Barbara O.
Hello to all readers! My name is Barbara, an upcoming junior at Kent Meridian. I was one of the few lucky participants to get accepted into the Explorers. I initially applied to this program to test how it would be to have a career in the research part of medicine. Even though I am mostly interested in the clinical side of it, I really wanted to gain hands-on experience and work alongside professionals who are actively working in improving healthcare; I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to apply because it taught me exactly that and provided me with the perfect foundation for my future in healthcare.
I already had high expectations for what my experience at Fred Hutch would be like but already on the first day, it had exceeded them. I had no prior experience with research, but it was amazing and incredibly memorable–everyday was filled with new topics and new memories with the rest of the amazing interns here. This program was able to help me learn and grow a lot academically and personally. I have many highlights in this program, but my favorite ones include labs, lectures, and some which are non-academic related.
Firstly, in the labs we started off with some beginner level labs introducing basic skills such as using a micropipette and measuring with it. On the second day to be exact we learned how to micropipette and used dye to make a rainbow circle. We watched a video about how to control the volume and about how it worked. We were given a short tutorial by our TA’s and some warnings of what not to do. We then were left to follow the instructions given to us on our protocols with our newly assigned partner. It was nerve-wracking at first but over time It was easier to communicate with my partner and follow along even though I barely helped much other than being the emotional support and bringing the supplies. (Sorry to my 1st partner Ally).
Pictures of the Mircropippette lab & me and my lab partner (I'm the one with the thumbs up)
Secondly, what I want to talk about are the lectures given to us by our amazing guest speakers. My highlight out of all of them was Dr. Raabya and Dr.Paul, whose advice was so inspiring it helped me get the idea to put up a poster saying, “Failure is not the end, but the beginning of a new experience.” They made me realize our future is not set in stone, every single “failure" is actually a lesson from life, it doesn't have to be seen as this negative experience but more of a new perspective.
Now lastly but not least the non-academic related highlights were a couple moments I had with my fellow interns. Throughout the program we all slowly started to get to know each other and it didn't take long for us to warm up and start connecting. One of the things we would do just as we got there was try and finish our puzzles. The first two days there was an awkward silence while we built them but eventually it became never ending conversations about silly topics and our resilience to finish our puzzles to show we were the better session. The second week is when we started planning hangouts we went to Mochinut, the beach, U-Village and more plans are being made. My last highlight would be the silly pranks we made on Dr.G, it started as an idea in our groupchat and then became a small trend for the last week. Eventually even Dr.G pranked us back which made everyone in our session very surprised, but we all had lots of fun during all of them.
Now I’d like to thank everyone in the program. Dr.G and all the staff there were very sweet and kind, throughout the program we all felt very included and welcomed. Thank you to Eden, Kat, Dustin, and Ariana for the help either during lectures or labs. And again, many thank yous to Dr.G, who made this program an exciting experience and remarkable experience.
Picture of Session 2 with Dr.G
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