My name is Arba Cecia and I am a sophomore majoring in
Neuroscience. I started my research journey after I finished high school in
Albania. I am currently investigating the social perception of abortion in
Kosovo and Greece, and examining the factors that affect its perception;
acceptance or rejection.
I am very interested in learning more about the social perception
towards different things. My interest towards sociology began when I pursued a
male dominated martial art, Taekwondo, in Albania. I was often prejudiced by
the society for being the first woman in Albania to get the black belt in
Taekwondo. This is when I became interested in learning more about why the
society thinks in a particular way and what are the factors that cause that
perception.
When I finished high school, I collaborated with Dr. Ridvan
Alimehmeti, Dr. Altin Stafa, Dr. Aleksander Kocani, Dr. Dritan Todhe, Dr.
Armand Gurakuqi, and Dr. Ramadan Jashari, outstanding physicians in Albania,
Italy, and Belgium, to examine the social acceptance of abortion in Albania in
1998 and 2004. We gathered and analyzed data from two major questionnaires conducted
in 1998 and 2004. After the paper was published, I became extremely interested
in expanding this result outside the borders of Albania, in Kosovo and Greece. My
aim is to compare the social acceptance of abortion in Albania with the one in
Kosovo and Greece to understand the similarities and differences of the social
perception towards abortion between these countries in the Balkan’s peninsula.
On a weekly basis, I skype with the physicians I have
collaborated with and meet with my George Mason University mentor, Dr. Reid
Schwebach, to discuss and analyze the data. Besides, analyzing the data, I am
conducting research about the history and culture of Kosovo and Greece to
better understand the results obtained.
Besides the sociology research, I am conducting research to
find a correlation between deep brain stimulation and Alzheimer’s disease.
