I spent this summer analyzing my data and writing up a final report of my findings. As a refresher: I was studying the menstrual knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Tribal women in southern Karnataka, India. My results were mostly in-line with current research, except for a few key responses which stood out. It definitely shocked me a little bit, because it wasn’t what I was expecting. But that’s what research is all about! One of the main points that came up was that Tribal women from this region do not consider themselves impure while menstruating, and generally have positive attitudes towards menstruation. Also, while many women wished that in the future that their daughters would continue practicing menstrual traditions, they ultimately left that decision up to their daughters. Mothers emphasized the importance of education for their daughters as well. These were very hopeful findings! Once my final draft is completed, I plan to publish my work in an academic journal. As is possible in public health research, I also am interested in developing an intervention to take back to the Tribal communities which allowed me to do my research. This might be in the form of sexual education, or even just flyers to distribute in schools. Whatever form it takes, I believe giving back is important.

Being a Brackenridge Fellow this summer was a very rewarding experience. I learned about other types of research that I normally wouldn’t be exposed to, learned about different methods, how to communicate my work, and made new friends along the way! I’ve always thought that research is important in every field, and what you do with that research is equally important. I’ve met so many people who plan to take their experiences this summer and explore more in the future- myself included. I also found it incredibly valuable to have a cohort of teammates to bounce ideas off of. If I ever was questioning with how I should proceed, I had people I could reach out to and ask opinions from.

As I mentioned previously, I’m working on a final draft of my paper which will hopefully be submitted to an academic journal soon. I also am planning on developing an intervention to take back to the Tribal communities which helped me. In the future, I hope to one day go to medical school and become a physician. I want to continue to pursue public health research, specifically women’s health research in the future as well.