Hi everyone!
The prompt is: Tell us about an intellectual experience, project, class, or book that has influenced or inspired you. It's a 500 word limit essay, and I'm just at 488.
I appreciate any and all criticisms!
I was a one liter solution of nerves with 75% anxiety and 25% excitement. My commute from suburbia to disturbia was spent [working on] my new hobby of nail-biting. A year-long effort was being held in 25 milliliters of Tryptic Soy Broth agar. I entered my molecular pathogenesis lab at the NYU Medical Center, silently praying my Petri dish would yield positive results (such is the life of a researcher). Remaining optimistic, I walked with confidence and enthusiasm, an unexpected bounce in my steps. I open the incubator door and...failure.
It was never supposed to happen this way. Success was all I anticipated when I first met Dr. Richard Novick. His uncanny resemblance to Einstein instantly put me at ease. With a grandfatherly demeanor, he offered me a chair from which I had to clear off a year's worth of Scientific American. That feeling of tranquility subsided within minutes of small talk, when he decided to get "down to business" and discuss my research proposal. "A novel route to treating MRSA, huh?" His lack of enthusiasm caused a wave of panic to wash over me. How could I execute my project without the proper lab or support?
I felt like I was bartering for a kidney (and I already have three). The more intimidated I became, the more incapable I was of addressing his thoughts or concerns. I was losing my cool. Would I lose out on the opportunity to experience the real scientific world, too? Before I could explore the rest of that thought, Dr. Novick's gentle voice interrupted with, "Promising. How often will you be able to come into the lab for the next year?" I had just been offered an internship with the King of Staph Infections. Life was good.
Instantly, my new constant companions were micropipettes and 1.5% agarose gels. I was elated and terrified. Surrounded by tremendous post-doctorates, the Fish-Out-of-Water became my self-proclaimed title. I became consumed by the need to bring myself up to their intellectual levels, spending countless nights with PubMed as my only caffeine rush. I went from scratching my head at each abstract to delving into the language of research, eagerly recounting my findings to my parents. I was even approached by several colleagues to discuss our various experiments! Could it be that I actually comprehended scientific jargon? Or was I inhaling too much sodium citrate?
Fast forward one year. Without having been given a moment to gather myself and take a breath, my world became measured by conversions, potent bacterial colonies and pipette tips. I welcomed it with open arms. The challenge to connect to my fellow lab members and to execute my project without aid became my own scientific puberty. Although my results did not yield as hoped, I was able to catalyze my own growth. My failed experiment was surpassed by my ability to assimilate myself into an analytically driven world. Failure is the new Success.
Lauren O'Donnell
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