Today was my first day working back in the lab, and I have to say that I hadn't realized how sorely the lab crew and environment was missed until I was amongst it again. I felt like I had come home the moment I opened the micro fridge and pulled out bacteria to start my first cultures of the year.I am looking forward to spending time in the lab again, with my colleagues and friends.
I am expecting this semester to be the most challenging for me yet, both inside and outside the lab. Professionally, I have continued to pick up extra work in education, thanks to the stewardship of PC's resident Developmental Education guru, Robin Ozz. She continuously pushes me to set the bar higher for myself, and under her tutelage I was recently selected for a DevEd position working with high school students. I will be prepping a group of seniors (four times a week) for the college placement exams over the next twelve weeks. Add that to the English 091 and 101 courses I am already tutoring, my ongoing job with the Phoenix Zoo, my class schedule, and the S-STEM scholarship, and I will be a very busy man indeed through mid-May. I am not complaining, however; I am very lucky to be able to do what I do. I remain always cognizant of the fact that I am able to reach for my dreams.Not everyone has that opportunity.
I am also very lucky to have the S-STEM faculty and students supporting me. Thank you in advance for helping me succeed this year! It is much appreciated.
Academically, my S-STEM project is the bright spot this semester, though I am also extremely excited to be enrolled in Biology 181+lab with Dr. Anna Marti-Subirana. I also have Calculus 1, but please excuse me if I don't jump for joy over that one. Luckily, I realized my mathematical shortcomings when I booked my schedule, so I rounded out my credit load with a 100 level class to yin the yang of Calculus.
Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I rarely get personal on here. It is, however, the first week of lab work, with little in the way of science to report. But don't get used to me being a frail human! The progress reports begin in earnest next week. :)
Until then, please enjoy the following. It is a short video on the polymerase-chain reaction (PCR), an essential component of my research. Note that the video mentions primers, a substance which allows DNA replication during the PCR; finding PCR primers that work with DNA samples from multiple bacterial species is the core of my research project.
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