(no subject)
As I have undoubtedly mentioned, I am a research assistant in a psychology lab. We are preparing recruitment for a new study on quality of life in young patients with testicular cancer. It's interesting really, I hope some of the results are determined before I graduate. Anyway, my task today was to address over a thousand envelopes to potential participants all across the state. It was a menial task that required little to no brain power, but calmed me down unbelievably in the monotony of it all. The next time you're reading a magazine that cites some rather interesting piece of information such as "Studies have shows people are happier in the springtime", keep in mind that a ridiculous amount of work and preliminary research happened before that claim could EVER be made. I love research, I LOVE it. I love the idea of answering questions that have never been asked before. And I've realized that as much as I love learning about biology, I am far more interested in psychological research. I'm more interested in how humans respond to things, not on a cellular level, but on an intellectual, emotional, or moral level. It's fascinating. I am very moved by humans as individuals. I was talking to my brother recently about why our literary tastes are so different, and we broke it down to this: he is interested in humans collectively, how they respond in social situations in general, how society affects us, how we affect society etc. I am interested in focusing on people not so collectively, but more personally. My favorite type of book or movie is one that could be the story of any random person pulled off the street. To bring this back to the original subject....obviously research nearly always has to deal with a large sample size, but the implications and findings it yields can frequently be used in clinical settings, and to pioneer a better treatment and better life for people. I feel like my genuine love and interest in people, in psychology, in being so utterly fascinated by research in general is going to be a big factor in my recovery. I mean, I didn't get out of bed for a week, but for the past two days I've gone into the lab because I actually care about it. NOTHING else got me out of bed. Nothing.