"From December through May, I served as a Student Research Assistant with the Center for Violence Prevention, supporting two studies within the Violence and Aggression Prevention program: the Bullying Classroom Check Up (BCCU) project and the Preventing Aggression in Schools Everyday (PRAISE) project. Working under the academic mentorship of Tracy Waasdorp, PhD, and project mentorship of Brittany Chamberlain, MSW, MPH, I was able to engage directly with the day-to-day realities of school-based behavioral health research, an experience that shaped how I think about both data collection and the people behind the data.

Much of my time was spent in classrooms conducting structured behavioral observations, where precision and consistency mattered just as much as attentiveness. I also administered surveys to student participants, which required balancing accuracy with sensitivity given the age and context of the population. These responsibilities pushed me to develop a working knowledge of IRB compliance and research ethics, not as abstract rules but as practical safeguards I saw applied in real time. All things that I have been able to apply in my current position at Epista Life Science. Alongside project directors, Drs. Waasdorp and Paskewich, intervention coaches and research staff, I came to appreciate how much coordination goes into running a multi-site study while still keeping the focus on individual students and classrooms.

Looking back, this experience sharpened my appreciation for prevention-focused work, particularly the idea that early, well-designed intervention can change a student's trajectory long before problems escalate. It also gave me practical skills in observational methods and participant engagement that I've carried into my professional work since. I'm grateful to the Center for Violence Prevention bullying prevention team for trusting me with this responsibility and for the mentorship that made the experience as educational as it was meaningful."