36 Research Reflection by Amy Gao

Faculty Mentor: Allison Segal (Writing & Rhetoric Studies, University of Utah)

Researching ADHD in the digital age was one of the most engaging projects I’ve taken on because I was personally interested in the topic. I wanted to know why diagnoses have increased and how digital media, school systems, and social expectations play a role. The process taught me how to move past surface-level answers and look at an issue from multiple sides. I had to work through studies that sometimes contradicted each other and figure out how to build an argument that still held together. That challenge pushed me to slow down, think more critically, and accept that research doesn’t always give a neat conclusion. The biggest insight I gained was how much context matters when we talk about human behavior. ADHD cannot be understood only as a set of symptoms-it’s also shaped by how society interprets attention and productivity. That realization has changed how I approach other academic work too, since it made me more aware of the influence systems and environments have on individual lives. This project also gave me a clearer sense of my future goals. I’m applying to law school next year with the intention of going into public interest or criminal law. The skills I practiced here-working with complex evidence, weighing competing perspectives, and paying attention to the bigger system behind individual experiences-are the same ones I’ll need as I move into that field.