My expectation for the summer is to grow a lot. Not only will there be the growth of some friendly (and some not-so-friendly) bacteria at the David Lab, but also the more metaphysical growth of someone starting an entirely new experience.
There are moments this week when I felt that I’d bit off more than I could chew. To be a Duke student- to be part of B-SURF- often relies on exuding a confidence and competence. But thrown into a lab of complicated machines, graduate students rushing about, and a growing list of new techniques to learn, I was reminded of how unfamiliar the world of research was. I’ve had to stomach the idea of being comfortable being uncomfortable. I’ve constantly trying to convince myself: these skilled lab members were undergraduates once and they didn’t know what they were doing any more than me.
The first few days in lab I mostly worked on training modules, a comfortable start to the position. After ensuring I knew not to eat, ignite, or spill our precious samples, I was finally promoted to the classic imagine of a scientist. Adorned in gloves and equipped with my pipette, I spent the day transferring clear liquids between itty-bitty tubes. I swallowed my nerves about messing up and began to enjoy processing samples with a visiting grad student (studying mouse lemurs!) She talked about her path to research and her upcoming trip to Madagascar with other graduate students at the Lemur Center. As we talked and worked she gave me pipetting advice and my own lab mentor explained his process loading the centrifuge and keeping lab notes. We stayed late and loaded one of the now-not-so-complicated machine with the samples. By the end of the day, I was pooped. Though I still feel uncomfortable not understanding all parts of our research process, it was a day of growth for me as I realized my mentors were not expecting me to carry the project and instead allowed me to practice at my level while still aiding in the project.
I feel it in my gut that the people I’m surrounded by (and of course a healthy amount of microbiome-related puns) will guide me to grow into a more competent and more importantly, confident, scientist and person.
