“I really applied to UROP on a whim,” Ian Haas tells me, “I actually submitted the application on the last day it was due, and I didn’t really expect anything from it, but it ended up it has ended up being one of the most engaging activities I have been a part of at FSU.” This has not been the only new thing for Ian this year. He made a big move from Lawrence, Kansas to Tallahassee, Florida and started college as an English and Political Science major just to name a few things. In addition to being in UROP, Ian is also part of the honors program. Still, he takes it all in stride, happy to be exploring new experiences on and off campus. His favorite part of UROP is being able to get hands-on research experience.
Ians research is also something that pushes him out of his usual comfort zone. Though still relating a bit to his English degree, he chose to work for a project in the psychology lab entitled “Is one’s ability to be flexible with word pronunciations purely sound-based?” This project deals with how people say words, or speech pathology, and why. Most of Ian’s work happens in the lab, analysing how subjects say particular words. Being in this kind of research and also going to the presidential showcase changed his opinion on the definition of “research” and opened up the possibilities of research that he could conduct himself, outside of the commonly associated STEM research. Even though he is working in a lab, Ian says he is working on a project he never could have imagined before he came to UROP.
Stepping outside of his comfort zone has really paid off for Ian. He’s very excited to be able to prenet his own research at the symposium. Additionally, Ian plans to either “do UROP a second time and/or stay with the lab I am currently working with and continue research in other areas in that field during the next few years. In the future, I also hope to apply to the IDEA grant and potentially conduct my own research.”
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