My internship at the Friday Institute was an opportunity for me to learn if researching was something that I would be interested in pursuing, along with potentially going into education to teach. I am often unsure what I want to do in the future, and I was hoping that this opportunity would allow me to narrow down what I would want to do. However, the experiences and skills that I’ve gained in this internship has done the exact opposite: widening my possibilities, which was the exact opposite goal for me in this internship (something that I am both worried and excited about).
A large part of my contribution as an intern came from working with data that was collected by the Friday Institute through surveys in Qualtrics, or on educational databases such as EDDIE. This allowed me to use my understanding of data visualization and manipulation to work with this data.
I also had a chance to learn and grow my skills in Atlas.ti, which is a program for assisting in qualitative research. As a math major with a minor in statistics, I have a preference for quantitative research, but Atlas.ti allowed me to explore how researchers worked with data that is not as easy to work with as quantitative data.
I also had a chance to improve my understanding of the research process, such as gathering literature in databases and citing articles in research papers.
However, the single most valuable experience that I had was working directly with students at West Edgecombe Middle School and Reedy Creek Middle School. Interacting with them was a large part of why I am considering pursuing a career in educational research as I was able to see the impact that one can have in having researchers involved in the teaching of kids. This experience allowed me to secure a teaching position at Americorps/Saga Education, which I will be starting in August of 2024.
Originally, I was hoping to go into graduate school for mathematics or atmospheric science, but now I’m more uncertain of what I want to do for my future. However, as a math major, we are, in a sense, a jack of all trades: not being particularly good or heavily invested in any field or topic. This internship has allowed me to pursue my interest in doing research, but the research that I am interested in has broadened—the very problem that I was hoping to solve with this internship. If I do continue into quantitative educational research, I can contribute that interest directly to my experience at the Friday Institute.
If you are interested in doing research but are not sure what topics you would like to pursue, or just want to improve your skills in research, this internship is a fantastic opportunity for you.
Muhammed Ghaffar is a senior majoring in mathematics.
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