1 August, 2003
Dalia Palchik
Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts
To the National Science Foundation:
I was entering my sophomore year at Tufts, after a highly successful freshmen
year both academically and emotionally. I had high hopes for my next three
years, but under my major there still read the word “undecided.”
That is when I sat in on a lecture class titled “Introduction to Sociocultural
Anthropology.” I hadn’t pre-registered for the course because it
was a large lecture, and I have always preferred to avoid them when possible.
By the end of the first class, however, I not only knew that I wanted to beg
the professor to allow me to register, but I also knew that I had to major
in Anthropology. Anthropology was my calling. Never before had I seen myself
becoming a research scientist.
As soon as I had declared my major, I began searching for summer internships
and “study abroad” programs in Anthropology. That is when I found
the National Museum of Natural History’s Research Training Program. I
would not only get to perform my own research, but also get an insight into
the life of a museum curator. What I did not know when coming into the program
was that I would not only get to work with the Smithsonian’s Folklife
Festival (which I had been hoping to do for some time), but that I would also
be inspired by the possibility to do my own work after a Spring semester of
rather disappointing courses.
Simply put, I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that you have given me in providing me with the opportunity to participate in this superb program. There is definitely no better way to experience a profession other than first-hand. I have gone through the breakthroughs as well as the frustrations of fieldwork and of first-hand research. I could not have asked for a better summer, and I even learned much more than I thought I could about other natural sciences. My personal favorite moment in the academic portion of the program had to be listening to Dr. Dennis Stanford’s lecture on his breakthrough research in Physical Anthropology and seeing his collection of stone tools.
Thank you again and I hope that I will be able to continue working with your extraordinary institution.
Sincerely,
Dalia Palchik
Research Training Program, 2003
|
Research
Abstract
|