Sociology, '16 working with Professor Bruce Western
 

The opportunity to work as a research assistant for Professor Western has defined my academic experience at Harvard. As a member of the Boston Reentry Study team I have the opportunity to work closely with undergraduate and graduate students to tell the stories of men and women affected by our criminal justice system. As a member of the team for the last year and a half I have gained invaluable research experience such as learning how to conduct and code interviews. Perhaps more importantly, working on this study has allowed me to get a better understanding of the kinds of issues and questions I am interested in pursuing after graduation.

While I've learned so much from this experience, I have three major takeaways about the research experience. First, it gives students the opportunity to start doing the important and urgent work we are passionate about. Rather than simply discussing the issues and reading the literature in a classroom setting, conducting research allows us the chance to start asking the questions we cannot answer in the classroom. For me personally, working on this project has helped me discover what kind of research projects I would like to pursue on my own. More importantly, I truly feel the work I am doing on this project will improve policy and eventually the lives of the formerly incarcerated. Second, the relationships we create in these research experiences open doors to opportunities both as an undergraduate and as an alumna. The members of the BRS research team have become a strong support system for me in my own research as well as my post-graduate plans. Professor Western, for example, is now my thesis adviser and my MMUF mentor. Finally, working with Professor Western has shown me what social science research is really like in practice. Reading about methodologies and how to go about collecting or analyzing data in a classroom setting is extremely different from the way things work in the actual world of research. The collaborative process helped me to become a more critical thinker. One of the most enjoyable things was how involved I and the other undergraduates were in the data analysis and feedback processes. Overall, this experience is truly invaluable, and I highly encourage students to take advantage of similar opportunities to learn from and work with the top minds in the country.