Is it difficult to balance academics and lab work?
Actually not, because I see it as a class. For MARC, I m required to register for 3 credits for research. 1 credit is equivalent to 3 hours per week. So I am required to be in the lab for at least 9 hours a week. So when I do my scheduling before each semester, I put in the time for research right into the schedule. I study on weekends and I try to set time slots for research every week. This past semester, I had mornings from Monday to Friday for doing research; all my classes were in the afternoon. Doing research is just part of the schedule. Still I don’t have have much time to do other activities. Weekdays, it’s classes and research. Weekends, it’s homework and study. Music composition, for example, is something I can only do now when I walk to classes. I compose music in my head. I don’t have time to write it down or edit. If you were talking to other students, what advice would you give regarding research? You just need to take the initiative to start doing something—to approach
