My Final Session With the RRRH Internship

Over the course of the past semester, our research team has seen many successes. In October alone, (1) I presented our interview findings via a virtual poster presentation at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting (for which we also won the Public Health Education and Health Promotion Student Award!), (2) we gave our first presentation on all of our cumulative findings to the Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health interns meeting, and (3) we had our first manuscript published in the American Journal of Health Promotion! As my final session with the Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health internship approaches, I have been reflecting on the opportunities I have had to grow through this position as well as the goals I want to accomplish before I leave. The theme of this past semester has been building confidence. Due to presenting our findings to multiple audiences throughout the past year—from students at Conceiving Equity to public health professionals at national conferences—I have gained more confidence in my ability to summarize our findings in a coherent manner. I have also gained confidence in my ability to conduct an entire research project, from its conception to data collection to analysis to manuscript writing. I am eager to use this knowledge and this confidence to conduct my own research for my upcoming honors thesis. Looking forward to using this break to catch up on reading Sexual Citizens, plan for our other manuscripts that are in progress, and begin interviewing participants for my honors thesis!

Sincerely,

Sydney Sheffield