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, Filed Under: 2019, austin, fun, research

Wrapping Up Summer 2019

As the summer comes to an end, I will cherish the experience I was granted and the people I was able to meet. For me, these ten weeks were really rewarding. From working on a research project looking at a new way to deliver therapeutics to cancer cells to exploring everything Austin has to offer, it’s been 10 weeks of adventure. Looking back at my research, I was truly amazed to see how much I was able to get done. From the very first day in lab it was full speed ahead, and through all the mistakes and the long, weird hours, I am proud of what I was able to accomplish this summer. At times it was stressful, and I was tired and just wanted to go sleep, but I pushed through and because of that I’ve grown as a researcher and as a person because of it.

You will only be successful if you are willing to put in work and makes sacrifices, and in the end, it makes everything you have accomplished that much sweeter.

This summer I also learned how creative research can be. There is no set solution that we must use in order to solve any one problem, instead the best solutions may actually be completely different than what is being used today. This was the case for my project as we were able to utilize an already present cellular mechanism to deliver chemotherapeutics, and our solution has the potential to be more efficient than current drug delivery systems used to treat cancer. While it is still being studied, the possibility of my project improving current cancer treatment excites me and inspires me to continue with research in hopes of being able to make a difference in the world. My ten weeks in Austin have taught me that research has no boundaries and as long as we continue to pursue it, no problem cannot be solved.   

Research was fun, but to be honest the thing I will miss the most from this summer will be the people I got to meet. My Hawaiian shirt will hang proudly in my closet, holding the many memories we have made over these ten weeks. From the first night playing cards together as a group of twelve to the weekly Bachelorette watch parties, I enjoyed coming back from long hours in lab to relax with the other students in the program. From the first weekend trip scootering to Barton Springs to watching fireworks at Zilker Park on the 4th of July to all the food adventures throughout Austin, I would not have explored Austin with another group of people (though nothing beats Los Angeles in terms of food). With all the laughing at stupid jokes and shouting at the TV when watching Hannah B. at the rose ceremony, this summer has been anything but boring. This group of people was something truly special and I expect we will all go on to do great things in the future. Leaving will be hard, but I believe this isn’t the final goodbye. To BMES we go, but Philadelphia will not be the last time we will meet.

Here is a glimpse of what we did this summer…

students in orange hawaiian shirt in dorm room
Jubin, Joel, and Simon hanging out after lab (Photo Credit: Jessica)
students at auditorium shores
Zilker Park on the 4th of July (Photo Credit: Jessica)
students at their posters, posing for photos
Gotta get the right angle (Photo Credit: Maggie)
students posing at poster session
How did I survive ten weeks with this guy as my roommate (Photo Credit: Michael)
students at poster session
Horns Up (Photo Credit: Mia)
students in hawaiian shirts
Final Friday Seminar! (Photo credit: Angie)
students in front of UT tower from the south mall
Group picture in front of UT Tower – minus Joel (Photo Credit: Michael)

Joshua Ni, Johns Hopkins University

, Filed Under: 2019, austin, fun

Kayaking

Its hard to believe that four weeks have passed, and our summer is nearly halfway over. While our responsibility and understanding in the lab have grown, we have also grown much closer as a group. In the first blog post Mia remarked on how amazing it was how quickly our group grew together, and the sentiment certainly still applies. I always find it surprising that I’ve known these people for just four weeks.

My siblings always spoke highly of their REU experiences, how they never had time to miss being home for the summer because they were always busy having fun with their peers, and I could not agree more. Those of us who work in the same part of campus meet up for lunch every day, and the entire group meets up to eat dinner every night. When we aren’t in lab, we can often be found playing cards in the lounge, watching “The Bachelorette,” in somebody’s room, or trying to decide how we want to spend our evening.

Not all of our adventures are contained within our residence hall. Recently a small group of us (myself included) ventured out to Bass Concert hall to catch one of the last showings of Hamilton before the company left Austin, and then took a trip to the famous Amy’s Ice Cream.

A yearly tradition of the BME program is to spend a morning kayaking and paddle boarding.

Deciding to embrace the cohesiveness of our group that Dr. Suggs had commented on, we took a trip to a local thrift store after dinner and all purchased Hawaiian shirts to wear while we were on the water.

We arrived at the boat rental at 9:00 and were greeted by Margo, who presented us with breakfast tacos to eat before we departed. As a North Easterner, I had never heard of a breakfast taco before coming to Austin, and while I was skeptical at first, I have fully embraced them as a breakfast staple. When we first left the docks, some of us were slightly unstable and fell off our paddle boards, but before long, we were cruising around the river. After some time paddling and swimming, we encountered a rope swing, and all took turns swinging into the river before paddling back to the docks. After stopping for lunch on the way back, we parted ways to nap and recuperate before taking a late-night trip to Kerby Lane for pancakes.

students eating tacos
Eating Rudy’s breakfast tacos before kayaking

students on the dock
Getting ready to head out on the water from The Rowing Dock!

On the water!

student in her kayak
Jaime in her kayak!

students on kayaks
Jubin, Michael, and Angelica (left to right)

 

After all this time, I’m still amazed that we never run out of stuff to talk about and can’t wait for everything we have planned for the next several weeks, from a Mamma Mia movie night to a square-dancing trip.

-Simon Blanchard, Villanova University.

, Filed Under: 2019, austin, fun, learning, texas4000, ut austin

First week at UT!

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.

students walking on ut campus with capitol building in background
Exploring campus on Monday. Note the capitol building in the background.

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.

students at voodoo donuts waiting in line
Voodoo Donuts! (Photo credit: Angie)

 

Students at barton springs pool
Barton Springs Pool! (Photo credit: Angie)

 

students eating food at food truck park
Food trucks after Barton Springs, featuring Maggie, Jessica, and Michael. (Photo credit: Angie)

 

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