Madilyn Watson, a Film major and Spanish minor, reflects on the Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program and how working with the Language Resource Center (LRC) prepared her for college.
SURF is a program that funds student research collaborations at R1 universities. Students work on a project led by a research mentor. This allows students to gain insights on their field of interest, present their research at a symposium, and the opportunity to submit their research at a national conference.
Madilyn studied French and Spanish in high school and wanted to contribute to a project that aligned with her interest in culture. When she saw Japanese professor Dr. Aragorn Quinn’s project, she was interested in working with him because it gave her the opportunity to get a head start on her film studies and learn about Japanese culture.
Madilyn’s project focused on researching how to create engaging lecture videos for college students. For her research, Madilyn attended weekly research seminars and meetings with Dr. Quinn’s team. She learned software through studying, shadowing her mentor Kayla Perry, and transitioned into full end-to-end video editing, audio design, and animation in just four weeks.
At the symposium, visitors praised Madilyn for her interesting research topic and her contribution to creating the videos.
“Doing the SURF program and working with the LRC was the perfect way to start college.” Madilyn says. “I established a friend group with the SURF students and gained confidence in asking my professors questions after working with Dr. Quinn. Working at the LRC made me feel at home in the university. It has a good atmosphere, it feels like being part of a community, and it was nice to have access to a lot of software and technology.”
Congratulations and thank you to Madilyn for her incredible achievements in the SURF program, and welcome to the LRC!