Impact of Covid-19 Shelter In Place on Infant Sleep

Daniel Palmieri, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Psychology and minor in ASL

If somebody were to tell me in high school about my research during the COVID-19, I would have a hard time believing them. When I joined Verrazzano Honors in 2018, I was both thrilled and nervous. In the fall of 2019, I narrowed down what professor I wanted to psychological research with, and I did an independent study with the CSI Child Development lab (CDL).
In February 2020, I heard that the CSI CDL was going to host a summer research internship and I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to start working on my capstone, and to improve my skillset. I made it a top priority of landing the internship. At the same time, the first wave of COVID-19 began. Despite the virus being declared a global pandemic and remote learning going into effect, I accepted an offer as an intern for the CSI CDL virtual summer internship.
During my internship, my goals were to gather advice for graduate school, and gain research skills. Additionally, I wanted my internship to help me with my independent study, increase my networking and presenting skills, and to have my work published.
I was assigned to be a research assistant on projects with two different graduate students. On one project I was able to learn how a research survey was made and how researchers can use it. The graduate student taught me a lot about how research was conducted, how to expand my horizons, networking and technical skills, and she was very straightforward and clear from the start. For my project I was able to push myself to new limits, learn how to video, pay more attention to detail, and how to work through difficult situations.
Going into my independent study remotely, I worked on how sheltering-in-place during the pandemic affected infant sleep patterns, and elaborated on my goals. I assumed there would be more responses for the survey, but this did not happen and I was discouraged that we got little responses.
I decided to write an honors thesis for departmental honors, have my research project get accepted into the 2021 Virtual NCUR undergraduate Research Conference, work on my areas of improvement, and learn more about developmental research.
Spring 2021 was arguably my hardest semester and the honors thesis was perhaps the most challenging assignment I have ever worked on. I spent hours in my room studying, writing my honors thesis, and managing my other obligations. While writing the intro, I wanted to make it an easy read and set up the tone for the whole paper. I encountered massive writing blocks and self-discussions about what should and should not be in the paper.
I attended various virtual tutoring sessions to help outline my ideas, work on the grammar/structure, and address my readers and mentor(s) comments. It helped ease my tensions and I got a better perception on how to paint the picture properly.
When April 2021 arrived, my challenges were all completed but one. I needed to make sure that my claims matched up with my methods and findings to avoid any red flags, wrap everything up, and find sources that backed my claims. I asked people in the CDL for assistance, and after numerous trials and errors, I was able to complete my honors thesis. I was motivated to try to get my work published in a psychological research journal.

The vast amount of time I worked to finish my honors thesis was worth all the pain and agony. As a result, I was able to achieve most of my goals, reach new heights, and acquire skills that I thought weren’t even possible. I realized my strong work ethic, commitment, and the state of mind that I want in life. Furthermore, I have used the experience to help get through times in the past year and for the future.