I always thought it was a joke when I would hear, “Lab is not going well if there are no problems,” or, “Something is always broken or not working in the lab.” Little did I know the accuracy of those statements until I actually started in a research lab.

Do not even get me started on how I thought all chemical reactions were nice and planned out. It never really occurred to me that the products were not what you assumed they would be. I guess there would not be research if it were that simple, and I realize how ridiculous that assumption was. I now have an immense appreciation for lab classes because those reactions always work and they have a good yield. I cannot even imagine how long it took to figure out the best reaction, or if they were lucky enough for it to work first try.

The lab I am in works in glove boxes, the device pictured above, since the majority of the reactions done are sensitive to oxygen. When I started in the lab a few weeks ago, our glove box was constantly taking in nitrogen every few minutes. Having never worked with a glove box, I had no idea that was a very bad thing. The attached freezer was also starting to make some horrible screech when it turns itself on to lower the temperature. As it turned out, the fan in the freezer had to be replaced. In order to do such a thing, the front panel had to be removed. Since everything in the box had not been exposed to the outside air for the past 9 years or so, it was a huge deal. It had to be planned out, all the vials had to be taped shut, and progress was put on hold. Although the procedure itself took about two hours, the box could not be used for the rest of the day as it replaced the nitrogen atmosphere.

Although opening the Box pushed everything back a day. I have learned set backs are a part of research. Do not get bogged down by failure. Whether it is a simple day set back, a reaction does not work, or a week was wasted on getting bad results: That’s all a part of research and makes the success worthwhile.