Fred Hutch Explorers! Now where do I begin? Well, the story doesn’t exactly start on the first day of the two week program. A couple months ago, back in February my mentor from another program suggested I apply for the SHIP program at Fred Hutch. When she first mentioned Fred Hutch so nonchalantly I had no idea who and what she was talking about. No one in my family had ever had cancer and to be honest I had only seen the sign once. I had no idea what they did. Later, I found out I was a year too young to apply for the SHIP program, so I found the Explorers Program, listed next to it. When browsing the website I had an opportunity to start reading about what Fred Hutch was all about. I had no idea how important this institute was, not only in the greater Seattle and Washington area but to the world and I wanted desperately to learn more.
Located to the left is a screenshot of an article written about one of the Fred Hutch’s three Nobel prize winners, E. Donnall Thomas. He is recognized as the father of bone marrow transplantation and was awarded the Nobel prize in medicine in 1990. When I discovered this, I realized how important Fred Hutch is and the impact it has had on the world. It was an honor just with intern there for two weeks.
When the first day did finally come there was electrifying feeling in the air. My parents couldn’t wait for me to finally start and I knew my mom and dad were proud of me. My dad was practically kicking me out of the car on the first day eager for me to start so I can come back and tell him all about it. I entered the building a little nervous because I knew how competitive the program was, with only about 34 picked from 220. As I sat down, I realized that a lot of the other explorers were in the same boat as me; nervous, excited, and maybe a bit intimidated by the what’s to come. The tension all eased when we started some of our icebreakers including; the mingle dance, bingo, sticker poster -where students put how they like to communicate-, and creating the norms poster - our rules. Everyone started to get really comfortable with each other and later we were able to become friends really fast. It was such a welcoming and inclusive environment with wonderful people that I never felt like an outsider. Talking to someone new and asking them to sit with them during lunch was no longer an impossible feat like hiking up Mt. Everest. Fred Hutch really gives off a homey feeling.
Dancing the imaginary music, are Yusuf, Nohami, and myself while Sandra watches. On the fourth day of the program (Thursday, August 22nd) we put on an immune system play that allowed us to act out how the immune system works when bacteria come in. I was the macrophage, a white blood cell that locates and 'eat' particles, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites as well as dispose old dead cells.
Holding up our results from our last lab with the explorers program using ELISA are Carmen and I. We have near perfect results with no cross contamination. Although we were the last ones out of the lab we had a ton of fun laughing and joking around with each other. (Thursday, August 29)
Although the program was super fun it doesn’t mean we didn’t learn. We learned so much that I feel like my head could explode on certain days - that’s a good thing. There was never a day where we weren’t learning. Our main work spaces were the explorers lab and the conference room. In the lab we learned techniques like PCR, ELISA, CRISPR, gel electrophoresis, micropipetting, and many more. Through these experiments we were able to work with HeLa Cells and learn about the bioethics of them. We not only learned about the bioethics of HeLa Cells but of animal models and the use of CRISPR. In the classroom we learned in many different ways. We went and visited labs like the ones below in the pictures, used models in the class, made posters, read papers on bioethics, did socratic seminars, and listened to presentations. Some presentations were about imposter syndrome, current experiments going on at the hutch, public health within the Seattle are and outside of it, bioinformatics, experiments from SHIP interns, and many MANY more. All these different teaching methods and learning environments really allowed me to gain a better understanding of the topics we were learning about throughout our internship.
Here is the view from a microscope of flies at the Parkhurst lab. Flies are another commonly used animal model in scientific research. At this lab that we visited we learned that they study flies in order to understand how genes get turned on and off as fruit-fly embryos develop and how errors in this process can lead to cancer and other diseases.
Looking through the microscope at fluorescent patterns is Yusuf. It is very common to see C. elegans, the type of worm above, used as an animal model for neurological research. On the screen you can see the green and red colors. The green are the neurons of the animal. (Friday, August 23)
One would think a high school program would only scratch the surface when learning about complex topics, but it was quite the opposite. We dove deep down into subjects that most wouldn’t learn until college or beyond and for many students, including myself, it was empowering. Being able to not only learn but to understand complex topics made students feel like they were ready for the real world. Along with learning new lab techniques, we’re ready to jump alongside other scientists to help the world. I am so thankful for this experience and everything that I learned during my two weeks here at the Hutch. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had and will always remember it. Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity and I can’t wait to apply next year for the SHIP program.
FRED HUTCH EXPLORERS 2019!
Here I am in the lab practicing pipetting and creating a color wheel in my lab notebook. I had never done pipetting before and I feel like I have come a long way. I feel pretty confident in my skills now and am thankful I got some tips from mentors and experienced explorers on how to perfect my skills. (Tuesday, August 20th)
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