I still remember the first day I began my research in the Abraham lab, not knowing what to expect. The trek to the lab building was considerably long, and my shoulders sagged from the weight of my backpack. Amid the journey, I filled my mind with wild anticipations of what lay ahead. The fictional and cinematic depictions of research in a lab influenced the way I pictured scientists: they were covered head-to-toe in personal protective equipment as they worked in a fast-paced environment to devise a breakthrough in science that would impact lives for the better.
Entering the lab, I was pleasantly surprised by how the lab’s environment presented a sharp contrast to the image in my head. However, one thing that seemed to agree with my imagination was that all the researchers were passionate about improving the lives of individuals by understanding the mechanisms of pathogens. Right there, I realized that this summer research would be an opportunity for me to gain a lot of knowledge and grow confidence in my abilities as a scientist.
Coming into the lab without any prior experience makes my summer research even more thrilling because I can begin the journey of learning about what it means to be a scientist in a welcoming and passionate environment. I had little knowledge of how to use the instruments provided to perform tissue processing and immunofluorescence staining. Despite that, I knew I would be working with mice bladder tissue to investigate whether our sensory neurons activate upon bacterial challenge. While I have engaged in the labs in the chemistry courses and high school science courses, I knew that those would be wildly different from what I am used to. I hope that at the end of the summer, I can confidently describe how to use a cryostat to section frozen tissue and explain the difference between the liquid agents PBS and OCT.
While I expect to gain confidence in lab techniques, I also expect to grow in my ability to communicate my research project to others. The first step of achieving this goal starts by having a desire to fully understand my project, which I have already begun cultivating. At the end of the summer, I hope that I would have transformed into a much more confident researcher.
