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Before September, research to me meant sitting in a crowded university library and searching on Google Scholar, desperate to find journals to cite in my essays. Research was a regurgitation of other people’s, already heavily leant upon, ideas and thoughts that were written well before I was even born. It felt a bit uninspiring, repetitive, and honestly one of the duller aspects of essay writing.
Now, I have a very different opinion. I know now that that was desk research, just a scratch on the surface of what research really is.
The past six months have shown me how dynamic and fast-paced research truly is. It’s no longer just sifting through endless academic papers. Research is speaking to real people, each with unique, personal, and insightful perspectives. Research is working with a variety of interesting clients and tackling new challenges with every project. It’s being a part of the entire journey and seeing meaningful change as a result of your work.
It is far from the mind-numbing traipsing through 100s of dull journals that I once thought it was. It turns out, research is anything but monotonous. It’s alive, evolving, and actually quite exciting.
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