Contamination Nation and Grad School Sensation (Week 8)

This week has been one of intense trial and error. The first PCR I ran on the archaeal Fosmids resulted in a band in the negative control, therefore causing the results to be unreliable (Pictured in the below attachment as the circle). Basically throughout all of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, my mentor and I tried to locate where the contamination was coming from. We finally had to replace our primers with new ones because our stocks appeared to be the source of the contamination. During all these trials to ensure we did not have any more contamination, I also had to prepare for a practice speech in order to be ready for my final speech coming up in 2 weeks. As stressful as the prep was, I am glad I had the chance to have my presentation critiqued by my lab members and my senior scientist. I am now prepared for the final presentation more than ever. However, it is sad to think that this internship, as well as summer, is coming to an end in just two weeks.

            Today (Friday), a final Brown Bag Seminar was held for us interns. This seminar was hosted by four students in the graduate program here at CMOP. The graduate students told us about their experiences adjusting to grad school, applying to grad school, and how it has affected their career goals. They also answered any questions we had about grad school. This was quite insightful as I am still unsure whether I plan to go to grad school, medical school, or go straight into the work force. This seminar gave me a little more insight into what life would be like in grad school and has now pushed me to continue to research what the pros and cons are of my three above stated choices.