Camp Epiphany

First of all, I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed going to boot camp for the McNair Scholars program. I had such a great time connecting with other scholars, especially those from other colleges and universities. There interests were amazing to me and I can't wait to connect with them again. I have to admit, though, that I did have a very big epiphany while I was at camp.

As I was sitting there in a room full of my fellow scholars, I listened to a presentation being given by one of the presenters at the camp. Throughout the entire presentation I was taking notes on what the speaker was discussing and in one instance a light bulb came on. At that specific moment, I discovered that I knew the answer to my research. As the presentation came to a close, I found myself very anxious to go get my research papers and write down the result I had discovered. Now this may have excited some people when I shared this information but the problem with just knowing the answer that I still need to prove it.

The reason why this was such an epiphany for me was not just the fact I figured out the answer. The true epiphany for me was that I realized that sometimes these wonderful thoughts and ideas that we have don't require much thought. Sometimes the best thoughts will just come to you without preparation or understanding.

This is information that I will take with me as I continue on this journey through the rest of the summer. I may spend hours and hours and hours on my research only to find that I already knew the answer. In the end, however, I may discover that knowing the answer is not good enough for me but appreciating the process, or lack thereof, will be all I need to be content.