Research: when you come home exhausted because you’ve been standing in lab all day and you love it. I never quite understood why graduate students would choose to be “stuck” in the lab all day until I tried it myself. It is so satisfying to learn new techniques and repeat procedures until you have them memorized. The thing to keep in mind while doing research is to go with the flow – sometimes the same procedure that has always been successful  in the past won’t work because of something you can’t control (such as Santa Barbara’s humidity during June Gloom).

This summer, I’m working the the Mitragotri lab as part of the EUREKA (Early Undergraduate Research and Knowledge Acquisition) internship. I started to work a few hours a week in the lab during Spring quarter, so the transition into full-time research about engineering nanoparticle shape for drug delivery has been easier. However, while conducting research, I still have a million questions. I’ve learned that this is normal and I’ve found that to answer questions you should Google or ask your mentor and lab mates. My lab mates are very knowledgeable not only about their own research, but general information related to my project and the field of drug delivery.

Outside of lab, attending GRIT Talks and other seminars about different components of research, such as presenting your research, has been critical in bringing my research experience around full circle. Last week, after I gave a 3 minute presentation on my research and the audience asked me questions, I pictured one powerpoint slide that would have made my presentation much clearer. Its only through presenting your research can you understand gaps in your own understanding.

Overall, it has been an amazing summer so far and I’m sure I’ll miss it once I start school in the fall. It is entertaining to joke around with the grad students, postdocs, and other interns in the Mitragotri lab and it has been a great environment for both learning and meeting new people from around the world and the U.S.