Like many people my age, I’ve recently found myself reflecting on the question, “How can I live a life that I will never regret? What kind of life will bring me the greatest sense of pride ? ” Up until last week, I only had a very vague answer that was made up of only two parts. 1. To take care of the earth and the people who inhabit it and 2. To ccontinually challenge and stimulate my mind. I’ve realized over the years that doing those two things have always made me feel the most alive.
There are many different paths that could lead me to accomplishing this lifestyle, but of course there will only be a few that I will come to love. Naturally, I’ve tried to learn about as many of these pathways as possible, and research was one of them that I found especially interesting.
And so my journey began just a couple of days ago in Dr. Karl Dimiter Bissig’s therapeutic lab researching genetic disorders. In just one week, I’ve already learned so much science! Every day brings new research projects, encounters with different graduate students, and exploration of various new lab techniques. What’s more, the people that I meet are constantly striving to innovate and enhance their current methods. To find a better technique. To find a better way. They are constantly challenging the boundaries of our knowledge. It’s exhilerating!
But what was most inspiring to me goes beyond the science itself—it is the profound impact it can have –the ground-breaking research that Dr. Bissig’s lab conducts is life-saving!
Even though it’s just the beginning of my research experience, I am already realizing that this may be the path for me. In the coming weeks, I hope to continue learning lab techniques, the science that my lab is involved in, and what it really means to be a scientist.
Wow this is very exciting! You are very self aware and sound like you’re paying close attention to everything in the lab. I think that’s a really great place to be!