Rachel grad link USF class of 2024 and REACH lab member since 2022
Like many others, the unmet needs of my community became the driving force behind my academic pursuits. Growing up with immigrant parents, it was evident to me the gap between the promise of opportunity in America and the realities of limited access to healthcare, particularly mental health services. I witnessed first-hand how these experiences halted dreams while being responsible for navigating the cultural and societal barriers that prevented my loved ones from receiving treatment. These intimate experiences led to my desire to address health disparities through a behavioral health career, amplifying the voices that are typically not heard. I joined the REACH Lab hoping for research experience and maybe a poster or two. I didn't realize then how profoundly this decision would shape my life, providing the foundation I needed to pursue my passion for creating real change.
If I could talk to myself from 3 years ago, first joining the lab and trying to break into academia, here are a few things I would say:
Don’t be afraid to use your voice—you earned your spot. Led by my culture and experiences to believe that my opinions were perpetually incorrect and unimportant, I initially did not feel like I had a space in academia. I always sat quietly in meetings, heart pounding, terrified to share my thoughts and questioning whether or not I actually had something valuable to say. However, I quickly came to realize that in the lab, my ideas were always solicited, emphasizing the importance of creating an academic family where students support and uplift each other in an environment plagued with imposter syndrome and isolation. I’ve had opportunities to be involved in the paper-writing process, and this means that I have also had many chances to share my ideas. In this process, I’ve seen my ideas turn into a tangible product—even a paper I got to lead, and in that, I saw that my ideas and thoughts had a place here and that they don’t need to be perfect to be valuable. That is the beauty of research. Of course, this is still something that I am and always will be constantly working on, but I am more confident now in contributing thoughts regardless of how inexperienced I feel.
The experience really is what you make of it. Take initiative to get what you want out of this experience. Say yes to as many opportunities as you can. Do things even if they feel a little big and scary. As someone who joined the lab without any experience other than some data coding, many of the things I took on felt intimidating: my first time making and presenting a poster, my first time leading a paper, and even up to my last month as an RA when I presented my first oral research presentation. To put into context how scary these things were for me: I completely black out when I have to speak in front of people. While I didn’t know how to do these things initially, this is what I wanted to get out of my lab experience. I wanted to learn all the things I didn’t know and push myself to grow by doing new things. Once I started saying yes, the doors opened for me. I was learning how to do things quickly by being involved in them, and this led to more opportunities to be on posters, papers, developing projects, etc. It even extended past research, and I got to work on creating pre-mental health career advising resources! So yes, things can feel really big and scary, AND you can take them on and do them well.
Don’t solely focus on the research aspect of the lab. Some of my most valuable gains were the relationships that I was able to create. It can be intimidating to enter a space where you don’t know anyone and maybe even feel like you don’t belong. Know that everyone is there to help you. Sometimes, I think it’s so easy to get caught up in your work and your busy schedule, but it’s equally as important to invest time and energy into building your connections because these connections will take you far. I went in not really knowing anyone in the lab. Now, I have people who, despite being in different states and different schools, I can text, whether it’s to complain, check-in, or even just talk about random things. I have people who I can go to and nerd out about research projects. I have people to meet up with when we all end up back in town during the breaks. I have amazing mentorship that I wouldn’t have gotten into graduate school without. Investing time into your relationships is just as important as the research.
Being a part of the REACH team has led me to where I am today. I’m writing this from my office in Dallas, in the latter half of my first year in a Clinical Psych PhD program, and as I do, I can’t help but feel so grateful. Three years ago–even one year ago, I would have never guessed that I would be in this position. I didn’t know about PhD programs or research in the beginning; I was simply trying to get my foot in the door. I had no idea that joining the lab would be the start of something that completely shaped my life. Without the mentorship that I have received, without the trust that the research team had in me to work with them, I definitely would not be in this position. Now, as I navigate the challenges of my first year in my PhD program as the new person in the lab (again), I often think back to the lessons I learned in the REACH Lab. The confidence I gained from presenting my research, the collaborative values I developed working with the team, and the importance of mentorship—these are all things that continue to guide me.
Now that I have graduated from USF and started my next endeavor, I have been able to do a lot of reflection on my undergrad career and the things that I was able to do and experience. One thing remains constant: working with the REACH team was and will always be one of my top highlights. I feel incredibly lucky to have had people take a chance on me when I did not have much experience and was just someone trying to break into the research world. Not only did I build relationships that I will hold on to and gain practical experience, but I learned some valuable lessons that are applicable to every area of my life. I could go on forever about the things that I learned. For me, being part of the lab wasn’t only about getting research experience; it was also about building my identity and confidence as an academic. It was hard for me to grasp in the beginning, but I have come to truly believe that—for myself and anyone else reading—if you put yourself out there and take that initial risk, there will always be people out there who will take that chance on you.
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