Cultivating New Forms of Undergraduate Research Engagement

This year, we have had new opportunity to discover ways we can engage with honors undergraduates pursuing mentored research training as part of their programs of study.  Valeria fulfilled a mentored research internship. Dianna co-mentored Valeria to contribute to an active NIH-funded study of YC-PEM implementation in our home state, a commitment that was maintained in addition to fulfilling their honors capstone project requirement in their major and a full courseload. Call it a 'tall order' if you will. A psychology major and member of L@s Ganas, Valeria brought assets to our team and quickly demonstrated a propensity for engaging with latent concepts, willingness to hunker down to ensure that our data were being rigorously analyzed, and courageously reflect on and think through how to apply some of our preliminary results to optimize parameters for data collection, were energizing.

As Valeria transitions, we are grateful for the ways in which Valeria has grown and also cultivated our team's growth in cultivating mentor mindsets within our research ensemble. This experience exemplifies the type of positive impact that mentored training in research spaces can have for advancing one's chosen career trajectory in occupational therapy, as Dianna led us to evaluate and reflect on as part of her published doctoral capstone project.

We are thrilled about the diversified ways in which she thinks about her continued engagement with mentored research as an aspiring pediatric occupational therapist, and we look forward to celebrating her progression to graduation in the new year ... and beyond!