From late August to early November, I was involved in the State of Ohio Adversity and Resiliency (SOAR) mental health study as a student research assistant volunteer. This is a new and longitudinal research study (that will last for more years) that focuses on surveying Ohioans from across different counties who suffer from mental illnesses. SOAR aims to do research on how risk factors of mental health can affect the brain and behavior. The ultimate goal of this study is to understand these risk factors, create interventions, and promote resiliency. Since I was a student research assistant and given the research study being new, my tasks were limited such as handling the research studies email inbox, conducting phone screens for potential participants, working with clinical research assistants to schedule phone screens for participants, conducting pre-MRI safety screens, and inputting participant data.
This research study gave me an accurate exposure of how dry research in psychology works and that every day is a working day. This study was a bit all over the place in the beginning, but slowly things became structured which showed me the reality of big research studies. It also showed me the importance of collaboration. For example, every day the principal investigators, lab coordinators, clinical research assistants, and student research assistant volunteers would work together to accomplish daily goals. Along with this, I learned technical skills such as inputting data in RedCap which is a common research software, talking to potential participants and sharing the study, and more. It also showed me the benefits of networking as everyone in this study was so nice and it was easy to talk to them. Overall, it really helped me become comfortable with being uncomfortable as I did struggle with making connections and networking during the beginning of college. I am glad to have met so many amazing people from this study and learned so many invaluable skills.
My first event was attending a mental health expo at the James. This was an event where many mental health organizations and labs shared their work along with opportunities. I, along with other student research assistants, were assigned to the SOAR booth where we shared details about the study and tried to recruit participants. This was one of my favorite events as I learned how to become comfortable sharing about research with other people, which I have never done before. Along with this, I also explored other mental health organizations and was amazed by how much work and mental health awareness is being raised. This made me really happy as I am someone who is very passionate about mental health.
My relationships with the study’s lab coordinators have benefited me significantly. They were the first ones helping me get adjusted to the study’s work and learn so many different skills. One of the lab coordinators is very caring and always asks me if I ever needed help with networking or connections regarding psychology research, that I should reach out to her. Recently, she connected me with one of the principal investigator’s of SOAR individual lab work focusing on the combination of mindfulness therapy and ketamine treatment. I recently had a zoom meeting with that lab’s lab coordinator and I can hopefully start in their lab next summer! So, overall my relationship with the current SOAR lab coordinators is amazing as they are so helpful and caring along with helping expose me to networking/connections.
The technical skills such as inputting participant data in RedCap, conducting phone screens of participants, conducting pre-MRI safety screening of participants, and more helped me learn a lot. Like I mentioned earlier, being involved in this research changed me as this study helped me become comfortable with being uncomfortable. In this case, it was learning these skills that I was never exposed to before and being able to do it alone. Although collaboration is key in accomplishing the goals in this research study, working alone and being good at it was also encouraged/emphasized.
The changes, transformations, and exposures that I have experienced and will continue to experience with the SOAR study is important to me academically, personally, and professionally. As someone who is passionate about mental health and studying psychology, this research experience has made me develop appreciation for mental health research. Both my parents struggle with mental health conditions, so it was touching to be a part of research that promotes mental health resilience. It’s also given me hope that there are people out there who care about this specific community and want to tackle the mental health stigma. This experience has allowed me to engage with other professionals, making invaluable connections, and more which will definitely open more doors for me for future opportunities regarding psychology/mental health research. Along with this, being involved in this study and hopefully being exposed to other studies like the Mindfulness Lab in the future regarding ketamine treatment will help me stay inspired and motivated in my forever goal of raising positive mental health awareness.
Lastly, this experience will help me with my future goals as I want to become either a psychiatrist or family medicine doctor where mental health is a huge focus in both areas. I am still a part of this study thankfully! This research experience will also help enhance my medical school application as it is research that I am passionate about. Furthermore, me being comfortable with being uncomfortable such as learning new technical research skills, presenting research once at the mental health expo fair are exposures that are important for me to to learn as I want to continue to promote positive mental health awareness in my personal life, academic life, and my professional life. Overall, this research experience has given me so many invaluable skills, connections, and inspiration/motivation that I will forever be grateful for. Thank you STEP for allowing me to have this amazing experience!
The front of the SOAR office floor!