Norris lab: Fatima Mohammed

Working together with my research group helped me realize that it’s ok to not completely understand the work that we do and that we are there to learn together and help where we can. Teamwork can allow us to pool our resources and accommodate each other’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Some of my research group members are friends I’ve known for three years now,  and others are friends I just got to know last semester. I’ve grown in my experiences as an undergraduate student, and I am able to relate to members who did research with me and help those who are new to the scene, and assure them when they need it. Research involves a lot of trust in your fellow members; I know that if I ever need help with research work or schoolwork in general, I can count on my members to help me. 

Spending time appreciating their work and asking them questions about what they’re doing. We all work on a different topic in our lab group, including dissecting, assorting specimens, or just reading up on the material. It’s very interesting to see how their work relates to my own and how we can connect on certain ideas involving research. 

Beyond just research, we spend time together in the Perry Webb and work on homework. We also help each other out while studying for exams and occasionally go out to eat together, too!

I’m very good friends with a past student of the lab group, Shivani Bhatt. Her work and thesis have been the biggest inspiration for me to write my own thesis, and I make sure to keep her updated on my progress or ask her any questions that I have!