Learn how to work in a professional lab.
This goal will help me improve my ability to work in any future labs, and therefore help me be able to be more efficient in more labs and jobs in my future.
Three tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities that will help me meet this goal are:
1. Working on the LCMS machine.
2. Train how to use the HPLC.
3. Animal project.
I've been able to become used to the work environment that comes with working in a laboratory. I'm able to understand more about my position and can be better because of this internship.
Gain confidence while working.
I want to be able to work without having to constantly check with someone about if I’m doing it right. I know that it’s important to be safe right now as a student, but I at least want some more confidence in my abilities and knowledge.
Three tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities that will help me meet this goal are:
1. Train under a lab assistant.
2. Train how to use the HPLC.
3. Show up to examine lab procedures, even if not doing the work myself.
I've gained confidence in myself while working in this lab, which has allowed me to be more comfortable while working and have more faith in myself when working on different projects.
Broden my horizons in the science field.
I want to work as a forensic scientist, but I’m not sure what kind of forensic science field I want to pursue. This lab will help me see more about what goes on in its specialized area of science, so I can decide if I like it more than others I have worked on in school.
Three tasks, responsibilities, projects, or activities that will help me meet this goal are:
1. Animal Project.
2. Reading papers that the lab has released before.
3. Learn about the blood used in the lab.
My horizons have been broadened, but not in the way I expected. While I have learned more about other scientific fields, my understanding of how business and relationships were expanded to a whole new level, as seeing how much work went into joint research and funding really surprised me.
Current:
My current academic goals are to finish college and graduate with a bachelor's in forensic and investigative science focused on chemistry. I have wanted to learn and work in the scientific field for years now and found the most interesting to be forensics. To help me with this goal and for the future beyond graduating, I wanted to work in a professional lab that would allow me to gain experience. This includes practicing using machines and procedures that are used in multiple labs, and not just for one specific lab.
As this internship has gone on, my overall goal hasn't changed. I still want to help others through science and I still want to do that through forensic science. However, I've been more accepting that things are able to change at a very quick rate, and I need to be able to adapt very quickly. This realization has allowed for me to be openminded when it comes to my career, and I feel like I'm ready for any change that I face while reaching for my goal.
Future:
My goals at the beginning of this internship haven't changed all that much, as I still want to graduate with a bachelor's and then go straight into work. I'm currently on my way to doing this right now, but I'm currently at a crossroads, as I don't know what my next big step is outside of school. I want to continue working in a lab, and have been actively searching for a position or potential continuation, but I'm facing some unknown future. However, I've been able to complete some of the goals I set for myself already, as I've gained more confidence and been able to act and work independently at a much greater level than I was months ago. I'm planning and will be working in some kind of lab during the summer and for the rest of my schooling until I graduate, which I want in order to keep growing.
Learning:
Skills I'm confident with:
I'm confident in my skills when it comes to working as a team, getting all my work done, and arriving on time every time I'm scheduled to work. I've always been able to manage my time well, so completing all my work given to me or observing what the experiment for the day is something I can do with confidence. I'm also confident in my ability to help anyone in the lab, whether it be by refilling a solution for them or helping them personally with an experiment. I've recently become better prepared to jump into any situation at work, which has been occurring more often as new projects such as the microplastics project.
Skills I'm still working on:
I'm still working on my ability to work completely independently, but I've slowly been given tasks that I don't need supervision for because I'm trusted enough to complete them on my own, like with making a new solvent. As time has gone on, I've improved on working independently, but I still feel I have a long way to grow in that area. I have been able to understand my role in the team more, but still often look at what others are doing around me and see I can't quite match them yet, so I'm working towards that.
How the internship has helped me so far:
The internship has allowed me to understand more of the teachings in several lectures. In biology we were taught about the different properties of liquids that have different densities, but the lab allows me to see more of how different liquids with different densities interact. I have also learned more about the instruments in the lab that are more advanced than the instruments used in lab courses that teach students. In chemistry courses, the instruments used are severely outdated compared to what is currently used, such as the HPLC instrument.