Research in Dr. Li's lab has affected my future in many ways. There are the 
         obvious things like allowing me to attend school full time by guaranteeing me a 
         full time job in the summer, writing letters of recommendation that helped me 
         to get accpted to a nationally ranked graduate school. But there were several 
         rewards to this experience that I did not expect. First of all, when I started in 
         Dr. Li's lab I was not sure that I wanted to go on to study chemistry at the 
         graduate level. I discovered, through research, that I had talents that would 
         not be used if I continued working as a lab technician. When doing research a 
         large breadth of knowledge is useful because interdisciplinary approaches to 
         problems often yield results not available to conventional approaches. My 
         interest in science in general would have been wasted as a lab technician. 
         Research allows me to utilize my curiosity. 
         Another aspect of research that I was not privy to was that half of the work is 
         put into collecting and presenting data. Work with Dr. Li has allowed me to 
         attend National Conventions and observe how information is presented by the 
         people who are generating the information. I believe that by observing others 
         present their research, I have learned to present information. I put this 
         knowledge to use on several occasions: 1994 Middle Atlantic Regional 
         Meeting of the ACS, 1995 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the ACS, 
         1995 New Jersey Academy of Sciences Meeting and at Rutgers's own 1995 
         Undergraduate Research Symposium. Through these poster sessions and 
         seminars my public speaking ability has increased dramatically with my 
         confidence. 
         So I guess the last 18 months that I have spent in Dr. Li's lab have really just 
         prepared me to be an active member of the scientific community. Not only 
         have I learned a new technique in solid state synthesis, but I have also learned 
         the tools that I will need when I further my education in gruaduate school.