1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

For my STEP Project, I did research on the influence of different adipose tissue types on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, better known as pancreatic cancer. Increased adiposity is another way to describe obesity, thus I specifically looked at the effect of obesity on pancreatic cancer. I homogenized the adipose tissue from 75 mice, then isolated RNA from the tissues, cleaned the RNA, DNAse digested the RNA, and re-precipitated the RNA. I did this for samples of visceral, subcutaneous, and peripancreatic fat in order to look at the genes in these fats that may serve as future therapeutic targets for the disease. Now that this part of my project has been completed, I am sending my samples for Affymetrix analysis in order to discover differential gene expressions between the fats.

2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

Completing my STEP proposal influenced me in many ways, however, there are two factors that I believe were most significant.

Firstly, doing undergraduate research taught me a lot about patience in life. Throughout the three months in which I was working with RNA, I encountered a lot of challenges. For instance, there was a time in which I was re-precipitating my RNA in order to purify it from any phenol contamination, and in the midst of it one of our centrifuges went out of commission. This was extremely frustrating as this was the final step in processing some of my RNA; however, reflecting back on the experience I realize now that this taught me to patient in life and remind yourself of the end goal. I ended up having to restart the process of homogenizing the tissue, isolating the RNA, cleaning the RNA, DNase digesting the RNA, and then re-precipitating the RNA for a batch of my samples. I was able to motivate myself to do this by realizing that there was a end goal in this in that there are many people suffering from this deadly cancer and every minute that I am doing research could bring us one step closer to finding some sort of solution. Thus, going through this challenge, among many others, and reasoning with myself to push through has really taught me to be more patient in life.

Another way that this project transformed me as a person is by teaching me the importance of time-management. Prior to working with RNA, especially with the high number of samples that I had, I did not realize how much organization and time management went in to making the process efficient. I learned that RNA, even more than DNA, degrades quickly and needs to be processed quickly in order to keep it at high quality. With that being said, the 75 samples that I processed needed to be done in batches, requiring me to come into the lab most days in the week, and with an already rigorous course load, this proved to be difficult. However, this forced me to organize my time to the point where I had my lunch breaks and transportation times scheduled into my calendar. I still use this calendar-scheduling technique to this day, even when I am on break. Thus, my STEP Project has taught me time-management in order to be a more efficient person.

3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

Throughout the course of my project, I was able to interact with a lot of people who had a real impact on my life. The most influential experience I had was when I had the pleasure of meeting Doug Ulman, the CEO and founder of Pelotonia, an event that has raised tens of millions of dollars for cancer research. Doug is a three-time cancer survivor and has dedicated his life to the cancer community. Hearing his story and learning about his success and passions in life is part of the reason I believe I became a more patient person after this STEP Project.

In addition to Doug Ulman, my principal investigator, taught me a lot throughout my project. Dr. Zobeida Cruz-Monserrate has been working for the Comprehensive Cancer Center for 5 years now. During my project, Dr. Cruz showed me the importance of organization and time management. In order to complete my project, I needed to use samples from a project that was completed in her lab years ago and I was able to do this because of the organized manner that the lab was kept in. All the samples were inventoried in both a hard copy as well as an electronic copy. Additionally, Dr. Cruz had me start my own lab notebook where I recorded every step of my experiment and the work I did that day. Not only did this make my project more organized but it also allowed me to better plan out everything that I needed to get done for the week in order to be as efficient as possible. Thus, working in the lab helped me to attain better time management and organization skills.

Finally, an activity that entailed both of the transformations that I discussed above is my writing of a Pelotonia Undergraduate Fellowship Proposal. Towards the end of my project, I also began writing a draft of my research proposal for a Pelotonia grant. This requires a lot of patience as I have already made five versions of the proposal before I have even considered it a rough draft; it has required a lot of time and an understanding that the first draft I give my PI could be completely different than the final draft I turn in. Writing my proposal requires organization as well because in order to show preliminary data, some that I have acquired over a year ago, it is necessary for me to keep a updated notebook both in person and digitally.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

After graduating from Ohio State, I plan to take a gap year and then apply for medical school. Not only has this project aided me in the obvious way of advancing my understanding of science, but it has also opened up a lot of opportunities for me as well. As a result of working in this lab for my project, I have built connections with professionals in the field that I believe have put me forward in my future. After graduating, I already have a clinical job lined up for me, and this was made possible by the work that I have done in the lab. This is vital for my medical school application as well, as clinical hours are highly encouraged when applying. Thus, one way that this project has aided me in my future endeavors is by setting me up for a successful year after graduating.

Another way that this has transformational project has influenced my developmental is through my better understanding, and overall appreciation of science. Over the 3 months in which I completed my STEP project, I learned multiple skills. I learned a lot about the caution necessary for processing samples, as well as all the techniques I have described above for working with and obtaining high-quality RNA. In addition to this, I have also gained a better understanding on the background information, treatments, and etc. of pancreatic cancer. By reading so many papers in order to gain this knowledge, I have also become skilled in quickly understanding scientific papers. This has both short-term and long-term benefits for me. Firstly, this is a vital skill that is needed for the MCAT, and I believe having had practice I will be able to excel in my MCAT studying. Second, as a doctor I know that I will be constantly reading up on the newest technology, medications, and etc. that have come out in order to be the best physician that I can be. Therefore, this project has also set me up for success in that aspect as I can already make sense of complex scientific articles, even with the basic science education that I have had thus far.

My STEP Signature Project was a research fellowship with LiFEsports at The Ohio State University. I was part of an interdisciplinary team assisting with research and evaluation of LiFEsports Summer Camp and Youth Leadership Academy. I received hands-on research learning experience involving data collection, data entry and management, and basic data analyses. I also had the opportunity to help lead and coach children at the summer camp.

Throughout my project, I learned a lot about myself, my assumptions, and the world around me. First and foremost, I learned that I really enjoy research and working with others from different backgrounds. I initially accepted this fellowship to explore the world of research, not knowing it I would enjoy it. However, I quickly learned I love the systematic and detail-oriented nature of research and study design. Exposure to this field also helped me realize I would love to continue some aspect of research in my future career. I also learned that working as part of an interdisciplinary team was very rewarding and eye-opening. It was very helpful to have several different academic backgrounds working together. This helped me open my thoughts to other viewpoints and overall helped me become a more well-rounded individual.

Additionally, I believe my assumptions of the world around me underwent the largest transformation. The summer camp was highly composed of lower income children which definitely helped broaden my viewpoint on life. I think this was the most important point of my experience as it caused me to become more empathic of other’s life experiences and truly value what some children have to go through. Overall, I believe learning from others and hearing their stories made me more considerate and thoughtful of the world around me.

One relationship in particular that led to my personal transformation was with a 10-year-old boy who had social and developmental issues. He was in my “Chalktalk” classroom during camp, which is basically a course that helps teach social responsibility, teamwork, efforts, and self-control to the campers. This young boy had a hard time with some of the activities and interacting with his peers. I noticed this and took extra each day to sit and talk with him to help him cope with feeling overwhelmed. Each day, he would share a little more with me about his life and family. It was this connection that helped me realize we all have different struggles and experiences and sometimes we all just need someone that will take the time to listen. This is definitely a relationship that helped changed me, and a lesson I will take with me for the rest of my life.

Furthermore, the data entry of my research process taught me a lot about working with others and problem solving. When we were trying to enter the data for analysis, the other fellows and I ran into several problems with the software. It was quite frustrating as we were working under time restraints. However, as a team we found ways to overcome this issue. We looked for alternative ways we could input the data and troubleshot the problem with the software. The teamwork skill I developed helped me realized that several people working together is much more powerful than several people working independently. Also, my ability to problem solve and look for different solutions to a problem was greatly improved through this project and one of the main transformations I witnessed within myself.

Finally, my interactions with the LiFEsports staff also helped me become a more well-rounded individual. This was one of the first times in my life I had worked directly with adults for an extended period of time. I truly believe this helped my communication and professional skills, both of which are very important to my career. I learned how to be confident in my decisions and work, communicate my ideas effectively, and receive guidance from people who had been in my shoes before. Overall, I really enjoyed this aspect of my experience and believe it helped transform me into a more confident and well-rounded professional.

My transformation as a result of my STEP project was undoubtedly valuable to my life. The transformation is important to my academic, personal, and professional goals. First, I learned that I like working with data. This has led me to consider taking some more statistics classes. I also learned I would like to continue research in my future career. Secondly, I gained many skills such as communication, problem solving, and teamwork that will help me in my future. I hope to one day become a doctor and all of these skills will be extremely vital to my success. Finally, I have learned that everyone’s life is different, and we all come from different backgrounds. While this will help me in all aspects of my life, I had seen its effects most heavily in my personal life. I feel that I am more tolerant and accepting as a result of this experience Overall, everything I learned from this experience was transformative in at least one way, which I will always carry with me into my future.