What did I expect from my summer research experience? The only thing expected was uncertainty. Uncertainty in what working in a lab would consist of, in the expectations in what life would entail, and if I would even like working in a lab.
I was taking the first step into the unknown for me. I haven’t worked in a college research lab before and have only worked on research in high school. My previous research was in environmental science, which is unrelated to biomolecular and biochemistry lab. While doing my previous research, I was the person in charge, and I choose how much I worked, and everything was my project design. One of my hopes for this summer was that working in a lab would help clarify that. For most of my time in college, I was looking to find a lab that I could join, and I am excited to start researching in a lab.
I found familiarity in uncertainty was through the process of getting the concentration of DNA in solution. Part of my day on Thursday was getting the concentration of DNA in using the intensity at the peak absorbances of the DNA. While getting the concentration of DNA was repetitive, I found the connection to one of my physical chemistry labs. The objective of the experiment was to calculate the change in concentration of a substrate as is catalyzed by an enzyme. I found it interesting how I found a connection to a physical chemistry lab in a biomolecular process. It made me realize how interdisciplinary science research can be and that while there are defined research areas ideas from other fields can be used.
With my first week done in the Tadross lab, I’ve learned to embrace the uncertainty. That uncertainty and unknown is just part of the process. I have two hopes for the rest of the summer that eventually, there is less uncertainty and That I will become more confident in the lab. With my first days being over in the Tadross lab I am sure that there are great things on the horizon, and I’m looking forward to the uncertainty.
