I’ve always looked forward to applying the knowledge I’ve gained regarding Biomedical Engineering towards research, and this past week I was finally given the opportunity to do so! At first I was very nervous; was anything I learned in class useful or relevant? However, as I walked in on my first day to the Bursac Lab and began talking with one of my mentors, Ethan, it was like the gears fell into place. Knowledge from classes I’d taken before helped me understand the concepts and topics that I was tasked with knowing, ranging from BIO 221 to BME 221, I realized that many aspects of the classes I’d been spending two years taking were applicable towards the research I would be immersing myself in this Summer. This revelation was both exciting and encouraging to me, as it motivated me to continue on my path to become a Biomedical researcher.
Another aspiration I had for this Summer was to gain hands-on experience with laboratory techniques that I never would in class, and I can definitely say that this first week has more than sufficed. This week I was tasked with creating thin cuts of frozen tissue on a machine called a Cryostat. For about 8 hours this week, my left hand was perpetually maintained at about -20 degrees Celsius, while my right hand turned the wheel to make cuts (I should clarify: I was not cutting my own tissue, just had to handle some within the machine). I quickly learned how difficult it was to work some samples and what techniques to employ to acquire the best imaging results. From starting as a complete rookie, I can now confidently say I’m proficient in the ways of the Cryostat. I surely didn’t expect my first week of Summer to involve sticking my hand into a literal freezer, but it’s definitely better than the sweltering heat of the outdoors, and I’m looking forwards to the other techniques and machines I’ll be exposed to this Summer.
