Second Year Experience
Resident Advising
In the first semester of my second year, I had the opportunity to work as a Resident Adviser in University Park Apartments on campus. This experience allowed me to interact with the community on a totally different level, and assume my first big leadership role at UC. I learned a lot about crisis management, and even more about how to build interpersonal work-friend relationships with many people at one time. I only stayed in this position for the first semester because I was offered another position as a physics TA.
RAPP
During the first semester of my second year, I participated in a racial awareness group called RAPP. RAPP is an organization at UC that focuses on creating and maintaining open discussion about issues surrounding race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. I was able to meet and grow close to many different types of students in the program. The experience taught me about the hardships that people who are different from me face, and how I can be more sensitive and helpful in complicated situations.
Physics Conferences
During the first semester of sophomore year, I was given the amazing opportunity to travel to physics conferences around the United States. At the conferences, students and other representatives who have conducted physics research share their findings within the physics community. These conferences were extremely helpful for me in understanding what research in the different branches of physics entails. By viewing the work of other labs, I was able to decide that I am most interested in condensed matter research. I was also able to practice giving scientific presentations and networking within the community. The picture below was taken during my poster presentation at University of Nebraska-Lincoln's conference for undergraduate women in STEM.
Peer Tutoring - MASS Center
I was able to continue my work as a physics and math tutor at the Math and Science Support Center on UC's campus in my sophomore year. I developed great friendships within the center, both with my coworkers and the regular students. The center has allowed me to stay sharp and current with my math and physics knowledge, but more importantly stay connected with the community at UC. I hope to continue working in the center for the rest of my undergraduate career.
Clean Up Cincy
Clean Up Cincy has become one of my favorite events at the university. This year, I volunteered to help organize the event and got to know the Clean Up Cincy team much better. In addition to this, I worked on event day as a Crew Leader. In this position, I led teams of about 50 students and community members around the city for clean up. The picture below was taken during the April Clean Up in Over The Rhine.
Physics Teaching Assistant
Near the end of my first semester, I got an email from the lab supervisor in the physics department concerning his need for one additional physics teaching assistant for the Spring semester. Although I was somewhat hesitant about this role considering my academic standing, I saw this as an opportunity to put myself outside of my normal comfort zone. I am incredibly happy that I took this opportunity, as being a TA has given me a much more intimate look at what teaching at the post-secondary level looks like. I realized how much I really enjoyed teaching in front of a large group, and how much work goes into preparing lessons and grading each week. I hope to continue working as a TA during my undergraduate career.
Physics REU at Rutgers University
I am currently participating in my REU program at Rutgers University with Professor Jak Chakhalian. I will be aiding in the study of two-dimensional materials with applications related to superconductivity, and the assembly of heterostructures for the study of new materials. I will be finishing this internship in August, and plan to add more information to this section once I have gotten deeper into the research.