Interview with Ashwak Hauter, Haas and McNair Scholar:

Tell us about the McNair Scholars Program. What is the program about, who is eligible to apply?

The program prepares first-generation and underrepresented students for graduate school. One major component of the program supports the scholars in learning how to conduct research. Students whose parents have not themselves gone through the higher education system sometimes are not as aware of the different (academic enrichment) opportunities such as research programs, and one of the goals is to expose students to these opportunities.

Once you have been accepted into the program, you participate in a research seminar, both during the academic year and the summer. The goal of the seminar is to guide you towards writing a fully developed research proposal, which was required for my Haas Scholars Program application [a research program for which Ashwak also applied]. The seminar and discussion section met weekly for a total of four hours, and we also had to attend office hour, so that makes five hours a week. It took a lot of time out of my day, but it was completely worth it. The seminar had just begun when the Haas applications were due, and I received a lot of guidance. The original one-page proposal I had written (for the McNair Scholars Program) turned into a five-page proposal.

Who is leading the seminar?

The instructors are graduate student tutors, a post-doc, and Dr. Campbell, the program director.

Not only does the program prepare you to better undertake your own independent research project as an undergraduate, but it also prepares students for graduate school.

Yes. We had a whole session dedicated to the graduate school application process. The program is clearly intended to give students from underrepresented groups the idea that it is possible to go to graduate school. You keep thinking that you are competing with straight A-students, people who have known since junior high that they want to pursue a graduate degree. I didn’t think it would be possible for myself until I participated in the McNair Program, and I think a lot of students in similar situations feel this way.

What are the other elements of the program?

At the last session of the spring semester, all scholars present their final research proposal including an annotated bibliography. Everyone who is traveling in conjunction with their research is doing that in June, and then join the summer seminar. During the summer seminar, we write a paper about our research. When you participate in McNair, it becomes possible to see yourself working at the graduate level, and I wish more people could take advantage of this program! In the summer, we also continue to work on graduate school applications, and in the fall, we submit our applications, funded by the program!

That is excellent – it means that you might very well find yourself in a PhD program!

With some financial support! That is of course another aspect that deters minority and first-generation students from applying. And yet another aspect we receive a lot of support for is how to approach a potential faculty mentor. The program really helps us to break down the barrier. We begin to look at ourselves as scholars.

Before starting anything here at Berkeley, I worked on a small ethnography with a faculty mentor at my community college. That opened the door to participating in research as an undergraduate, and learning about research methodology. When I came to Cal, I already knew that I wanted to do research – I already was a step ahead, which may have been a bit of an advantage. And at CalSO I heard about the different programs here, such as the Student Support Services Scholars Academy and McNair.

Let’s talk a little more about your current research topic. What are you working on?

My research question is how medical discourse influences people’s decision when they are faced with using a foreign-operated medical institute versus a local medical institute. I call it ‘glocal’ medicine. I am very interested in medical anthropology and I volunteered for a summer at a hospital in Yemen. This was in an attempt to find out if a medical degree would be for me, but I almost fainted on my first day in the hospital, which ruled that out. I ended up being a nurse assistant and learned many things. In the hospital hung a giant poster that said “The Wisdom is Yemeni and the experience is German”, and I thought that was quite remarkable. I asked different people, doctors, patients, hospital staff, about their take on it, and heard many different responses to and perspectives on this ‘glocal’ approach to providing medical services, and decided I needed to investigate further. This summer, I am going back to meet with the same people I worked with before when I volunteered. It is good that I know my contacts already, because this time I will have to record and take notes, but my interviewees will know that I am not there to spy!

When you think about your development as an undergraduate researcher, what was the most surprising discovery for you about doing research?

Probably the Human Subjects issue. I didn’t realize that there is a whole process in place to protect interviewees, and what it takes to go through the process of getting approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. But at the same time, I was already wary– would I be able to represent anyone justly? I am Yemeni-American myself, and we are often misunderstood and misrepresented and I didn’t want to produce anything that would misrepresent my subjects. Also, I initially thought research is something you do on the side, but once you get started and you have to go through all the different steps, you can easily feel overwhelmed, and you realize what a huge endeavor this is.

Is there anything you would want students with an interest in the McNair Scholars Program to know about?

Once you join the program, make sure that you complete the assignments, even if they can seem tedious at times! It will help you to build your literature review. Generally, I think that it is very important to have an open mind about the different opportunities. And you need to know a little bit of what it is you want to do with your future. I knew that I wanted to go beyond my undergraduate degree, and I heard from a lot of graduate students that you need an edge - something like research experience - that will help you to get in.

But it is also true that you need a lot of passion for your topic.

That is very true. My topic is very much a part of me. And part of my motivation comes for the fact that there are very few Middle Eastern professors here on campus, and I want to become part of that group and be there for the next generation. College for my generation is actually a privilege. I am the first person in my family to go to college; I want to contribute to being a role model for my community, and especially Yemeni women, so they can see that others have gone this route before them, that it is possible.

Anything in general that you want students to know about?

That it takes a lot of drive and passion to be able to succeed, and even to know that there are resources out there. A lot of students seem to be getting caught in trying to get straight As (not that I am not), but it is important to understand that your GPA is not everything. In one of our seminars we heard about the importance of doing research. In my case, I think it was a lucky combination of factors, but in general I would say be inquisitive, and be passionate. See what is out there for you. And not everything has to be on your own. It can be very helpful to connect with people who have similar interests and investigate an issue together. Some of the things I have done or am involved in would never have happened had I been on my own.

Thank you for this interview!

For more information about the McNair Scholars Program, please go to http://aap.berkeley.edu/mcnair.shtml.