Goals & Learning

Currently, I plan to attend medical school. This is a dream that I have had for as long as I can remember because helping people has always felt so rewarding to me. Growing up, we didn't have much, and the people who were able to help my family through our tough times were heroes in my eyes, and I wish to be that person for others someday. As med school is my plan for the moment, you can never be entirely sure of something, and things are always bound to change, so I am interning in a lab right now, just to make sure that med school is 100% what I want to do. Graduate school and research has always been something I'm mildly interested in, but medical school aligns more with my beliefs and goals.

After working in the lab for about a year now, I am still planning on attending Medical School. While research does still interest me, I personally cannot see myself doing it for the rest of my career. I am interested in Medical School and becoming a physician to work with people daily, and being able to work with people face-to-face is much more rewarding to me rather than doing research. 

Learning Goal #1: Learning how to properly work in a formal lab setting.

How does this goal fit into your career journey or prepare you for the future?

Lab techniques I learn during this internship will give me experience to possibly work in other labs in the future.  

What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?

1.       I will be assisting in daily operant behavioral tasks (probabilistic reversal learning)

2.       I hope to assist in weighing Ethanol bottles for intermittent access protocol study.

3.       Overall, I hope to learn different brain slicing, staining, and imaging techniques to gain further knowledge in biological techniques (immunohistochemistry).

Learning Goal #2: Better time managements

How does this goal fit into your career journey or prepare you for the future?

This year I am juggling a heavy course load on top of this internship, so time management will be very important in the long run. Hopefully I will find which strategies work best for me and keep using them.

What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?

1.       I will be present in behavioral tasks for my minimum of 10 hours.

2.       I will make sure I balance tasks by referring to Dr. Lukkes lab calendar to ensure I stay I know the daily tasks of the lab.

3.       Lastly, I will ask my fellow lab members and lab manager for strategies to make sure I can balance this internship and my other tasks.

Learning Goal #3: Learn more!

How does this goal fit into your career journey or prepare you for the future?

I am a Neuroscience student, so expanding my knowledge and learning how the field is changing every day is exciting.

What tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities will you do to meet this goal?

1.       To do this, I will ask Dr. Lukkes for articles and journals that are related to the work we do in her lab to ensure I am expanding my knowledge of the field.

2.       I will try to learn new behavioral tasks throughout the duration of the internship.

3.       I will lead an article discussion at lab meetings throughout the duration of the internship.

Additional opportunities for growth related to the internship work:

Some additional opportunities for growth offered through the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute include attending guest lectures, attending seminars, and books clubs. These activities will help me to network with other students and professionals and expand my neuroscience-based knowledge. I plan to also ask my PI (Jodi Lukkes) about other opportunities offered throughout the duration of the internship.

Throughout the internship, I have been able to achieve these goals successfully. These skills I have learned throughout the year will be brought with me through the rest of my education and my future career. I will continue to set more goals for myself as I progress in life, in order to continue growing.