Hi! My name is Brianna Yu (she/her), and I am an undergraduate student at Oregon State University (OSU). I am a civil engineering major in the OSU Honors College. This is a blog of my experiences participating in the 2022 Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and the Arts (URSA) Engage research program as a freshman.
URSA Engage is a 15-week research program for freshmen, sophomores, and transfer students to be connected with faculty mentors for funded research experiences. I applied to the URSA Engage program to explore research opportunities related to my passions and interests. My research mentor is Victor Villegas, and the research I am doing is about creative Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) outreach to underserved and underrepresented K-12 communities in Oregon. As a person of color who has lived experiences being a minority, being involved in this kind of research is very meaningful to me. I am passionate about the arts and engineering, so I look forward to making an impact through my involvement with URSA Engage.
I expect that participating in URSA Engage will allow me to grow both personally and professionally. Personally, I will be able to engage in my passions and interests while also doing something that will uplift others. In addition, this research experience will serve as a stepping stone for my Honors College thesis that I will complete during my senior year at OSU. Professionally, participating in URSA Engage will allow me to develop and practice skills in networking and professional development. This project will involve working with other people, which will allow me to develop my soft skills and learn how to work with a mentor on a project. Participating in URSA Engage is my first research experience. I look forward to learning a lot over the next few months!
