Charlie Shang is a Cognitive Science student on the language track whose research journey first began in their second year at U of M. At the time, applying to lab positions felt quite daunting, especially since they didn’t have much prior experience. “I spent a lot of time reading linguistics papers and digging through lab websites to learn more about my research focus,” Charlie said. “It was confusing sometimes, but ultimately quite valuable in helping me understand what kinds of research I wanted to be involved in.”
The next step was to reach out to professors, which, for Charlie, meant cold emailing and hoping for the best. Eventually, they did receive good news and, after a successful interview process, Charlie officially joined Dr. Ioulia Kovelman’s Language and Literacy Lab as a research assistant.Looking back, Charlie believes that the first few weeks at the lab were definitely the most challenging, as they involved learning and developing both technical and interpersonal skills. “Initially, it felt a little overwhelming to keep track of all the details and new information,” Charlie said. “But, it was helpful to remember that no one was born knowing how to do everything. The process of improving involves practice and patience.”
Charlie is incredibly grateful for the time they’ve spent working at the LangLit Lab, saying that, “without this opportunity, I wouldn’t have had the chance to gain hands-on experience with neuroimaging techniques such as fNIRs. It’s one thing to read about experimental procedures in a textbook. It’s a whole different story to be directly involved in collecting data.” Additionally, their work at the LangLit Lab helped Charlie better understand their own research goals. “I started out with some surface-level curiosity towards many different topics in linguistics,” Charlie said. “Actually doing research in one area helped me gauge my interest and figure out if this is something I want to keep investigating in the future.”
Getting involved in research can be intimidating, especially when navigating a new and unfamiliar field. This was precisely how Charlie felt when they first started. “My biggest piece of advice is to not underestimate yourself,” they said. “Professors are not expecting you to know everything going in. It is much more important to demonstrate your interest and show your eagerness to learn.” Charlie encourages anyone interested in research to give it a shot and wants them to know that “it is never too late to start.”
