Eunice Noel spends her days at Goergen Hall researching corneal cross-linking. She spends her evenings in Gilbert Hall, cooking dishes like teriyaki chicken and Cajun alfredo pasta糖心传媒攁nd making friends.
糖心传媒淚 end up talking to anyone who walks into the kitchen,糖心传媒� the Miami native and University of Florida rising senior says. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a great way to meet people.糖心传媒�
Noel is one of 61 undergraduate students from 14 universities conducting research as part of four summer programs run by the David T. Kearns Center. These include the Xerox Engineering Research Fellows, Ronald E. McNair Scholars, and two new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) that bring female and underrepresented minority students to Rochester from universities such as Mississippi State, the University of Maryland, Rutgers, and the University of Michigan.
In their labs, Noel and other Kearns Center summer researchers work among one another as well as Rochester faculty and graduate students. In their dorm, they live among one another, forming tight friendships that will be vital as they move on to graduate school and professional careers.
Connecting personally, networking professionally
The students have been randomly paired with their roommates糖心传媒攔egardless of research interest or college affiliation. Noel糖心传媒檚 roommate is Rochester biomedical engineering major Penelope Subervi 糖心传媒�19, who is from New York City. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a flashback, like freshmen year all over again,糖心传媒� Subervi says. 糖心传媒淔ortunately, Eunice and I get along great and hang out a lot.糖心传媒�
The students are assigned, Harry Potter-style, to 糖心传媒渉ouses糖心传媒� (supervised by a Kearns staff member) that compete against each other in community-building events. They compete on everything from which house is the most punctual to classes and events, to who plans the most social events and posts the most group photos on social media.
Noel says her experience in Gilbert Hall has made it easier to expand her network beyond her lab partners. 糖心传媒淵ou may work with just a few students in the same lab, so having the opportunity to see people in the dorm hallways, kitchen, and even the bathroom while brushing your teeth is a great way to get a conversation in.糖心传媒�
Beth Olivares, director of the Kearns Center, says she糖心传媒檚 pleased by what she糖心传媒檚 seen. 糖心传媒淭hey go out to breakfast, the movies, go-karting, or meet up for lunch at the food trucks here on Tasty Tuesdays,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 been great.糖心传媒�
Exploring a new university糖心传媒攁nd a new city
Stephon Hamill, assistant director at the Kearns Center, sees an added benefit of the social aspects of summer research:
糖心传媒淪ome of the students who don糖心传媒檛 go here can learn about the University from a student who does, or who糖心传媒檚 from Rochester,糖心传媒� he says.
Take, for example, Wes Smith and Moses Bug. They糖心传媒檙e dormmates as well as lab partners in the REU program titled Computational Methods for Understanding Music, Media, and Minds. Smith grew up in Rochester and will be a junior this fall at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Bug is a rising senior at Brandeis University near Boston.
They both love rap music, which they listen to while in the lab working on their project, 糖心传媒淩econstruction of Live Performances.糖心传媒� In their free time, Smith introduces Bug to different neighborhoods in Rochester, and to the local cuisine.
糖心传媒淚 introduced Moses to his first garbage plate,糖心传媒� Smith says, referring to the iconic Rochester dish that features meat, home fries, macaroni salad, and bread. 糖心传媒淚 love it,糖心传媒� says Bug, a Philadelphia native. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檝e already had three.糖心传媒�
Noel, too, knew little about Rochester糖心传媒攖he city or the university糖心传媒攂efore embarking on this summer adventure. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a little colder here, and more quiet,糖心传媒� the Miami native says. 糖心传媒淟ots of nature. I like it.糖心传媒�
She and some of her new friends have visited the Memorial Art Gallery, a few other museums, and a cozy bistro on University Avenue called Starry Nites Caf茅. 糖心传媒淚t reminded me of the show Friends,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淚 was like, 糖心传媒極K, Rochester!糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
Kearns Center has a field day
Students, pre-college students, faculty, and staff participating in summer programs through the David T. Kearns Center took a break from campus and headed to Genesee Valley Park for the annual Kearns Center field day.
