One of the biggest thing that I’ve learned so far this summer is that science takes time. A lot of time. Although I have learned a lot in lab about specific techniques and machinery, not a lot of progress has been made scientifically. Even things that should work with relative ease, such as a simple PCR amplification, don’t always go the way as planned.
In my case in particular, my project has not moved too far past the starting point. As such, I have realized that being a scientist takes a lot of patience. Though it may be frustrating when a lot of things don’t work out most of the time, when something does actually work, or when some type of result is actually obtained, you feel pretty proud. Scientists have to take everything a step at a time, and should work keeping in mind that when something does happen according to plan, or some exciting results are obtained, they can feel pretty happy and proud of themselves.
With my research, I have not experienced too many of those moments, but I’m hoping that within the next two weeks I will have another thing that will give me a sense of pride and justification for the frustration and processes of the weeks past.
