EUNICE S KIM | PORTFOLIO
Self Assessment
This past year was undoubtedly one of the toughest and most thought-provoking time of my life. It was full of experiences that were both invigorating and frustrating, empowering and discouraging. It was my first time being completely immersed in courses and meeting people who encouraged me to challenge the very foundations of the world I live in. I experienced a turbulent “wobbling” as Dr. Hill calls it, as I tried my best to shed the preconceived notions on the nature of knowledge, instruction, and learning that I had brought with me from my background in health sciences.
Dr. Hill encouraged and supported me through the initial phase of my wobbling last fall in Foundations, and I am lucky to have Dr. Choi as my advisor, who was, and continues to be, incredibly patient with me, always encouraging me to embrace and enjoy the uncertainty. With their support, I have learned how to articulate my problem statement and research questions, explored different theories related to collaboration to build my research on, and participated in projects that have increased my understanding of the research process overall.
Overall, I am very satisfied with my progress and growth as a doctoral student and a thinker, and I will
continue to work on developing my identity and skills as a researcher so that I can think more deeply and comprehensively on the nature of the problems I encounter.
An expectation I have for myself going forward is that I continue to embrace the wobble as I build my scholarship and experience in research. I am thrilled with my progress in qualitative research methods since it is so different from the type of research I’m used to encountering in pharmacy. I would like to continue down the qualitative line to receive my certificate in the future. One area I do need to focus on improving is writing. I still find it difficult to organize my thoughts in a way that is logically sound and easily understandable to others. I expect the answer is to continue writing and practice active reading as I review the literature. I am currently trying out different methods of getting into a writing mode, be it setting aside a set time each day dedicated to writing or just working whenever inspiration strikes.