As this semester comes to a close, I thought I would take the time to reflect on my experience as a Research Opportunity Project (ROP) Student. So far, I have immensely enjoyed working on this project with the research team. I feel that this opportunity is going to prepare me for not only the rest of my undergraduate degree, but also graduate school and the professional world.
The ROP students have been given two assignments so far. The first is an annotated bibliography that identifies the thesis and key ideas of each reading that the group studies, and then to come up with critical questions about the readings. I have found this to be a very valuable exercise, as sometimes it is so easy to forget to ask yourself what exactly the purpose of a reading is, or to question certain aspects of it. I plan to use this skill, and this framework for future courses and readings.
The second assignment that we are working on is a verbatim transcription of one of our preliminary interviews. After having spent countless hours listening and re-listening to one of the interviews, I have developed a thorough understanding of the participant, her experiences, and opinions on the experiences of LGBTQ families in public school. I look forward to beginning the analysis of the transcripts in the new year. I am learning how important the phrasing of questions are in interviews, and that they can inadvertently affect the participant’s response.
Overall, I have had a very positive experience on this research team so far, and consider myself very fortunate to work along side such inspiring people.