Hi everyone! My name is Monal Mehta. I am a second-year graduate student in the Neuroscience department, working under Dr. James Millonig. Outside of the one year I spent in Pennsylvania, I’ve been living in New Jersey for the past 24 years! My initial interest in the brain started when I was young. I was fascinated that humans all had the same organ – a brain – but everyone was so different, from their thoughts, experiences and memories, to their likes and dislikes. From then on I had a deep desire to learn more about how the brain works and wished to gain insight on how a single organ makes you who you are.
Before coming to Rutgers University, I did my undergraduate work at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey studying neuroscience. At Drew, I got involved in Alzheimer’s research, studying the insulin deficiency that is often seen with the disease. Because my liberal arts undergraduate institution was very small (no graduate students or post docs), I was able to gain immense amount of hands on experience. I started off shadowing one of the lab seniors and quickly picked up on how to dissect embryos from pregnant rats, plate primary cortical neuronal cultures, and learned different cell viability testing assays. I fell in love with bench work. I enjoyed mastering new techniques, caring for my cells, and thinking of new ways to combat neuronal death in the presence of insulin deficiency. By the time I got closer to finishing my degree, I knew I wanted to continue doing research and go to graduate school. I applied to a few graduate schools, as well as some lab technician positions.
This is where my story differs from most. I had been accepted to a couple of graduate schools as well as a lab tech position in an HIV/AIDS research lab. The lab tech position required a two-year commitment and was in a field outside of my interests. I thought “no way… I can’t commit two years before starting graduate school.” I was under the mindset that I had to immediately start graduate school and that a two-year gap would be bad. However, although I currently love the research and the lab I am working in, I regret not taking time off between undergraduate and graduate school. Almost everyone I have spoken to in my program took time off to be a technician, lab manager, or continued research to make themselves more competitive for graduate school admissions. Speaking to people around me I felt like I had much less experience than they did; they knew exactly what research topics they wanted to pursue, had project ideas in mind, had thought about grants to apply to, and already had an idea about a career path. It felt like I had jumped the gun coming to Rutgers. In hindsight, I would have really appreciated time off from school to gain real life experiences, think about what I really want to do in life, and possibly learn more research techniques to help me feel more prepared.
If I could re-do my decision, I would have taken the lab technician position prior to attending graduate school. In a few weeks, I will be participating in a panel where undergraduates can ask questions to individuals in graduate school. I think my biggest piece of advice, after going through this entire process, is to not be afraid of taking time off, whether for personal reasons, traveling, continuing research . Looking back, I wish someone had told me that I do not need to rush into graduate school, and that taking a short gap can actually be a positive life experience.