DIY Diagnostics ignited a spark in me that no other stream ever came close to fulfilling. As soon as I learned what the lab was all about, I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of. I’m currently studying public health for my undergraduate degree and it was so exciting to find a stream that embodies everything that interests me.
This stream is special in that we learn so many techniques that can be applied to a number of fields of interest— wet lab, computer science, 3-D printing, and an integration of these disciplines. Because DIY Diagnostics does not put any constraints on our research, I get to move in a direction towards creating a diagnostic that can be impactful for developing countries. My philosophy is that if I, an undergrad with about one semester of research experience thus far, can create a diagnostic based on everything I have learned, it will turn out to be simple and affordable. In doing so, the end product will be something accessible to just about anybody.
I’m not going to lie, tears were shed. My first day of lab was mortifying. I felt like I was thrown into the deep end, and my mind went completely blank. But hey, that left my mind completely open. I got to truly absorb every experience throughout the semester and now I’m able to write about it. In fact, that was the very first lesson that I learned: write. everything. down. I vividly remember working with the pH meter, following the procedure to the best of my ability, and scribbling down the data on some scratch paper. My intention was to write it all down in my lab notebook in a much neater fashion, but that’s where I went wrong. I got scolded and then, of course, proceeded to cry. As it turns out, not only do you have to record everything that happens, but it has to all be in the right place.
This was just the start! Since then, being a part of this stream has changed my work ethic. There simply isn’t enough time to be a perfectionist for matters like this. I no longer worry about fine-tuning the way that my notebook looks or spending my time on other trivial things that can be done more simply and efficiently than I make them out to be. Of course, it is important to stay organized, but the content should speak for itself. Now, I invest all of that effort into actually performing conducting the investigations and running the experiments. This shift in prioritization has made a huge difference in my productivity and the quality of my data collection. Science is messy and mistakes are inevitable. I understood this coming into this stream, but I didn’t realize the gravity of it until actually taking part in the research. So much can go wrong, and I know that feeling all too well now. All I can do from there is accept the errors of my ways and use it to my advantage when I give it another try.
DIY Diagnostics changed how I viewed research as a whole. I know that the stream is called Do-It-Yourself, but it’s quite the contrary. The lab is a collaborative atmosphere that encourages the sharing of ideas and the collective improvement of everybody involved. I never had experience in research before, and of course I was eager to take on this opportunity, but I definitely wasn’t expecting this.
