Time as an Explorer at Fred Hutch
Monday, August 12, 2019
Besides getting to meet such exceptional people who have made a magnificent impact on my life, I have learned quite a bit from being at the Hutch. I came in open-minded with the thought that it was going to be competitive. On the contrary, this atmosphere was really friendly and I had so much fun meeting new people. For instance this is a picture of the first week, I was nervous but we all hit it off really fast. As you can tell by the picture we are all comfortable with each other.
Yes, indeed I got so comfortable with my friends that we always take pictures in the restrooms. You can most definitely see how content I am. I am happy to say that I became friends with a lot of people. Everyone is unique in their way. Such different personalities that you get a sense of everyone.
Highlight
I must presume that my favorite lab has to most definitely be our first lab. The initial lab that we did, was about the HeLa cell splats. We learned the genetic aspect about HeLa cells when suspended in metaphase. This is my favorite lab that I conducted because my partner taught me how to handle micropipette. Before even becoming an intern I had not even the slightest clue of what that was, I was familiar with looking into microscopes but never got to experience how to utilize using pipettes. Life as an intern made my perspective more mature in ways I could never imagine.
Although the science behind everything is prominent, note-taking is as well. For all the labs we conducted note-taking played an important role in reviewing what we talked about and observed. The basics to note-taking included the sample of the name, the magnification and lastly a drawing of the observations. Now that I am familiar with the basics of note-taking I will very much keep using it in the future since it is vital and will help me with being organized. Anyhow my most favorite learning experience here has been learning about HeLa cells although we did learn about other important factors like imposter syndrome. HeLa cells were eye-opening to me because of the ethical question we had to think about. As well as her cells making a big impact on the science community. HeLa cells were Henrietta Lacks' cells which were known as the immortal cells. Her cells are known for developing drugs and being a resource for research. What fascinated me about this case was that I am into Law and Biology. I could have never imagined that Biology and Law could go together, thanks to this experience I now know I can have a job where I can do Biology and Law together . Thank you Fred Hutch for not only making my summer great but giving me the chance to meet these amazing people. Different backgrounds. Different ethnicities. Different cultures. But we all love one thing and that is Biology. Thank you for bringing diversity and making the atmosphere random. This made me feel included and comfortable. I am grateful I had the chance to experience what a diverse meaning internship is like.
