! It makes me so happy to see that in print)* telling me to fill out a few authorship forms in order for them to accept the manuscript. ACCEPT?!?!?!! I was nervous to actually tell people it's a definite thing but since that initial email I've gotten confirmation that they're moving ahead with publishing our research! I'm incredibly excited and it really makes all the long hours and wrestling with data collection 110% worth it.
There are a host of things I worry about when I consider how competitive of a med school applicant I am but then something like this happens and it's so reassuring. It's just a reminder that it's always worth it to try your best in everything because it WILL pay off one day. It may sound trite, but it is true. So if you're struggling now just remember that it's not just your test scores and grades that matter, it's everything you do that is a testament to your intelligence, your work ethic and your willingness to keep on keepin' on.
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| Initial email (Me: Dr. Mendes! Yay!) |
*I am not actually a Dr. of any sort, I'm pretty sure they just address all authors as such in order to not step on any toes.
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| Acceptance email!!! Wooo!!! |
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