Have you ever asked yourself a question, then to answer that question you jumped out of an airplane, spun around three times and ran a marathon? That’s basically what research can look like.

Research and I have always had a love-hate relationship. Diving into a field of inquiry can be so challenging, yet so rewarding at the same time.

My friend and co-worker, Allie Vaknin, is no stranger to research. She’s a senior at the University of Central Florida, double majoring in Human Communication and Sociology with a minor in Leadership Studies. She’s currently writing an Honors in the Major undergraduate thesis, which means she’s pursuing a massive research project aka taking on the world. And she’s kicking butt.

I’ve had the pleasure of keeping up with Allie’s progress, and I wanted to share her experiences for all to enjoy as well. So here goes!

1. What is Honors in the Major?

Honors in the Major is a program offered through UCF’s Burnett Honor’s College, where you have the opportunity to pursue an undergraduate thesis. It’s basically the same process that you would do in a Master’s thesis, where you pair up with a faculty member who has similar research interests, and they’d guide you through the research/thesis process.

(To learn more about UCF's Honors in the Major program, check it out here.)

2. Why did you choose to pursue it?

I chose to pursue it because I had been interested in research for a while at that point. I’m passionate about the process of asking a question and then taking practical steps towards answering it myself.

My Intercultural Communication professor, Dr. Hastings, knowing I was interested in research opportunities, told me about the Honors in the Major opportunity and offered to be my thesis chair. I was really excited to jump into it at that point.

3. What is your research project?

My project investigates the reactions people have when they hold extended eye contact with strangers. It was an unbelievable coincidence that an event on Facebook called “The World’s Biggest Eye Contact Experiment” was occurring during the semester that I had to collect my data. This event was advertised to bring people from the community together to experience one minute of uninterrupted eye contact with a stranger.

So I reached out to the event organizers, asking for permission to interview people about their experience after the minute of eye contact. Dr. Hastings and I ended up attending, and we collectively conducted over thirty interviews.

The World's Biggest Eye Contact Experiment 2017 - Orlando, FL. Photo taken by Allie Vaknin.

(The World’s Biggest Eye Contact experiment happened on September 23, 2017. You can check out the global event’s website here. You can also check out the page for the Orlando event here.)

4. How did you choose this project?

I had participated in an exercise involving extended eye contact with a stranger once before, and it was such a profound experience. It was challenging and awkward at first—both me and my partner kept giggling nervously, and I had trouble keeping eye contact without looking away. But I challenged myself to stick with it, to focus on their eyes without looking away, and soon it felt as though any barrier of assumption or bias seemed to disintegrate.

I eventually saw my own reflection, in his eyes, staring back at me. And I realized that, while I normally perceive everything and everyone I come into contact with as a part of my environment, seeing my own reflection in his eyes showed me that I am just as much a part of his environment as he is a part of mine. It was such a beautiful moment that I smiled and teared up simultaneously.

5. Where are you in the process of completing your project?

I’m currently in the process of creating an outline for the last chapters of my thesis, the results and conclusion. I’ve just finished reading and coding through all of the interview transcripts, and now I need to evaluate the significant patterns that have emerged within their responses.

6. What has been the most enjoyable part of your project? The most challenging?

The most enjoyable part has definitely been interviewing the participants. An overwhelming majority of those that I interviewed had a positive and profound experience, and to hear their accounts and interpretations felt genuinely mesmerizing. The most challenging part was going through each of the transcripts and coding the responses. It was tedious and time-consuming, but it’s finally over!

7. What are you hoping to accomplish with your project? Where do you want to take your research?

I hope to understand what made this exercise so profound for most, considering how this all came out of just one minute of uninterrupted, nonverbal eye contact with a stranger. I want to communicate to the public what the theoretical and practical implications of this exercise could mean for people. I’ll be presenting my project at the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference, and I ultimately hope to get published in an academic journal.

(To learn more about the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference, click here.)

8. What have you learned from doing this project? About research, your interests, or yourself in general?

I think this project further solidified my passion for research. I’ve learned that I have a passion for investigating questions relating to human connection, and that I’m fully capable of, and excited to, pursue further research in graduate school and beyond.

From this project, I’ve learned how fundamentally important belongingness is for one’s well-being, and conversely how detrimental feelings of isolation can be. I hope to apply what I’ve learned from this research, and future research, to help others as a mental health counselor.

9. What are you wanting to do after graduation?

I’ll be applying to Master’s programs in Mental Health Counseling during this year, in order to receive admission for next year. My ultimate career goal is to establish my own mental health center, alongside other diverse professionals, in order to create a center that offers a variety of empirically-based therapeutic mediums and services for approaching mental health wellness.

Allie, I can’t wait to see where your research takes you. Congratulations on your progress so far, and best of luck presenting at the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference!