Wishful Thinking about Past Research

This year, I started with next to no prior experience in the field of research. I have made incredible progress in learning how to perform research, but now I can't help but wonder what I could've done better or different. It took me a while to understand how and when to use a lab notebook, which caused me immense delays. I had problems with time management, because I hadn't figured out how much effort I had to put in to various tasks. Probably the worst of all, I didn't know how to talk to experienced researchers. If I had known how to talk to a professional researcher, I could have shaved months off my project, but I was too nervous to initiate conversation. All these things would have made my life easier and my research better, but I guess I will just have to keep moving forward. After all, the stress of research were what made my progress so rapid.

The Science Fair Scramble

Well, it has been a while since I made a post, but I have been productive in science fairs. In a regional science fair, I ended up receiving 3 first place awards, so I felt rather confident as to my future success. It was too soon, however, as the next fair ended with not even an honorable mention. From the successes and failures of my science fair experiences, I have learned how to perform my research much better. Ever since my first science fair this year, I gained criticism after criticism, but they always just gave me a place to expand. I added on more stages to my research after I was told that I should keep progressing, but I also added more statistics when I was told that my data was insufficient. All the failure has spawned success, so I can't feel too bad about the science fairs no matter what I had.