I finally did it. I walked into office hours. I was sweating. My voice cracked. I said: “I read your paper about adolescent anxiety and the school-based interventions. I was wondering how you measured the outcomes. I'm interested in research and I'd love to learn more.”
She didn't laugh. She didn't say I was too young. She pulled up her data on the screen and walked me through it. She asked what I was learning in my stats class. She said: “I have a project starting next semester. You could help with data entry at first. Then maybe more.”
I learned three things:
She didn't laugh. She didn't say I was too young. She pulled up her data on the screen and walked me through it. She asked what I was learning in my stats class. She said: “I have a project starting next semester. You could help with data entry at first. Then maybe more.”
I learned three things:
- Read the paper. Not just the abstract. The methods. The discussion. Find a question. Ask it.
- Go in person. Emails get ignored. Office hours are for talking.
- Be honest about what you don't know. I told her I hadn't taken advanced stats yet. She said: “Good. You'll learn.”