1. It was sheer luck that got me into math research. A professor just happened to be looking for a freshman to add to his research team, and I just happened to be a freshman who had taken the right prerequisites. Perfect; match made—let’s learn some linear algebra.
What’s unusual here is that I went in fairly blind, knowing not much more about matrices than could be learned in an introductory-level course. What’s strange and kind of wonderful is that I turned out to like what I wound up doing a whole lot more than I’d ever expected to. My research experiences over my freshman year were enough to change me from a possible math minor to a definite math major a give a whole new direction to my studies. I even applied for a scholarship from the Charles Center just so I could hang out on campus during the summer and do more of the same stuff. So, there you go. Sometimes things just work out.
2. It was being obnoxious that got me into biology research. I’d been interested in evolutionary biology before taking BIO 204, but it was the course itself that really sparked my imagination. When not taking notes or doodling, I’d sometimes jot down questions that were only peripherally related to the subject matter during class and harass my professor about them later, either by e-mail or by stopping by his office.
I bothered him pretty frequently, and with questions that generally came pretty far out of left field (“What exactly is the aquatic ape hypothesis?” “Do we know anything about the evolution of aesthetics?” “What is the deal with punctuated equilibrium? Seriously?”). Fortunately, he never viewed the questions as the imposition I assumed they were and was always more than willing to answer or explain anything I brought before him. In repeatedly coming to him with inquiries, in fact, I was able to both 1) demonstrate an interest in field outside of the curriculum and 2) get him to learn my name (Downside: He could call me out in front of everyone when I fell asleep in class). With these two key elements in place, I felt comfortable asking to join his research lab during my second semester. Moral of the story: Being a big pain can sometimes pay off.
3. There’s no limit to the number of ways you can get involved in undergraduate research at the College; however, almost every professor I’ve spoken to has offered the same general advice on getting started. Look online at what the faculty of your department are working on, find something you might be interested in, read some of their articles, and use what you’ve read to demonstrate interest when asking to work with them. You don’t have to be absolutely certain that you want to continue in that specialty—even if you wind up not enjoying the material as much as you thought you would, you’ve still learned something for the future—and who knows? Undergraduate research is a process of discovery, both of subject and of self. With a little luck, you might find yourself drawn in by something new, fantastic, and wholly unforeseen.