Emilee Walden in Boston
Author: Emilee Walden | Majors: Mathematics, Biology | Semester: Summer 2023
If you know me, you know that I am a homebody. Applying to spend the summer anywhere but Arkansas was far outside of my comfort zone, but that’s exactly why I did it. I applied to nine different REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates) at universities around the country to challenge myself to do new things and to gain experience in research. I’ll be honest, the application process was a bit of a challenge in itself. At the beginning of the fall semester, I sat down with an empty spreadsheet and googled programs I was interested in. I am double majoring in applied mathematics and biology with a minor in computer science and am looking for experience in bioinformatics. I started reading REU descriptions that mentioned these topics until I had a beautiful list detailing when each application was due, where I would be living, and the stipend each program offered. I found more than 25 REUs that applied to my interests. After careful consideration, I eliminated some based on factors such as not providing housing, too low of a stipend, or the research projects were too far outside of what I was interested in.
Just to give you a feel of what you can expect: many REUs provide completely free on-campus housing, benefits like access to campus gyms and research-specific workshops, pay for several fun events they plan in the city, pay for and book your travel there and back, and pay you around $6,000 plus a little extra for food for you to have this entire experience. Not to mention the major resume bonus points as you work one-on-one with a professor and graduate students in a research lab. However, many REUs only accept around 10 students out of hundreds of applications, so they are highly competitive. Most applications open around the end of the fall semester, are due early in the spring semester, and the programs last around 10 weeks starting in the beginning of June. That means I had to find professors to write nine letters of recommendation before deadlines passed at the same time finals week was fast approaching followed by a month of Christmas break and the chaos of beginning new classes. I would recommend asking early, making sure the professors are aware of any deadlines over Christmas break, and sending follow up emails. Almost all applications asked for recommendations from a professor who can attest to research abilities as well as a professor who taught you in class. Talking to professors at UofA about their research and anything you can do to get involved as well as just getting to know those you have for classes will help tremendously. Many applications ask for a transcript, a personal statement about your experience and research interests, and other program-specific short answers like which of the faculty they have listed you would prefer to work with. After the applications were sent out, I heard back from almost all programs over spring break. I got accepted to only one – the BRITE REU at Boston University!
My experience in Boston has been great so far! I work from roughly 9-5 Monday through Friday in a lab that researches alternative promoters and gene expression. More specifically, I use RStudio to sort data from 17K human tissue samples and evaluate how different genes are expressed depending on the number of promoters within that gene. At the end of the summer, I will make a poster displaying plots and other important information I researched. If my poster is approved, the BRITE REU will pay for my travel to present it at the ABRCMS conference in November.
On the evenings and weekends, the program has paid for me and the 11 other BRITE students to do things such as sailing around the Boston Harbor, a Duck Boat Tour, the Museum of Science, and many other fun events. I also have enjoyed exploring book shops, seeing the beautiful buildings and flowers everywhere, and not paying tax on groceries and clothes in Boston! I started going to a church called Grace City which is set up and taken down every Sunday morning on the 5th floor of an office building. I got to watch the 4th of July fireworks over the Charles River, and my parents took me to the beaches in Cape Cod when they visited last weekend. Overall, I have loved getting to dive deeper into bioinformatics research, learn about Boston, and meet people from all over the US both in my program and at church. While I am excited to return to Arkansas in August, I am looking forward to the 5 weeks I have left here as I continue to challenge myself academically and personally to leave my comfort zone!