As I sit down to write this post, it is hard to put into words these past eight weeks. It is even more difficult to believe that my PIRE experience is coming to an end. Maura and I did something different from the typical PIRE path by doing an analysis from previously collected data. Even though we did not test participants or explore abroad, we did learn so much, made contributions to this field and still experienced a culture immersion.
I cannot express how much I have learned these past two months and how much we accomplished. It is incredible to look back at all of the files we made and to actually see what we created. We believe we made significant contributions for the VL2 lab and are grateful for the opportunity to work with amazing professors, graduate students, and other lab assistants. With our brief almost complete and our research paper set up to be written, Maura and I are extremely excited to come back to Penn State and show what we have done.
As for Gallaudet University, this beautiful, castle-looking campus has been a home. I have learned and heard about Gallaudet for years. Deaf students that I knew from high school have told me stories about this place and how they look up to the college students here immensely. There is so much history on this campus that reading about it in a textbook does not do it justice. Maura and I also got to visit so many places in D.C, yet we still have unchecked boxes on our “exploring to-do list” due to the size of this city.
A big thanks to Dr. Miller, Dr. Allen, Dr. Morere, and all of PIRE. Also, to my amazing research partner/roommate/travel buddy Maura, thank you-I could not have done this without you.
I am extremely thankful for this experience and I look forward to carrying it with me as I continue my education.
Congrats to everyone on your accomplishments and I cannot wait to hear more about it once the semester starts.
