Just like that, Brackenridge is quickly coming to an end! It’s hard to believe that my time as a Brackenridge fellow will be over so soon, but I couldn’t be happier with everything I have learned and accomplished this summer.

Coming into this fellowship, I had prior research experience working as a research assistant on multiple different projects. So, I thought I knew what to expect. However, I quickly learned that creating your own study is much different from working on someone else’s! I underestimated the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes in order to make an experiment possible and have a newfound appreciation for the effort that goes into each and every scientific study. Furthermore, I learned that research never goes as planned. There are always changes to be made, more literature to read, and unexpected obstacles along the way. Flexibility is key when it comes to experiment creation!

I hope to continue to work on my study, “Effect of Gender Cues on the Cognitive Availability of Singular They” as a Bachelor of Philosophy thesis throughout my senior year. I believe that the work on the cognitive basis of nonbinary they begins to address a large gap in psycholinguistics literature as well as work towards a more inclusive and modern field, so I will not be stopping here! After I finish my time as an undergraduate, I plan to take a gap year to continue to work hands-on in a psychology or psychology-related laboratory before applying to graduate school.

I am very grateful for this experience and will remember my time as a Brackenridge fellow for the rest of my life. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the Brackenridge fellowship possible and my awesome faculty mentor Dr. Tessa Warren for guiding me through the process of creating an experiment and encouraging me to become a better and more confident researcher.

As a final note, I want to wish good luck to my fellow Brackenridge recipients in all of their future research endeavors. I have cherished my time working with you all and am looking forward to seeing how our experiences this summer will affect who we become as researchers and as people.