Washington Research Foundation Fellowship and Mary Gates Research Scholarship
During the fall quarter, my lab mentor, Dr. Birman, suggested that I apply for the Mary Gates Research Scholarship. I eagerly applied, but unfortunately, I was not selected as a recipient. Though it was disappointing, I was determined to try again. I sought feedback from the scholarship committee and visited several writing centers to gather advice on improving my application. I dedicated myself to improving my application and waited for the Winter application cycle to arrive. After my second application, I was granted the scholarship!
This experience exemplified my learning-by-doing philosophy in an unexpected way—I was learning not just through conducting research, but through the process of securing funding for it. What began as a single application evolved into a four-attempt journey that taught me invaluable lessons about the competitive nature of research funding and the persistence required in academic pursuits. Each rejection became a practical learning opportunity, forcing me to refine my writing, articulate my research vision more clearly, and understand what reviewers sought in successful proposals.
This iterative process of application, feedback, and revision mirrors the same experimental approach I bring to my research projects. Just as I iterate on algorithms in computer graphics or refine techniques in my neuroscience work, I learned to treat grant writing as another skill requiring active practice and continuous improvement. The rounds of iteration I went through with the Mary Gates application became the foundation for my next funding success—the Washington Research Foundation scholarship, which I secured to fund my research from Autumn 2024 to Spring 2025. The WRF application process demonstrated how my earlier struggles had transformed into genuine competency; I could now write compelling, well-scoped grant proposals that effectively communicated research value and feasibility.
This progression from repeated rejection to successful funding acquisition provided me with extensive hands-on practice in proposal writing—a critical skill for my future career in industry research where securing project funding and communicating research value will be essential. The experience validated my belief that meaningful learning happens through sustained engagement with challenging, real-world applications rather than theoretical study alone.