With my freshman year being well underway, I felt that it was time to start searching for more in the sense of academic pursuit. Thus, I had begun my journey into the world of undergraduate research.

Like many, I had no idea where to start. How was an inexperienced freshman such as myself supposed to make it into a legitimate research lab? Despite my lack of direction, I took it upon myself to reach out. After spending countless hours scouring the university’s medical center website, I had finally found someone that caught my eye: Dr. Sharyn D. Baker. Her laboratory was focused on the preclinical development of anti-cancer agents for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and after reading a few of her publications, I knew that it was up to me to make something happen. With this, I started drafting an email to her expressing my interest in her work and inquiring about becoming a student research assistant in her lab. When I was certain that I had written the email to the best of my ability, I clicked send.

To be honest, I was not expecting a response from such an accomplished researcher such as herself. Nevertheless, she replied to me and was actually eager to have me come in and meet with her. Within the next few days, I found myself sitting nervously outside of her office in the Biomedical Research Tower. She called me in, and I found my confidence as we discussed the details of her most recent paper. We talked for nearly an hour before she offered me a position in her lab, in which I will begin upon my return from winter break.

Often times there are no directions in life. The choices that you make are your own, and it is up to you to guide yourself towards your goals. Knowing that research wasn’t going to come to me, I took it upon myself to become involved. Driven by the desire to pursue something so much bigger than myself, I was able to secure a position in a research lab as a first-semester freshman.