1. Building my Future
This summer before summer I enrolled in the RISE program, I was really excited to be part of it
since I knew it was going to help me for my future. My cousin enrolled last year, and I saw how much he
worked but he was enjoying every day of the program, he was the one that influenced me to apply this
year. I heard good references from the program but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be there since I wanted
to have fun my summer before college started. I went to the interview with Dr. Ross and Dr. Diaz and a
few days later I knew I was accepted. I’ll tell you how were my experience there.
When I got to the first meeting I was really scared, I asked my parents to come with me for
support. At the beginning everyone had to say their names, which school did they come from, what they
wanted to study and if they had previous research experience. I was the last one; I heard everyone and
most of the group had research experience. I felt really bad since in my school they didn’t help the
students to prepare in that area, honestly it was the first time I knew what research really was. The first
days of waking up early were hard since my family was in vacation and I was the only one that had
something to do. Honestly those first weeks were hard for me since I felt really alone, I cried, I didn’t
want to be in the program, but my parents always comforted me.
I had my study methods, but when I took my first test I knew that my methods weren’t helping
me. That experience helped me change the way I studied, and I began to study with other people. For
starters it was not easy, since I was accustomed to study by myself and then see that I needed support
wasn’t something easy for me to process, but I got the hang of it and after that I started to get better at
my grades. Biology 3009 was a very interesting course, I refreshed some information I had and learned
more things. Taking one chapter a day was a challenge but I overcame it.
The laboratory experience was really exciting; it was the first time I’m in a lab. We worked in
groups, with different experiments. I learned to do PCR and Electrophoresis, work with pipets, and how
to work with every type of people. What I liked most about the lab was that what we studied in the
class, we practiced it there. Besides all that, we had to work on a research proposal. At first it was really
hard to come up with an idea but eventually I did. For the end of the program each of us had to present
it in front of our professors. It was a really great experience for us.
In conclusion, this summer was full of surprises, new experiences, friends, and a lot of
knowledge. Some people might say that we lost the summer, that we are crazy, but every hour we spent
in the program was worth it. I grew, I became more independent, changed my study methods, learned
to talk to people, get less nervous, and best of all I had my first research experience. I hope to keep
growing and do research off and on island.