Cecilia Cavero Sánchez

Cecilia Cavero Sánchez, a graduate student whose research interests include peacebuilding, civil conflict, civil society, and human security, discusses the benefits of being a Summer Program teaching assistant.

On the benefits of being a Summer Program teaching assistant

I'm getting really good training at my institution, but there's always new things you can learn. I'm a teaching assistant for the Summer Program Regression II course, which means I'm reviewing a lot of things about the math that goes behind OLS, which is always really good when you're trying to build your own methods and review what's going on under the hood. And then I also get the opportunity to take other classes such as Panel Data or Causal Inference II, which are very specific and provide additional training that I haven't been offered anywhere else. So this is a really good opportunity to combine everything I know with more specialized methods that are taught here.

"As a TA, I've learned how to follow classes in a different way, making sure that I know how to help people figure out if anything's wrong with R or their homework. I think that's going to be really helpful in my career."

On meeting new faces

ICPSR provides many venues for social interactions beyond just going to class. It's always interesting to meet people and get to know each other beyond the classroom level. I think one of my favorite moments from this summer is probably the first day introduction session, because that's the first time I got to see who was where. We got a round robin of all the classes, so you get to see what you like. And then there was a social event where you basically get to talk to everyone for the first time, which is always really nice.

Getting outside your research bubble

It's always really interesting and cool to see how people have different philosophies when it comes to methods and philosophies of teaching and thinking about how to do research. And sometimes we're all holed up in our own research interests with the same people and it's nice to go outside and see what other people are doing, and get to experience how other people view the world and research itself.

Things to know about the program and Ann Arbor

I'd describe the Summer Program as an opportunity to specialize in methods you're interested in while also networking and getting to know people that are on the same wavelength as you and who are interested in the same sort of research while being in a very, very nice place. Ann Arbor is a beautiful city. I really like it. There are lots of things to do, so it's a great combination of work and fun at the same time.

Advice for first time attendees

I'd advise people to really think about what they want to get out of this, because there's so much to do. There are many classes you can take, and there's many ways you can organize your time and your priorities. So it's really helpful to know what you want to get. And here, I'm sure people can reach their goals. So just think about it really clearly before you come.