Week 0 (12 . 13 . 2023)
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My internship site is called Developmental and Cognitive Genetics. It's a lab located in UCSD. My internship site focuses on how the brain develops over time and how dysfunctional areas in the brain can lead to neurological disorders. My mentor's name is Grace T. Carter. When I first met her, she was so nice and welcoming, along with her colleagues. I felt very safe and happy in my internship environment. I will be doing a project that my mentor will assign me. My final project will be the experiments I will be conducting in the lab. My hope is that I'll be able to thrive in a working environment and that I'll have fun. My fear is that I might not like it and find it extremely difficult. My other fear is that I'll have a different approach on what I want to do as a future career.
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Week 1 (01 . 10 . 2024 - 01 . 12 . 2024)
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On my first day, I got to watch one of the lab staff work on mice. As they were working she showed me parts of the mice and I got to see what a mice brain and organs looked like. Since it was our first day, we were given lots of information about what my mentor works on in the lab, which is in vitro neurodevelopment.
On my second day, I got to watch an undergrad student make an agarose gel for gel electrophoresis. He made the gel so he can see if the mice genotype carries a transgene. I also went over how to manage images when taking photos from the microscope. I had to learn how to change the colors to clearly see the cells and how to pick out what were actually cells and what was accidentally stained. I also got to learn a little bit more about Brain organoids. A brain organoid is a collection of neurons and brain tissue that were grown in a lab. Brain organoids are used for scientists to learn about full grown brains. On my third day, I had a review on how to use a micropipette and I got to learn how to use a serological pipette. Friday was also a day where the staff have their biweekly meetings about one person's experiment or project. I learned how to properly use the metric system when measuring how chemicals for experiments. One of the undergrad students was doing his experiment and I got to help assist him by pipetting some chemicals into tubes. I then got to learn how to properly choose stains when looking at neurons. |
Week 1 Prompt: Describe the culture at your internship, including how people interact, communicate and work together.
On my first day of internship, the first thing I realized was that everybody worked together. Everybody was so nice and everybody seemed really close. It felt like everybody was a family and everyday there's always something to laugh about. It's a close-knit community and everybody is so nice and funny. Some of the staff are in the same PHD program and have gotten close. Some of the staff have been working in the lab ever since it was them and the PI. Some of the staff have worked together in college and gotten pretty close. Everyone helps each other and work together. Above is a photo showing how everyone at my internship works with each other. In this photo, my mentor, Grace, is doing her project/experiment with her coworker Jefferey and an undergrad student. |
Week 2 (01 . 16 . 2024 - 01 . 19 . 2024)
This was one of the brain organoids I stained this week. This brain organoid was a little ripped when it got sliced so that's what the black part on the inside is. Staining is when you add primary antibodies to the organoid. The Antibodies will bind to the protein that you want to focus on. Then you would add secondary antibodies that would bind to primary protein. The secondary antibodies have a fluorescence to them, so when they're hit with a certain laser wavelength, they show a color.
Week 2 Prompt 1: What is the biggest challenge you face at your internship?
The biggest challenge I face at my internship is the lab meetings. Every week on Friday, one of the staff gives a presentation on their research at a lab meeting. The problem I have with lab meetings is that I have a difficult time trying to understand everything. Even when I try to make sense of the presentation, I can't understand anything and it's hard. I know nobody expects me to understand most of the presentations, but I should understand the main idea of the presentation. I have considered writing questions down in my notebook, instead of trying to make sense of everything. But it's difficult for me to write questions when I don't know what to ask. During the presentations, a lot of information is being shared that for an intern, is pretty hard to understand or flow through. Even when others are asking questions, their questions don't make sense to me. Even worse, the responses don't make sense to me. Week 2 Prompt 2: What has surprised you most while working at your internship? What surprised me the most was how everyone keeps the Tissue Culture Room as clean as possible. To not contaminate the cells, which are stored in this room, they have to keep this room sterile. If you were to touch anything, you have to wear gloves. I was also shocked because there was a sticky mat on the bottom, that's supposed to remove any excess dirt from the bottom of your shoes. At first, I thought I stepped on gum when I stepped on the sticky mat. After walking through the room, I was always very cautious if I touched anything. Whether it was the counter or the chairs. But I know now that I can't touch the equipment because they are supposed to be kept sterile. I can touch the counters, but just not the equipment. If Grace asked me to give her something, I would have to put on gloves and give it to her. |
On my fourth day, I got introduced to using Fiji, a photo editor used to edit photos taken from a microscope. Because I was having technical issues with the photo editor, I didn't get to finish the "assignment" that Grace gave me. But she said that this assignment was to get me used to the feeling of using Fiji during this internship. I also got to learn about antibodies and how the people in the lab use them to target a certain protein that they want to focus on. I also began part of my project, but didn't get to finish what was planned that day because we went overtime a little bit and I had to leave for my water polo game. First part of my project, I washed the brain organoids with PBS (Water of science). Then, I added specific antibodies so they can attach themselves to the protein that I want to see.
On my fifth day, I continued with my final project. I started to stain them. There are specific stains that I have to use according to the antibody that I added. I also attended a zoom meeting about a lab's research results on microglia with my mentor. Microglia are a glial cell located in the brain and spinal cord. I tried my best to understand what I was hearing, but I couldn't understand any of it. On my sixth day, I got to look at the cells my mentor prepared in November 2023. I also got to see mouse brains and brain organoids under the microscope that produces good quality photos used in research presentations. I did some research on the antibodies I used for staining the brain organoids yesterday. On my seventh day, I got to look at mouse brains under the higher quality microscope. I got to see different areas in the brain and what would be a neuron, microglia, etc. I got to look at the cells my mentor made to see the cell growth from the previous day. On this day, there was a lab meeting. It was difficult for me to follow along and understand the main idea of the meeting, but I tried my best to make sense of it. |
Week 3 (01 . 22 . 2024 - 01 . 26 . 2024)
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On my eighth day, my cohort Teacher, Ms. Carli, got to visit me. Grace and I got to show her around the lab and tell her what I've learned for the past week and a half. After she left, my mentor and I went over our brain organoids. We were picking colors that fit best and produced a photo of the wild type brain organoids.
On my ninth day, I got to practice reading a science research paper. I will say, this was my least favorite thing to do. I was given another piece of paper, which was a printed article that sums up the information in the research paper, but reading the research paper itself was extremely difficult. I really struggled understanding what I was reading, but I was able to get some help understanding it from one of my mentor's coworkers. On my tenth day, it was mainly a desk day. Where there wasn't really anything planned to do. All I did was update my blog and did some other work on the side. On my eleventh day, a guest came to the lab to give a presentation about her research on cancer. Grace and I came to the meeting late because we had to finish imaging our organoid stains. I didn't really understand because of how late we were. Grace also went over the research paper that I was given, but nothing really made sense to me because of all the information I was given. I also got to help Grace with washing the cells. Week 3 Prompt 2: Describe how experiences at HTHMA have prepared you for your experience at internship. HTHMA has helped me prepare for my internship by encouraging collaborative work. At my internship, I'm not just working with my mentor. I'm also working with my mentor's colleagues. I'm very thankful that I was able to participate in collaborative work at HTHMA, so I can use that skills to work collaboratively with others in my internship. Since I have Biology in my junior year, my Biology teacher has prepared me for how I should act in a Lab. I can use my skills and knowledge from Biology class and apply them at my internship. But since I'm barely doing anything in the lab, I only get to use my skills very rarely. Every time I'm in the lab, I make sure I dispose of my gloves properly and other things I used that got contaminated. I've also learned how to manage my time and organize my work at HTHMA. These skills help me know where all of my stuff is and help me be more responsible of my work and time. |
Near the end of the day, Grace had to make new brain organoids and allowed us to watch her. In this photo, she's preparing the bases for the cells to grow and form into brain organoids.
Week 3 Prompt 1: What are you thankful for in your internship experience?
What I'm thankful for in my internship is that I get to experience how it's like to work in a Lab. I loved the Labs that I get to do in Biology, and actually being in a professional lab is pretty awesome. I like how I get to use the microscopes, in my mentor's presence, and get to help my mentor with the brain organoid staining. I know that some students don't get this privilege I have, so I want to be grateful that I have this privilege. I'm grateful for the people that work here. Everyone is so nice and welcoming. In my sophomore year, on iPOL day, there was a junior that I visited and their mentor was rude to them. I'm grateful that nobody at my internship is rude and they're very nice and considerate of the fact that I'm an intern. While internship surfing, I contacted many places, but I only heard from two. But this internship was the one that decided to go through the process in making me their intern. Week 3 Prompt 3: Describe one challenge that arose this week at your internship site (related to the work the company does). How did your mentor and their colleagues solve this problem? One challenge that arose this week was when I had to read a scientific research paper. The choice of words were very difficult to understand and I couldn't understand anything. I was lucky I was given an article that summarizes the research paper. I could easily understand what the research paper was about. If I just read the research paper and not the article, I wouldn't understand anything. One of my mentor's colleagues was able to run through the difficult parts of the research paper and I was able to understand the research paper a little bit. I was encouraged to try and read the Findings or Results of the research paper. The Findings or Results of the research paper are very specific on the graphs and steps the researcher took. I read over the Findings, but I couldn't understand anything. Even if I try to make sense of it, nothing flowed well with the graphs. |
Week 4 (01 . 29 . 2024 - 02 . 02 . 2024)
On this day, I was helping Grace collect some frozen cells. These cells had to be in a -80 degree Celsius freezer, so we had to act quick when transferring the cells from the freezer to the dry ice box. But because there wasn't enough dry ice and we both spilled some liquid on the dry ice, we had to move the cells into the liquid nitrogen tank. In this photo, you can see Grace taking out 10 racks of cells from the liquid nitrogen tank.
Week 4 Prompt 1: Are you planning to continue working with your internship site or mentor after internship is over? If so, how did these plans develop? What will you be doing?
I won't continue working with my internship after internship time is over. I love the people that work here. Everyone is so nice, but I know that a career in research isn't for me. I do find some of the activities I got to do fun, but I wouldn't want to pursue a career in research. Research isn't really my field of interest career wise. A medical doctor is the career I want to pursue. From what Ms. Carli told me, doing an internship in biology research will still look good on my resume if I want to become a doctor. To become a doctor, a way to become one is also going through a research program then going to medical school. The way I want to go through is to become a pre-med student at a 4-year college and then apply to medical school. During this internship experience, I can say that I know for sure that research isn't what I want to do. Week 4 Prompt 2: What advice would you give to a junior in high school who wants to pursue a career in the field of your internship? Advice I would give to a junior who wants to pursue a career in research, I would say to do research about the working environment. Just to see if they would be stimulated or comfortable in that working environment. Because the research working environment is mainly sitting at a desk. You'll only get up if you have to do some important things in the lab. Or you have to use the microscope. I would also say to figure out what specifically they would want to research about. If you choose a research group that doesn't necessarily have anything that you want to research in, you won't have any joy doing it. It's best if you research what you love, instead of researching something that you have interest in. Because if you research something that you're not interested in, then why are you doing research in the first place? What do you hope to find? |
On my twelfth day, I worked on my iPOL and tried to review the research paper, before I was going to review it with my mentor and the other staff. The research paper was mainly about how pregnant animals, mice mostly, develop neurons that are used to help them sense their babies. And when the babies get older, the neurons disappear. Luckily, the time when all of us were reviewing the research paper and asking questions wasn't as confusing because I was able to understand the main point of the research paper. After, Grace and I checked the brain organoids. Some of the brain organoids were very large, which wasn't what we wanted. We marked the brain organoids that weren't the size we wanted and changed the media on the plates.
On my thirteenth day, I did some little research about transcriptomics. Transcriptomics is used to study RNA transcripts and help scientists where and when the genes are active. I also got to visit the place where they keep the mice. I had to wear specific PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) so the mice don't get infected by the germs I'm carrying. I got to see a mouse that just gave birth, got to see some mice that had a down syndrome gene injected into them, and I got to see the paws of the down syndrome mice fluorescent into green under a UV light. On my fourteenth day, I took some pictures for a video I'm helping my lab do. My internship also has their own Internship Program and filming videos of their interns are supposed to give other high schoolers the opportunity to do their internship there. I was also given a mini project from the Lab's PI. My mini project is gene analysis on the K33E genetic mutation in the Lamin B1 protein. On my fifteenth day, I got to practice photo editing a little bit. All I had to do was change the photos to a different file and run a macro to edit the photo. Grace made the macro in front of me. The macro is like a code that can do the editing for you. But you have to record yourself doing the steps and save the macro. |
Week 5 / Final Week (02 . 05 . 2024 - 02 . 09 . 2024)
In this photo, I was working on imaging. I was also running the macro through the photos that I was assigned. I was assigned healthy brain organoids and some of the unhealthy brain organoids. As the macro runs through, I have to take the measurements that the macro recorded and paste them on a spreadsheet. And then, I had to compare the measurements that were on the spreadsheet.
Week 5 Prompt 1: How do you feel about returning back to classes next week? Do you anticipate a different experience of school now that you have been immersed in a workplace? What are you looking forward to about coming back? What are you going to miss about internship?
I'm excited to return back to school. I miss my teachers and my family. When I would attend school, I would take the trolley to my Auntie's house. And since I haven't been doing that, I'm excited to see her again when I go back to school. I would say I don't anticipate anything differently because I've always seen school as my responsibility and I have to manage my own time and work there. What I look forward about coming back is starting my art class. I've only had one art class in my academic journey, and that was in 6th grade. I'm also excited to have my math class again. What I'm going to miss about internship is the people that I've worked with there. I might be able to see them again, if they want to come for the end of the year exhibition. But otherwise, I'm going to miss them the most. On my sixteenth day, I had to work a little bit on the mini project the PI gave me. The PI was telling me a lot of information, that it didn't really go well for me. I was having a hard time understanding. It was like my mind was shut down for most of the day because I couldn't understand anything the PI was telling me. I was also stressed that day because I had to keep up with my blogs and do some editing on my iPOL that just the add-on stress of a mini project was too much for me. I was able to go through the day smoothly a bit and work on some imaging. On my eighteenth day, it was almost like a desk day. I just worked on my iPOL and my blog. Around the end of the day was when Grace got to finalize the imaging we did yesterday. We got to talk about what the data is telling us. From what we know, the data is spread out. When we got our results back, we were concerned because the Knock Out samples had more percentage of positive cells than our other samples. The knock out is supposed to have a low percentage because a protein was fully taken out. But we then found out that the image application we used recorded a big percentage because of how small our knock out sample was and how many cells were positive. |
In this photo, Grace is checking on our cells. We would check them almost everyday, just to see the growth. Some days we won't see a huge change in growth, but the growth would be visible enough.
Week 5 Prompt 2: Write a Thank You note to your mentor, highlighting specific learning experiences, achievements, personal growth, etc., that occurred during your internship.
Dear Grace, Thank you for giving me this opportunity to become your intern. Being your intern has been so much fun. I learned about neurodevelopment and how mutations can be critical for an individual's health. My favorite part of this whole experience was when we got to use the microscope and see the fluorescence of the brain organoids. But, I also loved it when I got to interview you. I got to learn more about you through this interview. I still remember when you said, "Always remember to say 'I don't know.'" I feel like when you said that, I started to think about my experience at school. In class, I don't really say "I don't know," when I'm struggling. Because I want to try and figure it out myself. But after this internship experience, I realized that people grow when they have somebody by their side. So when I return to school, I'll try and recognize an appropriate time for me to say, "I don't know." I had so much fun at this internship site. Everyone was so nice and welcoming to me on the first day. I will never forget that. I'll definitely miss you and everyone at the lab. I hope I can see you guys again in the future. Best, Jaeanaca On my seventeenth day, I got to work more on imaging and also got to work on the mini project the PI gave me. I had to separate genes by group and name. After I separated them, the data from the genes would be made into a dot plot. The genes I was focusing on were active genes in a K33E mutation in the Lamin B1 protein. On my nineteenth day, I pulled the images from Grace's mac book to put them on my iPOL. I edited my box plots to put the difference in significance for Wild Type and Knock Out. I worked on my blog more. On my twentieth day, I presentaed my iPOL for iPOL day. |
