The Edwin Jones Building, the location of the Abraham Lab, is sandwiched between two other buildings that tower over it. To any passerby, it may be hard to miss the building. But I have memorized each twist and turn, making the morning journey to my lab effortless. Upon reaching the building, I go through the double doors and navigate rows of hallways to get to the lab.
I enter my workspace, and with a quick “Good morning!” I greet Abhay, a post-doc researcher who works across from me. Then, I would open up my digital lab notebook, read through my entry from the previous day, and make a new entry for the new day. Then I get to work.
My mentor usually pops in to guide me through the tasks I would be working on for that day. That usually consists of using the lab’s cryostat to section processed tissue, preparing reagents, or preparing antibodies for immunofluorescence staining. The microscope the lab uses for microscopy is located in GSRB II, the building across from Edwin Jones. When it is time to perform microscopy, I would take a little field trip down to GSRB II to take micrographs of the tissue and analyze them using a software program.
Each day, I look forward to conversing with other lab members during incubation periods. It’s so intriguing seeing how their experiments differ from mine and learning about their projects. Even when I am not reading scientific articles or performing an experiment, I can still learn about science–and that has been thrilling. I am also fascinated by the collaboration between other lab members. Occasionally, someone’s experiment does not go as planned, and they are quick to discuss what went wrong with other researchers. They always ask questions such as, “What about doing it this way?”, “Should we try this method” and “What if we change this step to this?” Seeing them think through ways to improve inspires me to continually apply my knowledge to solve problems.
