“Time Flies When You’re Having Fun…”
It’s hard to believe that this research experience is coming to a close. Although it may sometimes seem like I’ve been passaging cells my entire life, it often feels like I just began my fellowship. While these eight weeks were far from a typical summer, I would not have spent them any other way. As is apparent from my previous posts, I absolutely loved my time in the lab and I am excited about continuing my work there during the school year.
I’m not sure I have ever learned so much in eight weeks, as this experience not only taught me about a particular subject in science, but also how to do science. I learned how frame a scientific question, how to plan an experiment, how to control for variables, and how to make appropriate conclusions from data. I also learned the importance of never losing sight of the big picture. It is easy to become wrapped up in one small experiment, and easily frustrated if things are not working out as expected. However, taking a step back and looking at the big picture can help you to troubleshoot and simply to keep you sane!
Now that I have begun this project, it seems as though I have opened up a huge can of worms – there are so many more questions that have arisen and I cannot help but want to try and answer them. While a large part of me would love to just drop everything and fully immerse myself in laboratory research, I know that the undergraduate experience is equally as enjoyable and educational. I’m sure one day in graduate school I’ll probably wish I were an undergraduate again! So for now, I am going to rest my brain in preparation for next semester and look forward to supplementing my undergraduate experience with some exciting laboratory work on the side!