- Big obstacle that I sort of didn't realize that I was facing, but I definitely did face when I realized it, was realizing that social science is research, so of course I knew in being a part of the lab I was doing research and I was really interested in my research, I loved my research and giving service to participants and data analysis, and I loved it a lot. However, in talking with my other friends about their labs and so they were doing the pipetting, and the more of biological stuff and with hearing what they have to do and how-- So, one of my friends, she was working with animals and she came in in the weekend, she spent so much time there, and I found myself in the Gutchess lab, spending eight hours or like I spread it out and there was much more leeway, I didn't feel like I had to commit as much as my friend that came over the weekends. So then I really had a self-reflection, and then I asked, I was like, am I giving enough? Am I--is what I'm doing actual research? Am I really challenging myself? Should I put more time in, because I thought time quantified to how much you really wanted to be in the research, and how much you were giving it, and how much you were learning. But so definitely I had to sit myself down and talk to myself, and also I talked to other people in social sciences, and really analyze what is research, why am I doing this, what am I gaining? And I am gaining, well, things can't be quantified, but I feel like I'm gaining enough research understanding about myself, the field, et cetera. And so definitely understanding that social science research is actual research, and it is valid, and you can do amazing things in the field, you can learn outstanding things that you would only really learn in the field or in studying social sciences, because definitely it's hard to have a fully... biology, chemistry, that mindset and that experience. And then think of it in a culture setting or a wider setting, because every culture is different, they have different influences on science in general, on medicine, et cetera, in general. And so definitely in personally in focusing on different topics outside of the sciences, took away the, the solely academic view I had on things, and also at face was understanding that social science research was actual research.

- So because I was doing an oral history research, the interviews and interactions with interviewees are very important. But one of my interviewees who's 84 years old at the time, was in hospital, so this really surprised me because he's always like in a good shape, but I need to find another interviewee. But the thing that he is admitted to the hospital, really made me feel lost, just made me questioning, what if another interviewee refused me, and then another interviewee refused me, or what if I cannot get enough interviewee for my whole research. So I kind of questioned myself for a bit, but I pulled myself together and then I started to call different organizations and then I found more interviewees. Because my research is very much about the interactions with people, but you don't know how things is gonna change with it. So I guess just embrace the changes and make adjustments as early as possible, the other obstacle that really surprise me is actually about culture because I've been living in the US for two years at Brandeis, and my speaking habits, my speaking in any language habits are influenced by Western culture, I think is logical based and more straightforward, but most of my interviewees, they are elders, and they have been living in China for their whole lives, they have a kind of a traditional Eastern way of speaking, of talking, even though I told them last that this is an interview, that I might ask some personal questions about their experience, they still might feel offensive about the questions I ask. So this has really surprised me, and this really confused me a bit because I think I'm Chinese, but right now I don't feel like one because I have difficulty talking with them, I feel difficulty understanding them, so this is kind of reverse culture shock for me. I actually also questioned myself more about my identity, what kind of identity am I, am I a pure Chinese Or am I Asian American, what am I? I think right now is still a kind of the question for me that this kind of intersectionality of different cultures, how this could affect people, but I also think I'm gonna embrace it, because enjoying two cultures is also a great thing, yeah.