People say that our perception of the world is shaped by our experiences. So two people could embark on the same activity for 8 weeks and come out of it with completely opposite interpretations. This summer, I spent two months working in a Sickle Cell Anemia lab. I didn’t know what to expect when I first started. I had this idea, growing up, that doing research meant sitting in a chair, looking through a microscope, in the basement of some building, for hours at a time every day, in complete silence. As I occasionally had to borrow some equipment from other labs, I saw that it turns out to be that way for some people. Had that been my experience, I don’t know if my appreciation for this profession would have come to fruition like it has now.
I worked in a lab with only a few other people. I think the small number of people in the lab contributed to the meaningfulness of my experience. I got to interact with and know my mentors fairly well. I received a lot attention and was given a wave of support. It was such a friendly environment and workspace. Not only within the lab, but with the neighboring ones as well. I would walk into my building and find a cordial atmosphere and a selfless network of collaboration where both lab space and lab equipment alike were all shared.
Then there was the actual work that I did. The knowledge that I’m helping create. There was a lot of labelling, a lot of pipetting, and a lot of waiting. Though looking past that, I saw that once I finished labelling, pipetting, and waiting, I’d get a result. Regardless of whether it was on par with what I expected to see. I did this for about six to seven weeks. Then in last the last two weeks, I got to make sense of all the data I had accumulated. I made meaning of it all which was probably the most gratifying part of the work thus far.
The work that I did, as much progress as I made, would’ve neither been possible nor enjoyable without my mentors. It’s an experience that has really shaped my perception of research giving it a very positive connotation. Now that I’ve started, I’m reluctant to stop. I’ll likely be continuing this fall with the Telen lab either continuing my current project or starting fresh on another one. Regardless of what I end up doing, I’ll be glad to make research a part of my life from here on out.
