Christopher Wong discovered his passion for the field of research through agriculture. He discovered this passion after freshman year while spending a summer at North Dakota State University, returning to Prairie View A&M University and deciding to change his major from engineering to join the student community in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences. Here’s his story in his own words.
I am a junior Agriculture major here at Prairie view A&M University with a 3.2 GPA from Houston, Texas and I have had a love for research before I even knew what research was. Instead of asking for toy cars and clothes for Christmas, I would beg for project books and science lab sets. I came to Prairie View A&M University originally for the engineering program because I believed that the only way to do research was through engineering. My freshman year, I participated in a summer research program in the Department of Agriculture at North Dakota State University and I quickly learned that research was so much bigger than engineering. My project involved measuring the oil sorption capacity of organic agricultural waste with the overall objective of determining if any of the conditions tested could serve as an eco-friendly solution to cleaning oil spills. Thus, when I returned to Prairie View A&M University’s campus, I was so motivated by my research experience at North Dakota State University that I sought opportunities to perform research and was hired to continue my project at PVAMU where I fortunately secured a position conducting research in a polymer research based laboratory. As a result of my desire to continue research, I applied for the Dow Agroscience summer internship and was accepted. While I cannot discuss that project, I am back at PVAMU this semester, where I will begin conducting research in a genomics research based lab. Through all of my research opportunities, I have grasped that I would like to pursue my PhD in plant breeding and genetics. Research has impacted not only my success, but also my life as whole. In the ups and downs of research, I have learned to have plenty of patience, never to give up, and there is always another option. Research has kept up my positive attitude, dedication, eagerness and open-mindedness to learn new things.