From: Tiffany Dyan Kuniko Monroy 

I wish I could say that I have always been a member of the research team,
because it sure feels that way.  Truth be told, though, I've been on it for 4
semesters.  During these semesters, I think my involvement in the team
has progressed.  At first I was just learning how to code, then went on to
interviews and organizational responsibilities...then the culmination of my
experience was doing my UROP and presenting at Midwest.  Initially,
during my very first semester, I was in awe with the material we had.  I
was amazed that we had this archive of thousands of articles directly from
the 60s, which emerged during the riots....not to mention the transcribed
interviews and the tapes and reels of the actual dialogues.  So my first
semester, I was somewhat honored to be entrusted with working with
these valuable resources.  It's like someone trusted me with their
antiques.  It may sound corny but it's true.

I think one of the most valuable experiences that I took away from the
team was regarding my UROP.  First, I had learn to be part of a team and
deal with other people...I had to deal with one member dropping out from the
UROP...then I had to figure out how to work with a research partner and somehow
work through our differences.  Even figuring out the topic of the UROP was
a learning experience.  At first, I was going to do a paper on the
TEAMSTERS Union or something like that, but realized that I had no
passion or interest in researching the topic.  Finally, I found a topic that
really got me interested, and made me feel that the research I was doing
was worthwhile.

When I was in high school, I thought that I'd come out of college being so
much more book-smart.  I thought that I'd be able to spout out information
on so many different topics.  The truth is that I barely remember some of
the classes that I've taken, let alone the information that I was supposed
to learn from it.  I feel that I've learned so much more from my UROP
research than from any other class that I've taken at Notre Dame.  When
you're doing the research, you're not memorizing a bunch of terms or
facts...rather, you're required to synthesize information and draw
conclusions and put it all together...and this is how the information is
committed to long-term, rather than short-term memory. By the time I
graduate, my UROP will be the most valuable piece of research that I have
ever done at Notre Dame...and the really funny thing is that, technically, it
wasn't for any academic credit.  Probably the most satisfying part of doing
the UROP is that you're not really doing it for a grade...it's all about
personal satisfaction.  For me, I took that extra effort and was more
motivated because my name was on this paper and I would be
presenting it at a conference to established people within the field...and
this pushes you to work hard and to do a good job.