Ever since I’ve been in the lab, every day is different. I learn different stuff, have different feelings and do different things. However, there are some commonalities—like having a haaaard time getting up, going into the lab with endless curiosity, getting excited about my project and asking people dumb questions. Usually I am in the lab by 9:30 or 10, and plan out my day with my mentors. And then I will start my bench work. For these days I am mostly working on constructing my CRISPR systems for targeting myocardin and elk1. So my bench work involves pretty typical cloning—digestion, annealing, running a gel, gel prep, ligation, transformation, etc. Most of these procedures take around 0.5-2 hours, so I am able to do some reading or have lunch in between. Our lab go out for lunch from time to time, and our PI pays for it! These days I watch World Cup during lunch. Oh yeah we have a special spot in the lab for food. Every once in a while someone brings cookies or donuts or brownies 🙂 I have my own desk at the back of the lab. The best thing about it is that there is a coffee machine right next to my desk, and there is often very good smell of latte. I normally get my work done by 5 or 6 pm. I like working in my lab.
