Description:
The Second Year Transformational Experience Program compensated my work in a cancer research lab here at Ohio State. The lab developed my interest in medicine as I worked under post doctorate mentor and developed my own research project. My research involved in cell culture, mouse-work, and countless other technical procedures.
Reflection:
I hoped to get involved in undergraduate research long before coming to Ohio State, and prior to my STEP experience, I was considering research as a potential career path. I figured the field was always progressing and new discoveries were being made consistently. I joined the lab eager to cure cancer, but after spending countless hours in the lab, I had a different experience than I anticipated. My days usually consisted the same 4 tasks: taking care of my mice, feeding my cells, genotyping my mice, and running western blots. Frankly, I could not differentiate between the scientific advancements I expected and the thankless, monotonous, data deficient tasks I completed. Needless to say, the procedures I performed are essential for scientific progress, so I appreciate researchers much more than I did before STEP. Ultimately, through my STEP project I discovered that I do not want to do research professionally. Instead, I hope to find a job that with more unpredictability and interpersonal interaction.
Many of the tasks I did in the lab were independently completed, requiring little or no interaction with others. I knew what I had to accomplish on any given day, so there were few surprises. Many researchers enjoyed the routine work and the isolation associated with it; almost everyone in the lab listened to music as they worked. I was not so inclined to isolate myself further with headphones, however, because I wanted more interaction in my day. After recognizing how much I prefer team projects to individual ones through my STEP experience, I know what work environment to look for in the future. I want to be able to bounce ideas off my coworkers and have an environment everyone’s ideas are valued in the ongoing projects.
My STEP experience also showed me that I value projects with quantifiable results. Most of the experiments I performed in my research gave me values from which I created facts and figures, but there were numerous that had results based on individual judgment. Procedures with the second description included cell counting—approximation is heavily utilized—and mouse-tissue staining—the results are all relative to a “normal” tissue. This recognition reinforced chemical engineering as my major.
While I learned lots about myself through the lab, my biggest takeaways regarded how to be a more effective worker. Mistakes are part of research (and life, more importantly), and I made more than my fair share in the lab. For the first few months, I became incredibly frustrated when I made a mistake or got faulty results from an experiment. More than once I let a single mess-up ruin my whole day. The best piece of advice I have ever gotten was from a fellow researcher, Mark, after I vented to him about an experiment that went poorly. He said, “Sorry that happened, but you get what you get.” Mark was right that no matter how much I complained, there was nothing I could do about my results: I just had to fix it for next time. Mark advice helped me learn troubleshooting, and I became very good at breaking down every piece of an experiment and looking for potential flaws. I have applied Mark’s advice to countless problems I have had since then, both in the classroom and in my daily life.
Finally, I became a more effective communicator thanks to research. My mentor expected to know about my experiments, results, mistakes, and any updates. Initially, describing what I was working on to my boss was hard to me because I was unfamiliar with the terminology and I had never had a lab notebook before. Only after I was unable to repeat an experiment because I had not recorded all the appropriate information the first time did I realize how important systematic communication is. After that, I developed a routine of writing everything in my lab notebook throughout the day and weekly discussions with my mentor. While my days were long and often boring in my 8 months of cancer research, I learned countless skills and I became more self-aware.
Final takeaway:
Before STEP, I had trouble making decisions and holding myself accountable for those decisions. For example, sophomore year on the night before an important exam, I went to a movie with friends. Unsurprisingly, my grade suffered. I cursed my friends for bringing me to the movie and I blamed my teacher for giving the exam when he did. In retrospect, I cannot believe how unwilling I was to take the blame. The lab was a reality check because I had virtually nobody else to blame when I made a mistake. I was the only one working on my project, so when something did not turn out the way I expected I was at fault. Whether I added the wrong reagent, or forgot to set a timer, or any number of things that went wrong it came back to me. Learning to hold myself accountable has been an incredible takeaway because for the first time in my life, I am in the driver’s seat of my life. Each decision I make is my own, which is an enormous realization to make in order to become an independent adult.
Sounds like you took away alot of lessons that will help you in the future both professionally and personally!