When Lab = Life

I have to admit, the first impression I had of 20.109 was that it was going to be a boring class that went over basic lab techniques and made us write up lab reports (think AP Chem back in the day). In my defense, I had been doing research for almost 3 years by then, and I thought I knew what I was doing. It turns out 20.109 is less like this:

And more like this:

The first module was super interesting to me as I have a lot of interest in chemical biology and am currently taking 7.41 (Principles of Chemical Biology), and I could definitely see a lot of crossover from experimental techniques I learned in class to their direct applications. Of course, we did run into a bunch of issues, but what kind of lab experience would be complete without failed gels? I think it was especially humbling to be reminded that even "simple" experiments that we assume for granted will always work can go wrong at any time.

But most importantly, I think I've become much better at scientific communication. Before, I could identify whether a paper was good or bad, but I guess I never really thought about what really made it good or bad. Furthermore, the thought of writing a paper seemed like an insurmountable task to me, and I definitely had no idea how to even begin doing such a thing.

However, Diana's communication workshops (something I also really dreaded at first) were super helpful in remedying this. I now understand what makes a good figure, how to choose an appropriate title, how to structure and write an abstract, and in general, what are good practices to employ when writing scientifically. I've especially taken the hourglass model to heart, and I can't help but see it in every paper that I read now.

This class has been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. The instructors are amazing (shoutout to Leslie, Noreen, Maxine, and Rob), the modules are all really interesting (especially can't wait to do Module 3), and it's really nice to be working with peers who are all really excited about bioengineering. I think it's surprising how much more confident I feel about scientific writing and presentation even just after two months, and I can't wait to see what I'll be able to accomplish by the end of the semester!