Beginning of Week Two

On our first day back in class, we began with a continuation of Friday’s sequencing lab. Once we got our results from the sequencing lab we got to understand them more in-depth through our protein modeling, which was our next lab. Through these labs, we got more of the results we need to include in our paper so we also got some time to work on that later on.

Our protein model

Knowing the report required lots of work, Dawn and Dr. Fineschi let the class decide whether we wanted to have lecture when we came back from lunch or continue our work on the ABR lab for the rest of the day. The catch to the latter option was the report could possibly be due sooner. Because of that scary thought, the class decided to also have lecture instead of just lab.

So, when we returned from lunch we went to lecture and learned about Zika virus through a presentation that also taught us how to read a scientific paper. We focused mainly on learning how to read the diagrams and graphs in the paper in order to overcome our “figure phobia.” Dr. Fineschi stressed the importance of understanding the figures on their own without the help of the main text in order to avoid being influenced by the author’s bias.

After class, I met up with the entire cohort, including John, in the campus bookstore. The purpose of the meetup was to discuss our time in the program so far, our communication and time management skills, and to finally get our hoodies. The meeting itself was pretty short but it was nice hearing how everyone was doing as I usually only see them in passing. Once the meeting came to a close, we walked to a quad near the bookstore and John snapped a photo of all of us in our new UChicago gear.

Everyone in their new UChicago merch

Shreejal also studying

After saying goodbye to John, I walked back towards the dorms. I decided to have a quick dinner before meeting with Crystal to continue working on our lab report. We went over our outline and split up the rest of the work. We worked together until curfew time when she decided to continue working in her room. I continued to work on our report in the study room where a lot of summer session kids study. Although I thought that studying in a room with several other students would be distracting, being surrounded by people doing their work actually motivated me to do my work. I will definitely be studying there more often.

As the deadline for my paper draws near, I constantly worry about not just having it done but having it done well. Thankfully, I received some reassurance today from our lab instructor who looked over what we have so far and said that we were heading in the right direction. I am starting to realize, although I am stressed right now if I look at the big picture I have already gained so much from the course and I hope to continue to do so in the time we have left.