Clarice Harijanto
About Me
Talaria has definitely changed my impression of research. A topic that once felt foreign and out of reach for me to pursue now became one of the things that I personally think is one of the most interesting things you can do in the STEM field! Turns out, research is more than just exploring a topic. It takes a lot of discipline to consistently read past resources! Creativity also comes into play when searching for our topic, understanding the implications of our research, and finding correlations between resources to come up with a well thought-out conclusion. There's definitely a lot more communication that has to be done in research than I previously thought, since writing a paper and presenting our research itself is all about communication. We need to make sure the language we use can also be understood by non-experts and experts in our field of research depending on the occasion.
Research Experience
I was very nervous the first two weeks of the program. And to be honest, I felt lost and unsure about my research area. It was something that was completely new to me, and I haven't really heard much about it either, other than a brief (and very basic) explanation of the topic when I was in my elementary school's science class. I attribute my change in feelings towards my research topic / project largely to my mentor who has guided me and answered all of my questions along the way. I can now confidently say that I'm very comfortable in researching things I do not know and learning new skills independently! Having a mentor who was very encouraging and supportive really helped me throughout this program. Participating in Talaria made me more confident in pursuing STEM and maybe even pursue research too in the future! It made me more interested in geoscience, a field that I never knew existed before this program.
Mentorship Experience
Me and my mentor meet about 1 to 2 times a week. During the meetings, we usually discuss about the things I need to do next to make progress in the research, clear up things that I still don't quite understand, learn new skills (i.e. SAR processing, using Google Earth Pro), and talk about things that happen to come up, like the university admission process, life in research/academia, and time management tips.
Favorite Part of Talaria
My favorite part about participating in Talaria is definitely spending time with my mentor. Whether it is receiving guidance on the research topic, her teaching me new software/computer programs, receiving tips for public speaking and academic writing, or even just chatting about education and life in general. Having Eimile McSorley as my mentor definitely inspired me to continue to pursue my dreams in STEM and education/academic field, and become a more responsible and responsive person overall.
Who I Recommend Talaria For
Someone who is curious, self-motivated, communicative, enjoys writing and learning new topics.
Advice for Future Applicants
If you're hesitating in applying, just apply! At first, I was also hesitant in applying to Talaria. I didn't even have the courage to submit my application until the last minute until deadline. Apart from that, I was also sure I wouldn't get in at that time, and the fear of getting rejected really held me back for quite some time. If you're hesitating because of the same reason or you feel this program is outside of your comfort zone, you need to apply. Why? Because that means you'll get the chance to learn so much and grow as a person. You might also be really surprised of what you can achieve in just the span of a month!
