There really is no ”typical” day for me here at Donohue lab.
As I go through my experiment from start to finish, I find that I’m doing something different everyday.
To illustrate:
- My first day, I was taught how to do various things like seeding and how to use the autoclave.
- By the end of my first week here, I was already immersed in a pilot of my experiment, setting up materials.
- By the end of the second week, I had already done most of my pilot, seeding around a hundred plates and observing them on a daily basis.
- By the end of the third week, I had analyzed results of my pilot experiment and started planning for the big experiment.
This week was the busiest it’s ever been, seeding all day for two days, rinsing and transferring all day for two days, and even a day where I got to practice my chalk talk in front of my lab.
Speaking of my lab, throughout these past few weeks as I’ve been here, I keep on seeing instances of the comradery of my lab. The thing is, experiments here at Donohue lab are often on such a large scale that you can’t do them alone. The reason why we’re all able to do these big experiments is because everyone helps each other. When I was seeding for my pilot, at least two other people were helping beside me. And just yesterday, when Bri and I were rinsing and transferring seeds, consumed by the amount of work to be done, throughout the day, people like Eli, Hannah, Logan, and Gaby all stopped by and asked if we needed any help. If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have been able to leave the lab until 10pm.
It’s striking to see how helpful everyone is. For example, even with the chalk talk, Bri had me practice in front of her and other experts in my subject, something I actually found scarier than the actual chalk talk. It’s amazing though that they even took the time to listen to my talk and that each of them gave such supportive and constructive feedback. Again thank you thank you thank you to Bri, Gaby, Logan, Eli, and Hannah~
Until the next week~
