1. Over the course of the fall semester, I continued my position as an undergraduate research assistant with the Badu-Tawiah Research Group. I worked with my mentor, Alex Grooms, and we were able to complete a project and get the paper and poster completed. In the lab, I would help by setting up the equipment that would be used, make solutions, and run experiments and record data.

2. While completing my project, I gained valuable skills that I will be using in my future as a scientist, engineer, or doctor. I learned how patient I must be as it takes a lot of time to see results, I learned how to be perseverant as you will fail at something. I also learned how to properly perform research and the amount of work that must be put in to just one part of an experiment. My views on the research world changed when I was a part of my first finished project. I never realized the time that must be put into just writing the paper and putting together images and graphs. I have written many lab reports but nothing to the extent of a real research project.

3. During my STEP project, I was able to experience all aspects of research. I got to be a part of the ending of a project where the paper and poster are completed, as well as the start of a new project, and everything in between. I had the opportunity to work with my mentor, a PhD student, and learn that we all go through similar things, like classes, and got to learn from someone who was more experienced in my field and learn from them how to perform proper research. During my time in the lab, I experienced many barriers. There were days where no work could be done because equipment would not work, and days where we could not get the data that we were looking for. We also had good days where everything was working out just how we had planned. My relationship with my mentor had grown to be so strong that made going into the lab much more enjoyable, even when days did not go as planned. We worked well as a team and worked efficiently. When the project that I had been helping with was completed, I was asked to review the poster to be sure everything looked perfect and there were no errors. With this, I felt a sense of leadership and trust that I was worthy enough to review the final product.

4. My STEP project directly benefits my future career plans in many ways. As a chemical engineer, I will need to apply the proper lab skills to my classes I take to complete my degree. I will also be practicing a lot of the same techniques when I am doing research and development, which is a huge part of engineering. Specifically, the project that I was helping with in research can be specifically applied to the development of medicine, the area that I choose to focus. This also is beneficial to me as a person because it taught me valuable life skills like resilience, patience, organization, and determination. These are all skills that can be used in and outside of the workplace.
5. RESEARCH Step OMSS_Poster_2023

This summer, with the help of STEP, I was able to participate in undergraduate research all throughout the summer here at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and the James Comprehensive Cancer Center under Principal Investigator Dr. Brian Searle.

Thermal Proteome Profiling (TPP) has emerged as a formidable method for investigating protein-ligand interactions, stabilization and destabilization of those interactions, and cellular responses to temperature shifts. Chaperones play a vital role in maintaining protein homeostasis and the facilitation of proper protein folding. In my work over the summer (and in future work), the TPP approach is utilized to demonstrate the melting curves of proteins of interest, and in future studies, to evaluate changes in melting curves of proteins of interest in the presence and absence of a target chaperone to generate potential clientele candidates of the targeted chaperone.

The help of STEP allowed me to delve into this project head on without financial worry in other areas of my life, and completely immerse myself into the world of research. A world that was previously unknown to me. The intricacies, and ups and downs of research I experienced over the summer has taught me a tremendous amount  not only about the field, but even more about myself, my assumptions, and my view of the world. In a sense, it made me feeler more in touch with humanity. The research community, as niche as it may be, are all working individually to solve specific problems, and there are millions of ground breaking publications released every year that go unnoticed to the general community. But it is these millions of highly specified solutions, or developments, that when built with other newly gained information, becomes the headline discovery that you hear about on 60 minutes every Sunday night. It takes years and thousands of people to put discoveries of that magnitude together and often very few of those people receive adequate credit. Being apart of that world, made me appreciate the community to a much greater extent because I got to see what all goes into the research world. When doing research, an entire day’s work can be for nothing if at the very end your sample is contaminated or the data that your samples yield isn’t what you were looking for, which can be excruciatingly painful at times. More times than I’d like to admit. But I have gained a greater perspective on patience and the age old saying “its not about the destination, it’s about the journey”.

The people that made that journey as special as it has been, and will continue to be as I continue to progress with my project, are my coworkers. Truthfully, some people aren’t as lucky as I have been. My principal investigator, Dr. Searle, is the most intelligent person I have ever met and has showed me the ropes all while understanding how much of a beginner I am, and has been nothing but supportive on my journey. In addition to him, a graduate biochemistry student here at Ohio State who also works for Dr. Searle, has been my biggest fan and supporter even throughout the entire learning process I had to go through when I first started. As the only undergraduate in the lab, there’s a million things I don’t know, a million experiences I don’t share, and transparently, a lot of scientific knowledge I don’t have. With that being said, I have always been treated with the upmost respect and professionalism even when my #1 job was to file incoming orders, put stuff away, and keep inventory and learn correct pipet techniques. Which says so much about the high quality individuals I have been able to work with and have made the experience as amazing as it has been.

This experience has taught me so much, and as I continue on with it into my senior year, I am hungry for any ounce of information I can squeeze out of it. Regardless of whether or not I go into research with my future career, the lessons I have learned working for something greater than me, greater than a CEO or a paycheck, are lessons I will carry with me throughout all of my future endeavors.

Over the 2023 summer, I assisted in research regarding bee conservation efforts and better understanding bee diets. The goal of the research was to determine what types of plants and pollen native bees were primarily eating so that future conservation efforts could be more focused on these specific plants over others. My primary role in this research was to identify the pollen collected from the field. Nonetheless, I would occasionally go into the field, different wooded areas and parks, to assist in collecting samples and data.

Prior to my project, I had an interest in doing some sort of research; however, I did not really know what any sort of research would look like or how any of it was performed. I had always had a desire to attend medical school and heard from fellow peers, colleagues, professors, and even my parents that research was highly recommended for both applications to medical school as well as success in it in general. Though, I really had no clue what any sort of research looked like. I assumed that research was similar to a job and would simply entail going into a lab or similar setting everyday to complete daily tasks. However, through this opportunity, I was able to gain an insight into the field of research and what it actually was. Through the project, my understanding of how I could contribute to research and my understanding of what research entailed transformed.

Working for Dr. Goodell and her colleagues showed me the process of how research was conducted. In addition, it also developed key skills for conducting any sort of research such as attention to detail, communication, data collection, and data analysis. Due to this, I gained confidence in my ability to perform research. I learned that research was not the same as a normal job, which often stays repeating the same tasks for the same purpose with no foreseeable conclusion. Rather, research follows a pattern of starting with a question, determining how that question could be solved, performing data collection or experiments, conducting data analysis, and then wrapping up the research with conclusions. Therefore, my previous assumptions on what research entailed was changed because of the project.

Through the project, I was able to transform my understanding of myself from having little confidence in performing any sort of research to having faith in my ability and skills. This transformation was primarily through the technical and physical aspects of the project. For example, in most research settings, working with a team is essential. Thus, communication is also essential. From consistently sending emails, texts, and being in the lab talking and working together on different samples, I was able to develop this skill of communication. I learned how to professionally write emails, how and when to ask for assistance, and especially how to maximize efficient communication.

In addition to communication, I also gained an immense amount of technical skill from the consistent lab work. For instance, my constant microscope work, where I repeatedly identified characteristics of pollen that were less than a micrometer in length, allowed me to develop a great attention to detail. I would count extremely tiny pores or furrows within a single grain of pollen in order to identify it, and most of the time, these characteristics would be extremely similar to multiple other species. This made any sort of identification very complex and required refined technical skills, which I developed over time. Now, this attention to detail will help me with not only my classwork, but also in any sort of clinical or professional setting, and I am confident in my ability to conduct further research requiring this skill.

Though other than being able to transform my own personal view of my technical skills, the project was also able to transform my view of what research was and how it was conducted. Prior to starting any lab work, Dr. Goodell and her colleagues presented some of their former projects and current endeavors to myself and other research assistants. Through this presentation, I was introduced to a real life example of how research was conducted. Dr. Goodell had many different projects; however, they all followed a similar pattern. They started with a question on bee conservation, which then transformed into ideas on how these questions could be answered. I was guided through the process of previous methods of data collection, field samples, data analysis, and then transitioned into doing similar things myself. This let me put into practice what Dr. Goodell taught me what research was and allowed me to further my grasp of understanding it. Through her efforts and the project, I now see research as something that follows an arc and where new questions and ideas can always be brought forth and tested

This transformation was beneficial in a multitude of ways. To start, the development of my skills in the lab transferred to the classroom and my academics. In microbiology, my constant working with microscopes over the summer has facilitated my ability in completing microscopy assignments efficiently. In addition, from the work and training I did for the project over the array of plants we worked with, the background knowledge I gained has made my understanding of topics in my Plants and People class much easier. Nonetheless, the transformation also impacted me on a personal and professional level.

On a personal basis, the transformation gave me confidence in my ability to not only succeed in research, but also be confident in myself. With the skills I acquired, I am now confident I can independently problem solve any obstacle that arises. Professionally, the transformation will impact my ability to perform any sort of research in the future as I now have a better grasp on what it would entail and how to go about it. In addition, the research will open future doors and be beneficial to things such as medical school applications and just medical school in general. The project and transformation that took place over summer will be something that will stay with me forever and its impact has made a difference in my life.

This past summer I worked in Dr. Venkata Garikipati’s lab, in the Emergency Department. The lab focused on investigating the role of non-coding RNA, including small nuclear RNA (snoRNA) and circular RNA, in cardiovascular diseases. Through experiments such as RNA isolation, RT-PCR, and gel electrophoresis, I could see the impact these diseases had on the hearts of mice. 

In addition to the technical skills that I have gained and can use in my future career, I also was able to apply what I have learned in many of my classes. Many experiments I conducted in the lab were ones my professors taught in the classroom. The application of that knowledge was especially important for me because I saw where I lacked in understanding. Talking about these experiments and skills was easier than conducting them. The experiments I conducted were important to understand because many of these experiments changed the way research was conducted and how healthcare is provided. I worked alongside a PhD graduate, Dr. Amit Rai, who made sure I was not just following the steps, but also that I understood why each step was needed and the influence the experiment and equipment had on the world. 

Moreover, I was surprised to see how closely labs worked together. I witnessed the collaboration of my lab and another out of state lab. Furthermore, I was able to witness the friendships formed between labs. Other scientists would come and ask about our project, allow us to use their equipment, and be genuinely interested in life outside the lab.  

When I first entered the lab, I shadowed Dr. Rai. He continuously asked me questions and had me think about the application of the skills I am learning outside of the laboratory. For example, PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) was one of the main experiments we consistently ran in our lab. Despite its effectiveness in amplifying our targeted RNA, it is also used outside the lab for diagnosing infections (like COVID), paternity testing, and forensics.  

Once I was ready to conduct the experiments, Dr. Rai made sure I understood the steps and would ask me what the importance of each part of the experiment was. This allowed me to solidify my understanding of what I was doing, and how the step could impact my results. When my results were skewed, I could go back and figure out what could have affected my outcome. The work I did was an accumulation of the time and effort I have put into my degree. I consistently encountered information that I had learned before or that tied into something I studied in the past. This project has increased the knowledge I have gained during my undergraduate degree. 

Lastly, I had the privilege of witnessing the collaboration of different labs, the friendships that had grown in the workplace, and building my own friendships. Some of the equipment I used in my project was borrowed from the neighboring labs, and they were happy to share. During my time in the lab, we had a couple of lab lunches which allowed me to build a stronger connection between my Dr. Garikipati, Dr. Amit, and the other undergraduates in the lab. We also had a birthday celebration for one of the people in a neighboring lab. Overall, the environment there was friendly and supportive, Furthermore, I was able to see the exchange of information with an outside lab. Seeing two labs collaborate to publish reminded me that scientific discoveries take more than one person. The field of science is large and to help the world scientists must help each other.  

My goal was to gain research experience for my future career as a doctor, but I gained so much more from this experience. I gained technical lab skills, knowledge and understanding, friendships, career advice, and networking connections. The skill and understanding I have gained will help me on my MCAT, medical school, career, and I now have experience that can get me more research experiences. The advice, connections, and friendships I have gained are things I hope to take with me throughout my medical journey and into my career. 

Picture taken during one of our lab lunches.

For my signature project, I undertook a summer of undergraduate research in the study of plasma physics with Professor Christopher Orban.  My primary focus was on the group’s project relating to applying machine learning methods to simulate a certain experiment in plasma physics (predicting the resulting ion energy from laser-driven ion acceleration).  My primary activities involved coming into the Physics Research Building to perform programming tasks on my computer and discussing approaches to current problems with the fellow members of Professor Orban’s research group.

The impact that this project had on me was immeasurable.  Firstly, this project gave me insight into what awaits me as I continue my career as a physicist.  By undertaking this project, I came into an office almost daily, performing research tasks and working with graduate students to solve problems, as would become a regular daily routine should I further my educational career in graduate school.  In performing this project, I discovered that I love doing research, providing me valuable insight as to the career path I want to pursue.  In this project also serving as my first time doing “real” physics, I also gained much self-confidence in my ability to make valuable contributions to work in my field, validating my decision to study physics.

One of the most important aspects of my signature projects was the relationships I developed with the fellow members of my research group; I came to know both my professor, Chris Orban, and the graduate students withing the group quite well.  By seeing the other members of the group nearly every working day, I gained not only professional connections to some capable physicists, but also friendships maintained outside of the professional space as well.  Learning to communicate and collaborate with these fellow researchers in a professional manner while also being able to discuss the latest cinematic releases and debate the best flavor of Starburst has provided me with invaluable career skills, teaching me both how to effectively function within a workplace environment and how to maintain friendly relationships with my coworkers.  Ultimately, I plan to maintain contact with my current coworkers well past graduation.

Another valuable insight provided to me by this project was the exposure to the process of doing “real” research for the first time.  While I had some experience with research projects and lab classes before this project, nothing compares to the experience of actually researching novel inquiries and attempting to make contributions to the field in which one works.  Learning how to read papers, ask the right questions, set up approaches to solving problems, and drawing conclusions from experimental data was an important aspect of this project that will continue to be relevant for the rest of my professional career.  In doing so, I learned to appreciate and look forward to the process of doing research, giving me significant reason to consider undertaking a career in which I would perform research professionally.  Moreover, being able to gain real-world research experience helped to dispel my “imposter syndrome”—the concept of self-doubt and low self-confidence existing in people with high capabilities, leading them to feel as though they were an “imposter” hiding among other people of higher ability.  I feel as though the following story from author Neil Gaiman perfectly encapsulates the essence of imposter syndrome:

Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things.  And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.

On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name*. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”

And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”

And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.

Knowing that even one as accomplished and respected as Neil Armstrong could suffer from the effects of imposter syndrome provided me with much reassurance and solidarity, that my self-doubt was hardly unique and my abilities were valid.  My project served as the first example in which I could prove to myself that I was capable, I was not an imposter, and learn to be confident in myself.

An exciting opportunity afforded to myself through this project was the opportunity to attend the 2023 LaserNetUS Users’ Meeting during the last week of June at the University of Maryland.  By taking this trip with the fellow members of my research group, I was able to make valuable connections with and hear about the research contributions of a whole host of respected physicists.  We even got to meet the author of a paper that our group heavily cited and discussed in depth, which was a fun coincidence.  This unique experience provided me with valuable connections for further career opportunities, allowed me to present my research in a professional setting, and reinforced my desire to do research and my self-confidence.

The transformations I underwent during my STEP project will continue to be invaluable for the rest of my life.  Gaining the opportunity to do research has afforded me several marketable skills, and, as it has led to a senior thesis and the lion’s share of a publication, it has allowed me to start constructing a curriculum vitae for my academic career.  Having research experience and potentially (should the review process be swift enough) a publication would be incredibly advantageous when moving toward the next stage of my career, especially if that stage happens to be graduate school or another research-intensive position.  Moreover, the social skills and increased confidence resulting from this experience will be helpful in nearly all aspects of the rest of my life, whether professional or private.  Overall, I am greatly appreciative of this opportunity having been provided to me; I will likely view its significant contributions to my growth and abilities as a turning point for the rest of my career.

STEP Post-Project Reflection

1. My STEP Signature Project entailed doing chemical and biochemical research within a lab here at Ohio State. This research mainly entailed the investigation of a template directed amino acylation of a nucleotide bases and conjugate molecules to a lysine amino acid in a short peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligopeptide when complexed to an internal loop of uracil nucleotides within an RNA molecule. To do this, I synthesized the modified amino acid as well as the short tripeptide. Using these molecules, I ran a reaction to modify the peptide in the presence of RNA and monitored the results.

2. Doing this project fundamentally provided me with two important realizations about myself and academic research. The first was that failure is a natural and inevitable step in academic research and that what is most important is how you take that failure and learn from it. The main goal of my project was to see whether I could modify a peptide in a template-mediated manner using RNA. I was able to test this hypothesis, yet I could not get positive results at all.  It was frustrating especially since the literature indicated that it should have worked. However, I learned that this is essentially inevitable in research and that I just had to take what information I could from those failures and try again in a new way. It made me realize that failure is a natural and that doing research is about perseverance more than anything else. This is a lesson I will take into my future endeavors in academia as well as into other aspects of life, working through and learning from the things that do not go my way.

Additionally, I gained a more robust idea of what my particular interests of study are in the field. In the process of doing this project I did research in a variety of different areas from organic synthesis to biology. Due to this, I have a better understanding of the type of research I prefer. While I enjoy doing organic chemistry, I have learned that I prefer doing more biochemistry-oriented research. Since I would like to go to graduate school knowing my preferences has allowed me to be able to determine PhD programs and professors that are doing research that I am interested in. Doing intensive research over the summer like I would be doing in graduate school has given me the experiences needed to better determine my interests.

3. I learned these lessons mostly through the actual process of doing the research. After I had synthesized the peptide, I worked over a month straight on trying to get the template-mediated reaction to work. I was tweaking variables almost every day trying to troubleshoot in order to eliminate reasons for why the reaction did produce any product while the control reaction did, which contradicted the hypothesis from the literature. Yet all the changes to variables resulted in essentially the same outcome. By the end of the summer, I felt dejected. I felt as if I had accomplished nothing over the summer and it was frustrating. However, the experience mixed with discussions with the graduate students in the lab made me realize that this kind of failure is bound to happen as research rarely goes exactly as planned. Even though I did not find what I wanted to, I did learn something from the research which is important. Therefore, I feel as if I am now able to see these kinds of setbacks not as failures but learning experiences to use to grow.

Additionally, I felt as if the relationships I had built with the graduate students in the lab along with my primary investigator fundamentally helped me better understand research and my own interests in it. Spending time in the lab helped build a sense of comradery that made doing research much more enjoyable. Moreover, it allowed me to ask them questions about their own experiences. They had come from different countries and regions and had their own research interests and talking to them about it really helped me realize my own interests. I had honest chats with them about what they had previously done, and it made consider what it takes to go to graduate school and work in academia. It grounded my expectations for the future yet did not deter me from still striving to earn a PhD. I now knew that I wanted to do research different than what I did over the summer yet still mixed chemistry and biochemistry.

Finally, I presented at a group meeting near the end of the summer, in which I presented a paper that was related to template-mediated synthesis. Doing this gave me the opportunity to practice not alone doing deep analysis of literature but also presenting in a research setting rather than a purely academic one. In all, I did a decent job looking to be able to explain thoroughly what they did in the paper and was able to answer most questions people had. However, I did make a few little mistakes. For instance, I had looked over what the actual type of molecule was they were using in the paper which was a modified version of an amino acid I had known. While this was a minor thing, it did teach me to be a bit more thorough in my reading and to take both help and criticism in strides when presenting. Each time I do something I can learn and adapt from it and come out as a better researcher and person.

4.  Both these changes that I have experienced in total will help me become more resilient and thoughtful both in research and in life generally. I have a better grasp on how to take setbacks and failures in stride which is fundamental to doing research and is something I will inevitably face when I go into graduate school and beyond. I now know that failure is just the start of the long and arduous research process. Additionally, through my own experiences along with talking to others, I have gotten a better grip on what I do and do not want to study in the future, allowing me to narrow my focus on the graduate schools and professors that I would really be interested in. This will inevitably be an experience that will help guide me for the next few years and beyond as I try to continue to do research.

Dr. Feng and myself standing by my research poster at a recent research forum.

Myself working in the Child Emotions Lab.

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.

My STEP Project was participating in an undergraduate research apprenticeship opportunity I was presented with in the Child Emotions Lab at Ohio State. I worked under Dr. Xin Feng, PhD, in her lab I coordinated coder meetings with the other undergraduates, and continued work on current projects. Some of my tasks consisted of coding and cleaning data of various projects throughout the summer.

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.

During my project I got to learn a lot about the research world. The apprenticeship program I was in taught me a lot of the inner workings that are crucial in the behind-the-scenes development of research. I got to learn how to better conduct literature review, as well as write about my research after I have conducted a project. In addition to this, my view on research changed. I was expecting to be constantly busy and finding intriguing data that built upon my existing thoughts. Instead, I was exposed to the real world of research that is very tedious and strenuous, as well as rarely yielding significant data. I kept having findings that would set me back, but these also taught me that you can learn something, even when nothing seems apparent.

Overall, this program taught me a great deal about myself. I was able to learn that patience is more of a virtue than I expected it to be in a professional setting. That always being busy and barreling straight ahead can be destructive, and you must be patient and meticulous with many lines of work. In addition to this, I learned that I am not interested in pursuing a career exclusively in research. I acknowledge the importance of research, but I do not think that this line of work will be the foundation of my career and life in the future. It was too disconnected from others and did not interest me in a way that I think I could do it every single day as a job.

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.

My interactions with various people led to this transformation within myself. I think the two individuals who had the most impact on me were Dr. Feng and Yvonne Gong (the graduate student who helps run the lab). Over the course of the past year and a half, and especially over the summer, I worked extensively with them. I have worked with them on many projects, and they have trusted me to help run their lab. The most significant factor they had on my change was them both leaving the country for a large period of the summer. While they were away, I oversaw the weekly meetings with the other coders, as well as any small tasks they needed me to complete and forward them. This showed me a great deal of the inner workings of the lab and helped me have exposure being a leader in this setting.

Other interactions that impacted me over the summer were my other interactions via my lab and the program I was in. The program (URAP) that I was participating in had a couple of events, including zoom meetings and a kickoff event, that I really enjoyed. I found it transformative to be able to learn about others research projects that they were conducting and be able to talk about roadblocks and experiences with others in similar situations. In addition to these interactions, I also interacted with the other undergraduates in my lab. With these students I was able to work alongside them, but also serve as a source of information and aid. These interactions kept me accountable and operating in the lab at a high caliber.

Lastly, another significant factor that changed my perspective on research over the summer was my lack of interactions. While the above-mentioned interactions I cherished, they were extremely limited. Dr. Feng I only saw in person for half the summer, and Yvonne I only interacted with via zoom and email. In addition to this, the URAP meetings were pretty rare, and the other undergraduates in my lab rarely worked, for they were volunteers. They only needed to complete 80-hours over the entire summer, meanwhile I was doing close to this in a two-week span. This meant that I often was in the lab not interacting with others for multiple days in a row. This has led to me having a slight aversion to research, and it is the reason I am unsure about making it into a career.

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.

This change has been extremely valuable to the greater goals I have with my life. I am currently studying psychology on the pre-med track, and I am hoping to one day become a doctor. I am currently unsure what type of medicine I want to pursue, but this research experience has helped me eliminate specific fields. I do not wish to work in a laboratory setting, and I know I want to work in a social field where I get to interact with many patients. Additionally, over the course of the summer I have read extensive research articles, which have enhanced my ability to analyze scholarly text, which will be extremely useful in my life as a physician.

This reading skill will also be very helpful in my academic life. Throughout the course of the summer, I was able to learn priceless skills that can help me in my last year of my undergraduate degree, as well as in future educational programs. I will be able to use my new analysis skills, as well as literature review and writing skills that I have acquired to better my future endeavors. Lastly, I will also be able to take the things I learned from this program into my personal life. I will be able to bring more educational aspects to depression and how it implicates children, as well as constantly surround myself with others. I found being isolated in the lab was an unhealthy setting for me, and I will strive to put myself in social settings, both professionally, academically, and socially in my future.

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.

My STEP project was an undergraduate research project where I worked with Dr. Skinner and his lab to build a stimulation in the programming language Julia that explores and mimics the intricacies of measurement induced phase transitions. The main activities of the project were working on the project at home, in lab, and communicating with those who I was working with.

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.

Working with the Skinner lab gave me my first real experience in the field of “modern physics”. Quantum mechanics, which is a broad field the lab focuses on, is still a new and upcoming science, with many new innovations happening every day. To be a part of this field was a great experience in being in an especially fast paced, highly competitive, and quickly developing field and transformed my perspective on research for the better. The research I had done in the past, while also fast paced and competitive, gave me a perspective of a practice rooted very much in older technology and techniques. However, joining this lab introduced many new cutting edge and modern forms of research and study that really granted me a lot of valuable experience and understanding.

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.

I had many positive experiences come out of my time working with Skinner lab. Firstly, meeting with Dr. Skinner himself to discuss a potential project gave me a huge amount of insight into what the field looks like now, what research in the field would look like, and how that research would be done. We talked about many projects and he introduced to me a couple of projects and let me choose which one I would be most interested in working and participating in. I had a great first impression and this helped fuel my ambition for working in the field and helped me realize that I really do like being in research.

Another notable meeting was when I first met with Xiaozhou, the graduate student who helped me throughout the project. He made sure I understood all the material and context of the project and throughout the summer has aided and guided me in coding in Julia, giving me examples, and other general help. The first meeting we had, he introduced me to some of the other lab members and also gave me an in-depth look into the subject and, most importantly, let me know the significance of my project and what my part in the research is. This helped me feel like I was part of something bigger, and further reinforced the importance of teamwork and working together in my mind.

Overall, the members of the lab and the experience of doing the project itself greatly aided in my journey to becoming who I am today. Learning how to code and output useful results even on my own computer was a very powerful moment that helped me realize that anyone can get into quantum research and high level research even with the technology at one’s own home. I felt like I was contributing to the actual science rather than just learning it in class, and this curiosity is further motivating me to contribute more in the field.

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.

This experience was greatly valuable to my life in all aspects. From an academic perspective, this project helped shape my future goals as a physics major who wants to further pursue this field in graduate school. Personally, I always loved working and being part of something I am passionate and interested about. I enjoyed working with the lab this summer and had a great time participating in the cutting-edge work. Professionally, like I stated before, have the goals of making it into graduate school for physics and hope to someday get a PhD. Working on this project put me one step closer to achieving this goal and have given me more insight on what I want to do in the future in this field.

Here is a picture of part of my code that I learned to make during my time in the lab:

1. I participated in Loyola University Chicago’s Cardio SURPh (Summer Undergraduate Research in Physiology) program for my STEP signature project. This was a 10-week research internship investigating cellular physiology of blood vessel cells in Dr. Peter Kekenes-Huskey’s lab. The lab uses biochemical and computational methods in answering research questions.

2. In addition to learning new concepts and techniques, I experienced personal growth. I was not experienced in the areas of the lab’s research and starting college in 2020, many of my lab courses were online so I had very little biological lab experience. I overcame worries about my inexperience and focused on being the best learner I could be. I also advanced my confidence and learning abilities as I adjusted to teaching myself difficult topics outside of the typical structure of school.
My experience also gave me insights on the work environment of research. I was happily surprised by the collaboration and teamwork within different labs in the department, from teaching me experimental methods, answering questions, and borrowing materials.

3. Everyday in the lab I saw the practical applications of what I have learned throughout my degree. I saw lecture slides from general chemistry, math, statistics, and biochemistry come to life with the steps I was doing in experiments. It is rewarding as I enter the final year of my degree to see the applications outside of the classroom.
A formative element of my internship was teaching myself difficult topics. I have always enjoyed school and thrived in the structure but it was an adjustment to learning independently. I was able to learn Python coding and mathematical models to simulate biological phenomena which I had never even heard of before. My final presentation was on my creation of a systems model integrating all I learned which was very rewarding and a great confidence builder.
A major component of my day to day was working in the lab and I learned a variety of methods. My primary responsibility for a month was learning and performing Western Blots, a common biological experimental method that I soon learned is very fickle. The experimental process is long and frustrating especially when days of work yield no results. However, I worked on troubleshooting and eventually was able to identify problems and even train other lab members. I also created the lab’s first protocol so detailed instructions could be used after my program ended.

4. The personal and professional growth throughout my internship is valuable as I continue my exploration into research. Working full time in the lab, I learned the dynamics and team nature of research and affirmed that I want to continue working in research in the future. I also saw the stresses of experiments not working, equipment breaking and the difficult path to gain higher education. I learned about masters, PhDs, MD/PhDs, postdocs and the hierarchy of academic research which is helpful as I discern my future career.
Personally, I gained confidence in applying my degree outside the classroom and grew in my ability to learn outside of the structure of classes. I am excited to see how these skills advance post-graduation as I start my career and eventually pursue higher education. I plan on taking a gap year to continue working in research before becoming a physician. This experience showed me the translation from concepts learned in class to research questions and experimentation and eventually to improve patient outcomes. I plan to continue research in a medical career to connect these translational findings in order to best care for future patients.

This is a picture of me in the lab and me after giving my final presentation!