The 2nd time I learned to read

I don't care to read journal articles. Whenever assigned to do so by a supervisor or professor, I usually put it off until the last minute, or read the abstract and nothing else. When I read articles, I read the text, because it's impossible to understand the figures. Of course, it's just as difficult to understand the text, but at least they're familiar letters and sounds. Reading one page with two columns can easily take me fifteen minutes, and even then, I still won't understand anything.

I felt that way about the paper the first time I read it. And the second. And the third. By the time I got to the fourth or fifth time, I began to feel more comfortable. I understood what the authors intended to say. I realized the meaning of the figures. I was even able to criticize their work. To get there, it took a LOT of googling. It also took quite a bit of note taking. However, when it was all said and done, I believe I was able to coherently present.

The most challenging thing was crafting the story. My paper had over 30 figures, and the results weren't what they expected to find. In telling their story, they included the path they had started down initially, intending to find one thing. However, I chose to present about what they actually found. As a result, I had to spend a lot of time thinking. I spent maybe 3 hours thinking about what background was necessary and would best start my presentation. Thank goodness I started over spring break!

I enjoy presenting. I find it satisfying to deliver a presentation well. I wish I had more time to prepare, because I know I could have done better. I am not happy with my skill at answering questions, and I blanked on my intro when I first started talking, causing me to allocate more time than I wanted to to the introduction. However, I think that overall, my skills greatly increased throughout this project, especially pertaining to reading journal articles.