My journey at the Nance lab actually began in high school, where I met Dr. Nance at a STEM fair and after being in email communication with her, joining the high school data science program the lab was running. I got offered to stay in the lab if I decided to go to UW for college, and ended up doing so. Unfortunately, since COVID lockdowns occurred during my last two years of high school, I was stuck doing computational work until I started as a freshman at UW. As I was mainly interested in trying out wet lab bench work and looking for hands-on experiences, I jumped onboard for the opportunity to help image brain slices for an urgent deadline. I knew I wanted to learn how to use the fancy microscope the lab had for future projects anyways, and I would be able to get a lot more confidence and independence doing so. This was a picture of one of those brain slices, and I fell in love with being able to do hands-on work and the colorful nature of fluorescent microscopy.
During my sophomore year of college, I had fully transitioned to an independent wet lab project. I was pushed to apply for the Mary Gates Research scholarship, which was my first exposure to formal scientific communication and the rigor of writing needed for applications. I didn't earn the scholarship in autumn quarter, but was able to refine my application with advice from the committee and other resources, and earn the award in winter quarter. This was a great experience in compiling all the parts of my project in an application, and learning about the common structure and necessary information needed for a scientific proposal.
The next large professional step for me was my acceptance to give an oral presentation at an undergraduate research symposium at Rice University in Texas. This was a huge jump for me - as I had always been pretty averse to public speaking and doing presentations in class - and I had to then present my first proper scientific presentation in an entirely different state to a room of strangers. However, the pressure of this opportunity helped me grow a lot. I was able to get a much better idea of the larger picture of my research, and learned how to tell the compelling story of how my research could impact neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. I learned how to efficiently communicate with words based on the slides I had prepared, and practiced constantly. I was able to deliver my presentation as I had practiced, and it was super enjoyable being able to see what those listening were curious about and answer questions. Not only did this experience help me significantly improve my presentation skills and see the impact of my research, but I think this experience was a large part of research clicking for me. My drive for professional growth increased significantly at the end of my junior year in reflection of this conference, where I saw opportunities from several new applications for research scholarships and internships, as well as ways to make my research more compelling and learn more skills.
Most recently, I presented my senior year research capstone. This represented a year's worth of very individual project management, decision making and problem solving, and learning to deal with tough feedback. I learned to not get overconfident in my abilities, and that I tended to pick up bad habits if I didn't work with intention. In reflection, I could have spent more time every week figuring out what I needed to have prepared for each experiment I would run, and spent more time deeply analyzing results. I ran into issues where I believed I would have remembered a value or step in the procedure, but ended up forgetting because of this confidence. However, I believe I was able to learn a lot of lessons that gives me the (founded) confidence (I think) to be prepared for future individual jobs and projects. I got really good at time management, learning to successfully juggle multiple experiments at the same time, and learned skills in problem solving. I could rationally think through different options for myself in the case that I had made a mistake (which I also got good at catching right away), and take the best course of action with minimal outside help. I also learned to generally understand what my next steps could and should be based on the results I had collected, and could pretty clearly understand the timeline for my project throughout the year.
Although a lot of the reflections I mentioned above was more independently-driven growth, I learned a lot from my interactions with the other lab members, my mentors, and my PI. I was able to gain confidence in myself here, starting with small steps like learning how to ask questions and not be afraid to ask for advice. My communication skills grew significantly, being able to coordinate schedules with my mentor, communicate any conflicts and issues, and talk to grad students in the lab with the relevant expertise or advice needed. I also learned to communicate to make deadlines as clear as possible for myself. If my PI was expecting to get a draft or application material a certain number of weeks ahead of the deadline, I would need to have that prepared, coordinated for a run through with my direct grad mentor, and sent over at the correct times. There were also several instances where I had to deal with harsh feedback on applications or drafts. I not only gained resilience from interacting with a boss that had a more severe method of communication, but learned when to take criticism personally, and when it was dependent on the situation or related to circumstances I didn't have control over. From these experiences, I have also learned to slightly curb some of the imposter syndrome that pops up. Since I had gotten lucky with the way that I had joined the lab, I often felt that I was less deserving to be there. I struggled often with feeling like the work at lab was too much for me, while not seeing enough proof of my achievements and wondering if a lot of my work was not going towards something worthwhile. Fortunately, I have had amazing mentors that are able to credit my work and help me understand my successes and learn from my mistakes. I've been able to connect with mentors easily and form friendships within the professional space, and get lots of advice from them throughout my struggles. I'm also glad that I have been able to grow my resilience and learn to view these struggles more critically, as lab work and growth are both not linear processes, and I am still able to see definite growth in comparing myself to my a few years ago. Overall, the lab was an incredibly significant part of my undergraduate professional journey, and I believe my time here has set me up incredibly well for whatever I do next.