Episode Notes | Episode Transcript | AskTheGuest
Hi Fives (5 Highlights) 3-Minute Listen
As a recent member of the Emory University Alumni, Rosseirys De La Rosa, aka “Ro” looks back at her Undergraduate Experience in this podcast. Ro graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical and Biological Anthropology.
Ro grew up watching TV shows like “Bones”, “NCIS” and “Castle” which got her really excited about Forensic Science. She really enjoyed science in High School.
When Ro joined Emory University, as part of her work-study, she started doing research in Anthropology in her very first semester! She was hooked.
In order to continue her research, she hustled to land a spot in Prof John Lindo’s DNA lab. That led to 3+ years of UG research which paved her way to a doctoral program in Anthropology at Vanderbilt University.
Hi-Fives from the Podcast are:
- Why Emory?
- Transition to Emory
- Discovering UG Research
- About the Research
- Skills for High Schoolers
Episode Notes
Episode Title: Rosseirys De La Rosa “Ro” of Emory University: Anthropology, UG Research on Indigenous DNA, and Mentor Support.
Ro grew up watching TV shows like “Bones”, “NCIS” and “Castle” which got her excited about Forensic Science. In High School, Biology & Environmental Science were her favorite subjects. When Ro joined Emory University, she started doing research in her very first semester!
Ro joins us on our podcast to share her UG Research experiences, her work in the Ancient DNA Lab, and her undergraduate college journey at Emory University.
In particular, we discuss the following with her:
- Overall Experience at Emory
- Getting Started in Anthropology UG Research
- Impact of UG Research
- Majoring in Anthropology and Human Biology
- Advice to Freshman and High Schoolers
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Introduction to Rosseirys De La Rosa, Emory [0:49]
- Hi Fives - Podcast Highlights [1:55]
- Overall Experience [4:40]
- Why Emory? [5:22]
- High School Interests [6:41]
- Transition to Emory [8:56]
- Discovering UG Research [11:38]
- Research Details [14:04]
- Takeaways/Outcomes of Research [19:49]
- Research Impact [24:56]
- Picking Majors [26:26]
- What’s Next for Ro? [31:25]
- Advice for Freshman [32:26]
- Skills for High Schoolers [33:54]
- Memories [36:34]
Our Guests: Rosseirys De La Rosa (“Ro”) graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical and Biological Anthropology from Emory University. Ro plans to join the Doctoral Program in Anthropology at Vanderbilt University in Fall 2022.
Memorable Quote: “But definitely, if it wouldn't have been for my research experience, there's no way I would have been able to get into such a good school”. Ro, on being accepted into the Doctoral Program at Vanderbilt University.
Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.
Similar Episodes: College Experiences , UG Research
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Episode Transcript
Transcript of the episode’s audio.
Ro 0:14
We're like, when I was writing my thesis, I had emailed him [Dr. Tim Raines] and I was like, bro, I can't do this no more like I'm ready to just give it up. Especially because the people around me, some of them had dropped their thesis already. So like if they're dropping and if I drop, it doesn't matter. And Dr. Raines is like if you drop that thesis, we're gonna have like personal problems like, I will fight you!
Venkat 0:49 [Introduction to Britain and Ethan, UW Whitewater]
That is Rosseirys (Ro-say-deese) De La Rosa, aka Ro, who recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical and Biological Anthro-pology from Emory University.
Hello! I am your host Venkat Raman.
Ro grew up watching TV shows like “Bones”, “NCIS” and “Castle” which got her really excited about Forensic Science.
She really enjoyed science.
In High School, Biology & Environmental Science were her favorite subjects.
In addition, she played volleyball, basketball and softball.
When Ro joined Emory University, as part of her work-study, she started doing research in her very first semester!
Venkat Raman 1:29
Ro joins us on our podcast to share her UG Research experiences, her work in the Ancient DNA Lab, and her undergraduate college journey at Emory.
Venkat Raman 1:41
Before we jump into the podcast, here are the High-Fives, Five Highlights from the podcast:
Ro 1:55 [Highlights - Hi Fives]
[Why Emory?]
I actually got waitlisted for almost every school and the deadline was approaching and I was getting nervous. And I got into Emory and I got into a state school. And Emory ended up giving more financial aid.
[Transition to Emory]
The classes were really hard. I doubled up in bio and chemistry my first semester because I did a program called stem pathways. So you get paired with like a black faculty. And they you take bio biology and chemistry, like intro to biological chemistry together. And that was so hard. And I realized that's when I realized that not everybody kind of had the same high school experience as me.
[Discovering UG Research]
I'll never forget I was in my anthropology like one on one class because I always knew that I liked anthropology. I've been liking anthropology since and I've been liking like anthro and archaeology since like I was 10. It's really strange child. But I also had work study. And so my professor at the time Dr. Jessica Thompson, she was like, Hey, I have a research lab. And I need to fill it up at work study students. And I was like, that's crazy. I need work study.
[About the Research]
My junior year, I like got into the ancient lab, I started working on doing like actual DNA extractions, building libraries. And all that I also did a couple of side projects, because I wanted to just make sure my skills were set. Because I wanted to I felt like I wanted to feel comfortable enough where I didn't have to rely on the graduate students in the lab.
[Skills for High Schoolers]
So I didn't necessarily because I didn't know what research was. Yeah, definitely. No, I wasn't prepared for it at all. Yeah, but there's always going to be other people like there were always other people in my lab. So like in my first lab, I had the graduate students I had the professor herself. And Dr. Lindo's lab like I spent a lot of time working with the graduate students. They kind of like I mean to this day, like her name is Yemko Pryor like she is definitely a mentor to me.
Venkat Raman 4:02
These were the Hi5s, brought to you by College Matters. Alma Matters.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Venkat Raman 4:13
Now, I'm sure you want to hear the entire podcast with Ro.
So without further ado, here is Rosseirys De La Rosa!
----------------------
Venkat Raman 4:22
If you're ready, we can jump right in.
Ro 4:25
Yep, that sounds great.
Venkat Raman 4:28
Awesome. Okay, so maybe the best place to start is give us sort of an overall impression of your Emory experiences you've just graduated. And congratulations, by the way.
Ro 4:40 [Overall Experience]
Thank you. My time at Emory was definitely interesting. It was very hard and it was long. I don't know why people say that four years fly by because those four years like it kind of felt like a slap flat like flew by but I also blame it on The pandemic since I spent two years on Zoom. But I'm also extremely grateful for all the opportunities that I was able to gain by being at Emory.
Venkat Raman 5:17
Tell us a little bit about why you picked Emory. Why did you end up here? Or how did you end up here?
Ro 5:22 [Why Emory?]
So I'm originally from Boston, and well, not Boston. I'm from a small town called Lynn, which is like 50 minutes out from Boston. And basically, I went through QuestBridge, because my school really enforce a lot of the like students to apply to class wage. However, I ended up not matching. I was still a scholar, but I never matched. And so when I was applying to I think, like 10 schools, I think I actually got waitlisted for almost every school and the deadline was approaching and I was getting nervous. And I got into Emory and I got into a state school. And Emory ended up gave me more financial aid. Yeah. I'd never heard about Emory. I didn't know because since like, you know, I'm from Boston. So it's like we hear like, Harvard, MIT, like all these like good northern schools. Yeah. So I had no idea what I was signing up for. I just know that they gave me a good amount of money. And I was like, Well, looks like I'm gonna Emory.
Venkat Raman 6:31
Tell us a little bit about you in high school. I mean, what kind of interest did you have and how you were looking at your college experience from that point.
Ro 6:41 [High School Interests]
So I went to two different high schools. So first, I went to a normal, like public high school. And then I ended up transferring into a charter school that my younger sister attended. So the charter school I went to, they were very much like, they wanted everybody to go to college. So it was definitely a change in my first high school. Because my first I'm not from the town with the best educational system, like Massachusetts, in itself has a great education system. But my town, it's very, like poor. So we didn't have that push to kind of go to college.
So that's what my mom wanted me to go to the second high school I went to, which was actually once a KIPP Academy. So, um, they really just, I don't know, they were like, You need to go to college. And I was like, Well, I guess I need to go to college. And they had a lot of opportunities. So like, because they are like a national like, organization, they have a bunch of partnerships and whatnot. So they definitely helped me kind of stay on track to know what I was doing since I am the first person in my family to go to college.
Venkat Raman 7:50
Awesome. So what did you do in high school? Were you involved in anything? I mean, what were your interests? What kind of stuff Excited you?
Ro 7:59
I actually played a bunch of sports. So I played every sport that my high school offered me like, so in the fall, I played volleyball in the winter, I played basketball in the spring, I played softball. That's pretty much a I didn't really, I knew I liked science. And I knew that I liked um, I don't know. I knew that I enjoyed science. I really loved biology. I liked environmental science, but because it was such a small high school, there weren't that many like clubs, per se. So I just played sports, my entire high school career. And then I went to a school that didn't have good sports.
Venkat Raman 8:43
Okay, so then you come over to Emory? And how was that transition from your two high schools to Emory coming down to Atlanta.
Ro 8:56 [Transition to Emory]
So I was not expecting the volume of white students that Emory would have because in your brand new here, Atlanta, you think, okay, like Atlanta, black culture, all that stuff. But Emory in itself is they call it the Emory bubble, which is a real thing, because it really is just like its own kind of community. And it's from someone who came from a high school where white people were the minority to go into a space where, like, my, like black people, and Hispanic people were the minority. I was like, Oh, this is this spray. So that was kind of like my culture shock, I guess. And then another thing was the like, rigour of the classes. The classes were really hard. I doubled up in bio and chemistry my first semester because I did a program called stem pathways. So you get paired with like a black faculty, and they you take bio biology Chemistry, like intro to biological chemistry together. And that was so hard. And I realized that's when I realized that not everybody kind of had the same high school experience as me. Because all these people were like, yeah, like, I got like a five on the AP chemistry exam. And I'm like, we don't even have textbooks in my AP Chem class. So it was definitely challenging to try. And I felt like I needed to catch up to my peers who already had a head start.
Venkat Raman 10:31
So how did you go about doing that? Do you feel like you were, you had caught up by the end of your freshman year, sophomore year?
Ro 10:40
Oh, absolutely not. By the end of freshman year. Actually, by the end of my first semester, I was ready to transfer back to like my hometown. I was like, Yo, I can't do this. It was a lot of extra hours, put on my part, because I had to go to office hours. But then because I was taking so many credits, and I wanted to be involved in, like, extracurricular activities. My like, time never matched with my professors times. So I had to, like, email them and meet with them, like outside of like, bit like school hours, kind of. So I remember my sophomore year, when I was taking a stats class, I met with him at 8am for office hours. And then once a class at 830 in the morning.
Venkat Raman 11:32
How did you get into research? Where did you find the undergraduate research program?
Ro 11:38 [Discovering UG Research]
So I was, I will never forget, I was in my anthropology like one on one class, because I always knew that I liked anthropology. I've been liking anthropology since I've been like in like Anthro, and archeology since like, I was 10. It's really strange child. But I also had work study. And so my professor at the time, Dr. Jessica Thompson, she was like, Hey, I have a research lab. And I need to fill it up at work study students. And I was like, that's crazy. I need work study. And it was really difficult for me to find a job on campus because I was like, getting told by like other students, like, oh, like, don't work here. Like, that's not a good job. Or you want to get a job where you can work here. And I was getting really frustrated. So I kind of was like, all at this point, like, I'll get anything I can take. Yeah.
And I actually had, I went late to her class, like the class after she said that she was looking for work, study students and how to self sign a paper, because she was gonna, like, interview us and all this stuff. And I remember, I had fallen asleep in the next class, and I was sitting in the front row. And I was so embarrassed that I went up to her after class. And I was like, Listen, I'm so sorry. Like, I fell asleep during class, like I really had been struggling to keep up. But like, I do still want to work in your lab, like I need a job. And she didn't even realize I had fallen asleep.
She was like, honestly, I couldn't even like I didn't even realize, but you seem to really want this job. And you're really interested in it. So like, will like schedule an interview time that works for you. And I ended up getting the job. And that was kind of like the first time I went into research and I, I didn't necessarily know what I was signing myself up for. Yeah. But by the time that like my first semester had passed, I found myself spending a lot of time in lab more because not even necessarily because I was trying to put in like the work hours. It's because I actually wanted to be there. Like I enjoyed the people in the lab. I liked the interaction I had with my professor, I got to interact with graduate students. And I just liked that environment a lot.
Venkat Raman 13:48
So this was which year now?
Ro 13:51
This is my freshman year, like first semester.
Venkat Raman 13:53
Wow.
Venkat Raman 13:57
Tell us about some of the key things that you did as part of your undergraduate research over the next few years.
Ro 14:04 [Research Details]
Yeah, so my first semester, so again, first semester, freshman year, I'm working with Dr. Jessica Thompson, because I just needed a job. Yeah. And in her lab, we analyze how hunter gatherer social interactions and northern Malawi kind of changed due to environmental shifts. So because I was a freshman, I knew she wasn't gonna, like have me do all this, like hardcore work or whatever. So she kind of worked on building my skills up. So she would have me look at just like a bunch of just stuff and try to figure out if it was rocks, or if it was bones and then as I slowly started getting better at differentiating between like a bone and a rock, and she'd be like, Okay, now like, what type of bone is this and then I will have to catalog it and like put it into like their database. So that was pretty much like the extensiveness of research I did with Dr. Jessica Thompson. Because after our first semester, um, She told us that she was leaving to a different institution. And she was leaving Emory and told us to find a different lab to work in. Yeah.
So at that time, Dr. John Lindo was still in the process of building his Ancient DNA lab. Yeah. And so I'm thinking, I was just like, Yo, I am a freshman. There is no way this dude is going to accept me into his lab, when I barely have any research experience. And all these other people, like everybody else in the lab also wanted to go to where he was. Yeah. And there was like, five or six of us in the lab, and I was like, I'm not going to make it.
So what I did was, I declared my major second semester freshman year. I picked him as my advisor. Hmm. I went into this office, told him I wanted to work in his lab. And then throughout the entire summer of my freshman year, I emailed him once a month, talking about, hey, by the way, my name is Ro, remember, I want to work in your lab. And then when we came back on, so no, I emailed I'm sorry, I emailed him over winter break talking about hey, I want to work in your lab. Yeah.
And spring semester of my freshman year, he kind of took everybody in. But it wasn't until I'm kind of after spring break that he gave us like specific things to do. And at that time, he still hadn't had his Ancient DNA lab built. Yeah.
So I worked in the Modern Lab. And we were doing, like, we were looking at climate, like high altitude, and how that affected like people's DNA, like did like DNA modifications. Yeah. And then, how I specifically started working on my project that I worked on starting sophomore year was he told us he said, Pick a country he gave us a list of country gave us a list of countries. And I showed up late so I got stuck with the last country, which ended up being Uruguay. Uh huh. And he kind of gave us projects based on like the country we had. Yeah.
So then sophomore year we started doing, he told me to start looking into like the history of the country, and reading a bunch of articles and all that.
I didn't realize that research also meant I had to read a bunch of articles. Yeah, I love reading. But I like reading what I like reading. I don't like being told what to read. And reading scientific articles was very difficult for me. Because the scientific I think it's called like jargon, scientific jargon. Yeah. I struggled a lot trying to understand what the papers were saying. So I was getting like annoyed and frustrated. And I was also taking classes. So it's just like, research was on top of like, my job and the classes I was taking and my extracurriculars. So I was trying to balance everything. And then COVID hit.
Venkat Raman 18:08
Yeah.
Ro 18:11
And he, over the summer, I did the SURE program with Dr. Timothy Raines. Yeah. And then I was coding over the summer by myself. Ready to break my laptop in half because it was so difficult. Like I was emailing Dr. Lindo every other day talking about, bro, I don't know what I'm doing. This code is not running. Help. And then my junior year, I we like got into the ancient lab, I started working on doing like actual DNA extractions, building libraries. And all that. I also did a couple of side projects, because I wanted to just make sure my skills were set. Because I wanted to, I felt like I wanted to feel comfortable enough where I didn't have to rely on the graduate students in the lab. Right. So I did a couple other side projects, I helped the graduate students sometimes with their projects, and then senior years when I wrote my thesis and that is the pretty much my whole research experience summed up.
Venkat Raman 19:18
So what were the, you know, big outcomes or small outcomes or noteworthy outcomes? As you were doing this, I mean, you said as you got deeper into it, you started cataloging it started building a library. All the stuff that you were observing with respect to DNA and this had all got to do with Uruguay right. And so what did what did you learn or what what is are the things that were takeaways?
Ro 19:49 [Takeaways/Outcomes of Research]
Yes, those first specifically my project was on like looking at that, because the samples that we got were actually remains from in indigenous individual, so we had ancient indigenous samples from Uruguay. So when I wrote my literature review, like my sophomore year, what he wanted me to look at was kind of like how the narrative based on like Europeans who were colonizing, like the area that we know, as Uruguay today compares to the narrative that like they had based on their own records. Because there's still as it's not that much, but there are some, like published like journals and stuff from indigenous individuals who were also recorded what was happening at the same time that the Spanish were recording. So as the Spanish and the Portuguese, the Portuguese kind of like, have most of their spent most of their time in Uruguay.
Yeah. And so like, that was my sophomore year. So I like came to know about like this awful massacre known as Salsipuedes, which happened in like 1830. And basically “Salsipu”. One is translates in English to “get out if you can”. And it was like a campaign of massacres that were created that were what that were done by the Spanish to kind of like, finish exterminating indigenous populations that lived in Uruguay. And then my junior year, yeah, it was actually really awful. I was yeah, it was pretty bad.
Um, my junior year, when I started, like going into the lab for real, and running, like these codes and whatnot, we were, we basically ended up finding a new kind of, like, ancestral ancestral lineage that is in South America, that had never been detected before. Because the individuals, we, we extract the DNA from two individuals. And the older individual had a connection to both Brazil and Panama. But the thing is, if you look at South America, like Brazil makes sense, because Brazil is the country directly on top of Uruguay, that is, you know, closer to, like, the north of South America. So it's like, you know, like the Panama Canal and all that. Yeah.
So seeing the fact that there was like an ancestral connection between like, like these three different individuals. And the fact that they geographically live so far away, showed that there might have been like a new lineage kind of that hasn't been detected before in South America. But also, like, this makes sense, because there's not that much data on South America, like within ancient DNA regardless. So it's like, yeah, we found this new ancestral data. And like, that's pretty cool.
But also, like, we need more samples to keep looking into the area, and figuring out like how this connection is being made, because when people talk about ancient DNA, like they only focus on like Europeans and North America, they never actually look at, like the samples in South America.
Venkat Raman 23:11
Now, what what time period was this DNA from?
Ro 23:15
The DNA was about the oldest one was about 1000 years old. So they were from, like, the 1800s. Yes, I mean, about the 17 1800. And then the younger one was about like, 600 700 years old.
Venkat Raman 23:34
Wow. Okay, so that's fantastic. Now, are you doing more with this? Or where does it go from here?
Ro 23:46
Well, we actually just published my PI. Dr. Lindo actually just published a paper with our collaborators Uruguay. And that was really exciting, because I've never published a paper before and I was on there a second author.
Venkat Raman 24:03
Awesome.
Ro 24:04
And I mean, I wanted to take a break from school because I just graduated. But Dr. Lindo and I are talking about hope prop. Maybe in the future, looking more into the history of the relationships between like the Spanish and the indigenous populations in like, present day Uruguay, because it's really a hot mess. And like kind of how like missionaries played a role in it, like how Spanish explorers played a role in it, and all of that.
Venkat Raman 24:38
How do you think all this research and you started right off the bat and you know, freshman year, how to how has that changed you? How has that made a difference? Hopefully all for the better but what are the things that you see?
Ro 24:56 [Research Impact]
So I think doing research Just kind of helped me know that when I didn't want to go to medical school, I already knew I didn't want to be a doctor, like I want to get my PhD. But I really knew I didn't want to be a doctor, like an MD. So definitely getting into research straight from the bat, kind of like clarified and finalize my decision from the jump. So it kind of helped me like pick my classes accordingly. And then another thing that helped me do was the fact that because Emory is predominantly pre medical, it kind of gave me the space to talk about the fact that you can still, like do science, and not necessarily have to be a doctor. So that's why, like, because of like, my experience and research, I was able to co found a club with my friend, Christina Chance, I'm pretty sure you spoke to like called Black and Latin X and stem, where we were just like, we need support in having like black and Latin X students in STEM. Not feel pressured to go down to pre med route, because that's what they're seeing around them.
Venkat Raman 26:08
Yeah. So. So that's fantastic. I mean, and you know, another way of saying this, that you built up a lot of confidence in your abilities. Sounds like?
Ro 26:21
yeah, exactly.
Venkat Raman 26:26 [Picking Majors]
Let me ask you this about your majors. I mean, you, you were kind of sciency. In school, you said, and, and then you said that you were somewhat of an archaeologist around the age of 10. And now you majored in
Ro 26:49
Anthropology and Human Biology.
Venkat Raman 26:53
So tell us about that. I mean, I think I understand the first part, with your research and with what you did, and with, obviously, you got deep into it. Is the human biology kind of related to that?
Ro 27:06
Yeah. So when I first got to Emory, I didn't know that this was a major, um, I was just in a double major in Anthropology and Biology, because in my mind, Anthropology was more like, I wanted to hardcore science, like, I didn't want to just do like social science and look at culture. Because I have an, I have a personal issue with the way that anthropology is displayed. It's very, like your essential Eurocentric focus. And, I mean, I'm not white, so I don't really care to look at cultures on the lens of a white person. So that's why I want like, I was trying to double major with biology because I was like, I want to look at the nitty gritty like science and look at, I don't know, I wanted to find a way to like mix, like mesh, the two. Yeah. Then when I was just talking about my interest to a professor, he was like, well, actually, like, we have an Anthropology and Human Biology like major here at Emory. And I think you will sound perfect for it. And I was like, I don't know what that is. But like, I checked to see like, the requirements that were like listed for the classes. And I fell in love with the kind of like intersectionality, between learning about cultural Anthro. And also learning about like biological anthropology. So like, which is why I took I took like an ancient DNA course, I took a like race and science course. So it was definitely like the intersectionality of the major that caught my attention.
Venkat Raman 28:40
So you know, you said you were interested in this since age 10. Do you, Do you have a sense of why or how that developed at that time?
Ro 28:52
Yeah, so my mom, she watched a lot of TNT because that's the only channel that you could watch in Spanish that are like cable allowed? Yeah, we watched a lot of crime shows. Uh huh. And I was like, Yo, this is really fake. But it was also super cool. And I was just like, okay, like, this is fake.
But there has to be like some truth behind it. Yeah. So I started looking into like, we watched the show a lot called like, bones and NCIS, and castle and all these stuff. So I always loved the I always fell in love with the forensic scientist. So I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna do forensic science. And then I found out that they don't make that much money. And I was like, yeah, no, I can't do this. So I started looking into like, the like, kind of like what goes behind forensic science. And then I realized that I actually, as much as I liked forensic science, I actually liked kind of the outcome of it more.
So I liked being kind of like putting to pieces and whatnot. And I was like, hmm, that kind of sounds a lot like research. approach. And then when it came to anthropology specifically, it was the fact that I remember taking a course in a community college while I was in high school. It was just like an anthropology course at the Community College offered. And there was a site in Central America that had just a bunch of unidentified remains. Yeah. And they call the anthropologist to go in and kind of just like, try to give the remains back to their families. Yeah. And I was like, wait a minute, I really liked this, like a lot. So I started looking into kind of just the, like, how can you use like anthropology, biological anthropology, to be able to kind of like, give a voice to those people who have been kind of like forgotten throughout history?
Yeah. And then when I got to Dr. lindows, ancient DNA lab, the fact that I was out here, like, searching for the narratives of indigenous populations, I have gone extinct. I was like, yeah, yeah, this is like my seven year old self is really happy right? Now, the fact that I'm able to, like, tell their story, and kind of make sure that they're not forgotten.
Venkat Raman 31:21
So, what's next? Where are you headed?
Ro 31:25 [What’s Next for Ro?]
So I'm actually going to graduate school. I'm gonna be attending Vanderbilt in the fall in pursuit of a PhD in anthropology.
Venkat Raman 31:41
Fantastic. So that you attribute all that to the all the research that you, the hours are spent in the lab, I'm assuming?
Ro 31:53
Oh, no, most definitely. Cuz like, respectfully, the way my GPA should not have like, I was able to write a thesis, because God is good. But definitely, like, if it wouldn't have been for like my research experience, there is no way I would have been able to get into such a good school.
Venkat Raman 32:13
Now that you have all this rich experience, what would you tell that freshman coming in, you know, in fall to Emory, or maybe any other school about research? What would you tell them?
Ro 32:26 [Advice for Freshman]
First thing is that research looks very different, depending on what you want it to look like. So all of my friends that didn't get into research, they're all doing like amazingly different things. And you don't have to feel pressured to kind of recreate your like mentors work. If you really care about doing something, and you find good people to support you throughout your journey of researching, like doing research, like you're gonna find, you'll be able to kind of do what you want to do. Because they're a bunch of different people like outside, like, even like, in your own school, or just across like the country in general, or even outside of the country, because I was working with a guy from Uruguay, who, like, we'll help you get what you want. So don't be afraid to just like cold email people or just reach out to anyone who you think can help you achieve your goal.
Venkat Raman 33:36
What kind of skills do you think students need? As they come in as they become freshmen? What do you need to develop in high school? As you look back? What do you wish you had? Or did you think you were adequately prepared for research?
Ro 33:54 [Skills for High Schoolers]
So I didn't necessarily because I didn't know what research was? Yeah, definitely. No, I wasn't prepared for it at all. Yeah, but there's always going to be other people like there were always other people in my lab. So like, in my first lab, I had the graduate students, I had the professor herself. And Dr. Lindo's lab, like I spent a lot of time working with the graduate students, they kind of like, I mean, to this day, like her name is Gamco prior, like, she is definitely a mentor to me. And she helped me a lot like even with my grad school applications, like writing my thesis, all of that. So definitely, there will be people who help, like there were people who helped me along the way, kind of like roll them skills. Like as I mentioned earlier, reading the scientific journal was really difficult for me like reading an article. So I had to ask for like tips and tricks on how to read them. Because these articles are like 30 pages long and I was like, I can't spend like three hours looking at every article that I'm never going to finish. Yeah.
Venkat Raman 34:53
Sure. Now, you know, last question for you on this is Maybe you didn't have, you know, you didn't have all the skills coming in. But what? What made it possible for you to stick with it? I mean, I guess that's the question. Really, because you, you walked into it, you then got deeper and deeper into it. What was it that kept you going there?
Ro 35:22
I think Well, honestly, I really like it. Like, I was definitely passionate about the work I was doing, which was like an added bonus. Sure. But I feel like having that support system around me like cuz there were definitely days where I would text anybody. And I'd be like, Yo, like, I'm ready to quit. Like, I want to do this no more. And all that jazz. But definitely having like, my friends be like, Rosseirys, like you are amazing. Like you know what you're doing, and just talking about, like, what I'm like, what my research was what like my friends are if I like found something interesting, I was like, oh my goodness, like today and I'm like, I did X, Y and Z and like that was super cool. Or something didn't work like just talking about it with those around me. And then being able to just like support me like hype me up. Like I had my personal little like cheerleading like crew like they were like, Yeah, bro, like, you got this and I'm like, damn, I do that this
Venkat Raman 36:18
sir, oh, we are gonna start winding down here. Now as we do that, do you have any special memories or favorite stories or anything else you want to share? Based on your research or at Emory experience or whatever else?
Ro 36:34 [Memories]
So one of my favorite stories was actually how I met Dr. Timothy Raines. Yeah, he had came since he was doing like outreach for his office, he came to one of my classes one day to speak about research. And I was already in a lab, but like, just barely. It was like, right when I was transitioning from my first site to my second lab. Yeah. And I remember going up to him after class. And I was like, Listen, I need to sit down and have a talk with you because I am confused. I don't know if I want to continue doing research. I don't know. Like, if I should just get a different job. And I went to his office, and we spoke for hours at a time about everything and anything. And he really was just like, yeah, like, I'm gonna help you throughout the rest of your college career. That's exactly what he did. Like, as like, from that moment on like, even to this day, like Dr. Raines has been like, up there. And like, supporting me, like he like letters, like, whether it be letters of recommendation, or just like moral support. Like when I was writing my thesis, I had emailed him and I was like, bro, I can't do this. No more like I'm ready to just give it up. Especially because the people around me some of them had dropped their thesis already. So like, if they're dropping it if I drop it doesn't matter. And Dr. ranges, like, if you drop that thesis, we're gonna have like, personal problems like I will fight you. Okay. Oh, definitely having like Dr. Rains, like on like, at my side throughout the last three years of my college career is something that I am forever grateful for. And even my own like mentor like Dr. lindo. Like, he definitely could deal with my How do I say, self conscious self? Cuz I always felt like I was doing something wrong. And they'd be like, no, like, just You're doing great. Like, just keep going. And just having that little push every time like every once in a while, was like enough to keep me going.
Venkat Raman 38:38
Fantastic. So Ro, thank you so much for making the time sharing your story in such great detail. And it's truly inspiring, and I wish you all the luck as you proceed to your PhD program at Vanderbilt. I'm sure I will talk to you more. But for right now, take care. Be safe. Thank you so much.
Ro 39:04
Yes, thank you.
Venkat Raman 39:06
Take care. Bye.
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Venkat 39:12 [Close]
Hi again!
Hope you enjoyed our podcast with Ro on her undergraduate as well as research experiences at Emory.
Ro came to Emory with a lot of passion for the Sciences.
She jumped in to research in her 1st semester and loved it.
She was determined, persistent and successful in her efforts to land a spot in Prof John Lindo’s DNA lab.
While her transition to Emory was rough initially, the 4-years of UG research helped her build confidence & expertise, & paved the way to a doctoral program at Vanderbilt.
I hope Ro’s experience inspires you to do UG research and explore EMory for your UG journey.
For your questions or comments on this podcast, please email podcast at almamatters.io [podcast@almamatters.io].
Thank you all so much for listening to our podcast today.
Transcripts for this podcast and previous podcasts are on almamatters.io forward slash podcasts [almamatters.io/podcasts].
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Till we meet again, take care and be safe.
Thank you!