This first week has been a busy one, with move-in on Monday, orientation activities through Thursday, and our first real day of lab on Friday. I was surprised by how quickly we all got to know each other. On Monday night, after settling into our rooms in San Jac, we all navigated the massive labyrinth that is Jester to unofficially meet up for the first time in J2, the closest dining hall. After dinner, we wandered around campus together and investigated the BME building, the UT tower, and the turtle pond. We finished off the evening with a card game in the San Jac lounge and went to bed after frantically skimming some of the papers we were supposed to read for our labs.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were dedicated to orientation; we met our grad student mentors, got our UT ID cards, and were given crash courses in wet lab techniques, scientific literature, data analysis, and microscopy. One cool thing about this program is that, for these 10 weeks, we have access to (almost) all of the resources that UT students have, so we can use the UT library databases or consult with UT statisticians.
Friday was our first lab day! My lab studies glioblastomas and is located in Dell Medical School, which is fortunately only a ten-minute walk from San Jac. I got there at 9 a.m., did site-specific lab safety training with my mentor, and took a bus (free with my UT ID!) to the BME building to make it to our first 11 a.m. Friday seminar. At the seminar, we enjoyed a free lunch from Jason’s Deli, talked about the global and historical context of our research, and heard from a Texas 4000 rider, which was very cool.
T4K riders bike from Austin to Alaska in order to engage underserved communities in the fight against cancer over the same 10-week period that we spend doing cancer research here at UT.
After the seminar, I went back to my lab for a lab meeting and a brief demonstration of cell culture technique by my mentor.
Friday also happened to be National Donut Day, so we went to Voodoo Donuts on 6th Street to celebrate. On Saturday, we tried to escape the Austin heat by going to Barton Springs, a natural spring-fed pool that’s about 68° year-round. Barton Springs is conveniently within walking distance of several food trucks, so we stopped by those when we were done swimming.
It’s been a really busy week, but I’m excited to start my own research on Monday and continue getting to know everyone and exploring the UT campus!
-Mia Haraguchi, Yale University
