I had
been introduced to Student as Scholars in one of my previous classes and was
currently taking nutrition throughout the lifestyle with Professor Camella
Rising. Nutrition has always been something I have been passionate about and
Professor Rising’s class expanded my knowledge even further regarding how
important nutrition is. Something that has interested me in the past as well is
the current topic on calorie labeling on food and beverage items on menus. I
would always think to myself if people actually took these labels into
consideration when ordering off a menu. I then did some research of my own
regarding this topic and hundreds of studies came up. Student as Scholars
allows you to come up with your very own research project with a mentor who you
believe has the right qualities to fit this position. I noticed there was a knowledge
gap regarding this topic, which persuaded me to come up with a research question
about nutritional labeling. Self-esteem and self-control have been two factors
that came to mind when I thought about this gap. I wanted to somehow relate
these two factors to the choices people make when given the nutritional
information. Student as Scholars and Professor Rising allowed me to pursue this
question through research tools and guidance.
I can see
this being related to my long-term goals because being healthy and promoting a healthy
lifestyle has always been a goal of mine. By conducting research regarding this
topic it will show not only me but the community as well, how self-esteem and
self-control may or may not play a factor in food and beverage choices.
On a
weekly basis I either meet up with my mentor or discuss over the phone the
tasks and next steps needed according to our project timeline we created. I
then work on these tasks whether that is the survey, collection of data or etc.
One thing I discovered this week is how user-friendly Qualtrics
survey is. Creating a survey from scratch is something new to me however the
online Qualtrics system and the help of Camella and my other mentor Nadine
allowed for a smooth and successful completion.
