My work here as an intern has been very meaningful to my education. It has been a great experience for me and I now have a clearer idea of what it would be like to have a career in science and work in a lab, I know have a better idea of what I want to do in the future. This experience will better prepare me for college science classes and will give me a jump start if I chose a career in science. I have also gained a lot of skills that will prepare me for the future.
Before starting my internship I knew that I wanted to have a career in helping people and that I had an interest in science, but I didn't know what it was like to work in a lab. Now that I have been working here for a few weeks I have realized that I would love to have a career in a science lab. I believe that it's a good fit for me because biology and science are one of my best subjects and because I have really enjoyed working here. I would like to get to know what's like to work in other labs as well.
I'm Interested in studying:
self-ad·vo·ca·cy To me self advocacy also means speaking up for my self, and asking questions when I need help. This has been I big part of my internship. Sometimes I'll be working in the lab and my mentor will be in the office working on his own research. If I have a question about where something is (which happens often), how something works, or when I get locked out of a room because I forget the codes I have to advocate for myself and ask one of the other lab members for help. Everyone in the lab is very nice and helpful, so I feel comfortable asking them questions.
I've been trying to follow Dr.Patton's tip on how to be an intern everyone remembers, but there are a few that I have especially tried to follow. Tip number 1, "Always be trying to do something" is one that I think about the most. sometimes I have to wait patiently for my turn to use a tool, or for my next instructions from my mentor. During this time I try to always be doing something so it doesn't seem like all I do is sit around. I work on my blog post, take pictures, write emails, or do extra research for my project. I've also been following tip number 4, "Dress more professionally than you think you need to". Here at the lab everyone is very casual, most people wear tee shirts and shorts. I think it makes sense that I would have to dress up more than them because I am younger and if i wore tee shirts and shorts everyday it wouldn't look less professional on me. I've mostly been wearing the same things that I would wear to school, like jeans and a sweater or a blouse. So I look somewhat professional but it's not too over the top for the lab environment. For my project I am basically going to be growing bacteria that could potentially assist in finding the cure for cystic fibrosis. I have to make a very specific media (media meaning bacteria food) and then taking samples of sputum from a patient and see if any bacteria grows. Once the bacteria grows I have to test the amounts of ammonia the bacteria is producing. I'm testing this to see if a certain process happens inside the lung of a patients with cystic fibrosis. The rest of the information is a secret.
I need to use my lab skills and some math skills. I also need to make sure that I stay organized, it's important that I label everything with my name, date, and what it is or things could get very messy and confusing. Its also important that I take neat and efficient notes so I can look back at them later if needed. I need some support when working in the lab because I'm still trying to figure out how everything works, but I can learn that from my mentor and ask question to some other people in the lab. Hopefully everything works out well, i'm really excited about it! So far I have gotten a lot of work done and I'm learning a lot. There are many different scientist here and they are all studying things that are very different from one another but they still work together and help each other with their work. I know that their studies are very important, some are studying coral and marine life and some are doing human research. So far I've had to be very responsible because I'm out of the classroom and doing an actual job, I don't always have someone looking over my shoulder 24/7 to make sure that I'm doing what I'm suppose to or that I'm where I'm suppose to be. I have so be responsible for my work and mature so that I don't mess my project up.
While being here I've had to use a lot of what I learned from my chemistry and biology class. I've had to search the lab for various chemicals and it was really helpful that I actually knew a little bit about some of the chemicals, it made it easier for me to find them. I use a lot of the same skills in the lab that I do when we have labs in biology class. Those skills have been very helpful to me while I was here I really like the job that I'm doing in the lab. I'm learning a lot about what Robby does on a daily basis and what it's like to do research and experiments. I really like the lab environment that I'm in, It's a lot of fun and all the research is exciting and cool to look at and hear about. I haven't met that many of my colleagues yet but everyone has been a lot of help and super nice, I think they're used to having interns around that they don't know. I'm excited about doing my experiment when I'm more independent and more comfortable in the lab.
I will be doing my internship at Rohwer Laboratory SDSU. My mentor is Robert Quinn who studies microbial ecology of human and animal disease. I will doing a project on Nitrification, which is a way that bacteria gets energy, and its effects on cystic fibrosis. I'm really excited to experience working in a lab and also learning more about the human body and cystic fibrosis. I'm most nervous about the long drive everyday and also getting my project done.
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