Research Reflection

I knew three months ago as the fall semester drew to a close that I would need to take a J-term this year to get my first one ‘out of the way’.  However, I did not find very many classes to my liking.  I looked at classes such as Positive Psychology and even Go Dog Go.  I then found Forensic Science and decided to give it a go.  As I was walking out, I noticed our Professor had a class; Intensive Science Research Experience.  The very name of the class did not sound appealing at all.  Looking through the brochure made it even worse: class from 8:30 to 4:30, a 300 level class, only three credits!  Then the question was what I would study.  I had no idea of what I would be researching. 

“Is there any more room in that dog class your taking?” I asked my friend.

“Nope, but you have fun with your science class!” he snickered back.

            With no idea of what I was getting into, I decided to sit down with our professor to pick her brain about her class.  She told me that the students were to pick mentors in the building to work with them in their research.  I decided to go with our professor in her research on Dicty cell movement concerning PCH proteins (with an extremely minor factor that she was also the only professor with room for another researcher).  Right away I found it interesting.  It almost felt surreal thinking about how I could be toying with another organisms DNA, along with the fact I was going to try to make them glow! (Kind of Frankenstein-ish in a way).  After getting a little bit more background, I decided to pull out of Forensic Science and go with the Intensive Science Research Experience as my J-term class.

            With the weeks leading up to J-term, I was still nervous about how the class was going to go.  I had visions of sitting in a lab for eight straight hours trying to get something to work, forced to stay later if something did not go right.  O the endless amounts of researching, writing papers, and dealing with our professor who will probably be breathing down our necks! (Ok, maybe an exaggeration, but you get the point).  This was going to be a long three weeks.  How could someone enjoy doing this for their entire lives?  At least it would look good on my resume.

            My stereotypical notions of what researching went out the door the very first day of class.  Although it was true that compared to now I had very little knowledge in my research or how research was conducted, I struck an immediate interest in conducting research.  It was awesome to think that I was actually designing primers for my DNA.  Although it was a tedious process to figure out the DNA sequences of primers, the day flew by in my newfound excitement of what I was doing in the lab.  The next few days went by even faster, with learning about new machines, how they worked, culturing my first plate of dicty cells (ahhh….it seemed like only yesterday), and making SM media.  It was neat to think that all the scientists in the world started out just like me.  Although it was a bit frustrating at times having to take things slower and asking questions all the time, the wait was well worth it, as I now am gaining more independence in my research, although my mentor is still needed immensely.

            These last two weeks completely changed what I thought of research and what it would mean to be a scientist for a career.  I no longer think of it as a lonely, isolated job with a ball and chain attached to you and your research.  It is true that a lot of the work is very drawn out and does require a couple extra hours in the lab.  But researching with others in the same field is such a neat experience.  I can ask questions and bounce ideas off others, research my topic online, make solutions, use the microscope, and even record videos.  Right now with everything so new, it feels like I’m adding another page to my repertoire of researching techniques every day.  And above all, it’s actually fun and exciting to see how your results of your hard work turn out (although frustrating at times).  Through these last two weeks, I’ve come to understand why so many people take the path of researcher in their careers.  You have a sense of pride and importance in your work, because it is usually something completely new that no one has ever done before.  The one stereotype that was ingrained even more was the passion that some scientists can develop for their research.

            Looking back, I am glad I chose to take this course and do research over J-term.  It has shown research and science in a whole new light.  It has answered the questions of why people devote their entire lives to it.  I have taken such a liking to it that I plan to continue it during the spring and even summer semester if I can get away with. I leave you with a quote my friend and I had over lunch one day.

“Hey, what did you do in your dog class?”

“Not much really, had to sit through a lecture for three hours, then I had to socialize with some dogs, how about you?”

“O not much really, just figured out primers to use in my DNA, grew some of my dicty cells, and even got a video of them migrating.  It is actually some pretty neat stuff.”

“Wow, I really think YOU got the fun class.”