It’s official. I’ve finished my third year in college.
I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about my experiences thus far, perhaps because most of my friends will be graduating in just two days from now. I came to Fontbonne leery of the thought of taking on a major as challenging as biology, and, I’ll admit it, I’ve really considered changing majors many times ever since (although oddly, I’ve never quite made it over to the registrar to pick up the correct form for that- call me lazy). Just three years ago, I was staring wide-eyed at my first general biology I assignment, which was on mimicry in the snake world. I didn’t understand the words. I was put into a group with seniors who, for some strange reasons, needed to retake general biology and who had already taken crazy 300- and 400-level biology courses. I had no idea what I was doing in that class.
And look at me now. I’ve finished my chemistry minor. I’m practically finished with my biotechnology concentration, and I already finished the physiology concentration. I’ve even taken an additional independent study human anatomy class (neuroanatomy) for fun. I technically only need to take one more biology class, immunology, and then I will have finished all of the departmental requirements for my degree.
So what have I learned in three years? Mostly, I’ve learned to never quit, even though I say “I quit” on what’s practically a daily basis. I’m scared about what lies ahead as far as GREs and internships and jobs and graduate admissions go, but I think that’s what’s the most exciting thing of all.
But, with school having just ended, I’d like to take some time to just reflect on the memories. The memories of Wednesday Cinema, our rather-new tradition of sitting in the biology seminar room and watching movies while doing homework all day. The memories of taking Molecular Techniques with Dillon and Tim all semester and telling each other to not tell Dr. Paine-Saunders that we spilled buffer all over or that we dropped our Western blot membranes in the sink. The memories of sleepless nights before organic chem tests and of waking up at 2 in the morning before a biochem test only to lie in bed and go through equations and problems over and over again in my head until it was time to get up and ready to go at 5:30am. These and countless other memories will continue to haunt me as I realize that many of my friends will not be back on campus in class with me next fall. But those memories, those bittersweet memories, will in time turn out to be some of the best I’ve ever had.
~ With Two of the Best Friends I’ll Ever Have ~
Tagged as:
Biology,
Friends,
Graduation,
internships,
neuroanatomy
Pour off old media. Wash twice with Hank’s salt solution. Add 5 milliliters of thawed trypsin and pour off. Wait five minutes. Use 5 milliliters of alpha-10 to quench the reaction. Add 1-2 drops of liquid culture to each of two new flasks, which should each contain 20 milliliters of alpha-10. Add 20 milliliters of alpha-10 to the original flask. Incubate all flasks at 37°C and check regularly.
I’ve been working with Dr. Thomasson on his cancer research all year. I’ve been performing the above procedure, which we call “splitting the cells,” since September. But it wasn’t until last week that I truly had an epiphany. I absolutely love working in the lab.
Since I’ve been a biology major, I’ve enjoyed micropipetting and looking through microscopes and figuring out where I may have introduced error into my experiment. However, last week, it just really hit me: I love working in the lab. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the structure of DNA, my molecular techniques class watched a NOVA documentary about Rosalind Franklin’s underestimated role in Watson and Crick’s field-changing work. In the film, one of the interviewed speakers talked about how Franklin didn’t just enjoy science for the end results, as do most scientists, but she enjoyed science for the entire process of it. While watching the documentary, I was sort of taken aback by that statement. I like results, and I like looking at where I go right and wrong. However, I never had really before thought of enjoying the journey of science more than the final destination.
The next day, I was literally just standing at the lab sink washing beakers that I’d previously used for splitting some of Dr. T’s cells. And you know what? I had this huge smile on my face. I was having the best time ever washing those beakers. Have Dr. T and I cured cancer? Definitely not. But just the prospect that we could make an important discovery or that we could be contributing valuable insight to others in the field is something to be proud of.
My friends will tell you that I’m very impatient, and they would be correct. I don’t like to sit around waiting for things to happen. As my friend and fellow blogger Carly would probably say, I like to be a catalyst and make things happen faster than they normally would. That’s probably why I started my newer method of thawing the trypsin enzyme in the water bath before gathering the necessary supplies for the above cell-splitting procedure instead of using my older method, which involved setting up the rest of the supplies and then thawing the frozen enzyme. However, in light of my newfound love of the entire process of science – not just a love of the results – I don’t think that waiting on the trypsin will be as tedious as I once found it to be.
Tagged as:
Biology,
Cancer,
DNA,
research
To begin with, I’d like to offer my readers an explanation as to why my blog last week was so short. As you may have read, I had my third test within the timespan of a week coming up, and I was trying to learn all about photosynthesis and the citric acid cycle and glycolysis regulation. I took a break to write my blog, but while typing, I accidentally hit a wrong button, therefore deleting all of my words except for those in my first paragraph. If you return to my previous blog and look at the comments, I’ve commented on my own blog and filled in some details.
Okay, now on to this week. Once again, I’ve miscounted the weeks until the end of school. I thought we had four weeks of classes left. Oh, no – we have 2.5 weeks of classes left, and then a week of exams. (I don’t know how I always miscount. I’m really not that terribly bad at counting…) Anyways, I feel like I still have a lot to do for school and otherwise. This past Friday, a few of my friends from the Biological Sciences Organization (BSO) and I went to the Science Center to celebrate DNA with Science Center visitors. Next week, on April 25, it will have been 60 years since Watson and Crick published their groundbreaking paper in the scientific journal “Nature” that described the structure of DNA. That determination has literally changed and affected all areas of biological sciences, ranging from cell biology to molecular biology to biochemistry to biotechnology to genetics. At the Science Center, we had a big DNA birthday card for visitors to sign, and we had spin-the-wheel trivia. We also had a fun craft activity that allowed visitors to make-and-take their own DNA strand, which they made using two different colors of pipe cleaners. (And boy, was I exhausted afterward. That night, when I was explaining to my mom what we had done, I said that we used “pipettes” to make DNA strands. True story.)
Next week, the BSO will be celebrating that monumental day in style with a party for biology majors on campus. Be sure to look for us, as we’ll be wearing our “DNA Is Life. Everything Else? Just Details.” shirts around campus. And the week after, BSO will have a very big Wednesday. We will be having our annual seniors’ graduation party in the morning and then going on an Owl Prowl in Forest Park that night. (Our new librarian, Mark Glenshaw, works in conjunction with Forest Park Forever and the World Bird Sanctuary, and he offered to take a few of us to Forest Park to show us owls’ nesting and habitat. We’re all really excited about it.)
So, for once, my social calendar is actually full. What about my school calendar, you may ask? Well, yes, my planner is chock full of due dates and the like. However, for the first time ever, I don’t feel like I’m completely panicking about finishing all of my work. Just give me a couple more days, though, and I’ll assure you that the panic will have begun…
~ With Carly and Kaniz at the BSO table at the Science Center! ~
Tagged as:
Biology,
BSO,
End of the Semester,
Owl Prowl,
Science Center
