I am now a rising senior at the University of Iowa with a dream of pursuing medicine. As
such, I have been looking into different opportunities and experiences over my undergrad in
which I may increase my standings as an applicant to the medical field, as well as hopefully
grow as a person. One such opportunity took form in the shape of a research assistant position
in one of the laboratories within the University of Iowa Neuroscience Institute. While I plan on
continuing my work over my senior year, I began back in February of 2023, and have now
completed my third semester in this position. I sought out any laboratory role at first, but was
later encouraged to look more specifically into opportunities in the Neuroscience department as
this is also my major; which I happen to enjoy very much.
While it is true that I am still working my way up to more specific, meaningful research in
the lab, my current roles are vital to the overall well-being and efficiency of the lab as a whole.
Mainly, I, along with two co-workers, handle the bulk of genotyping necessary to all the
simultaneous research projects. This process mainly boils down to the extraction, replication,
and "testing" of select DNA sequences so that those above us may use these results as they
strive to correlate and prove causation between specific genomes and target physiological and
psychological ailments. These studies are performed using mice, however the human potential
for these findings is plentiful.
I think that the opportunity overall has given me great insight and experience with the
world of research. This job has allowed me to meet people from very different backgrounds and
of a spectrum of age groups who all have very unique experiences and opinions on today's
modern medical/research scene. And while these interactions have been amazing in shaping
my current outlook and determination related to my future path as well as science in general,
there are still a fair share of hardships. These troubles are primarily time-related. Balancing work
with the many trials of a full-time student can be daunting, but overall this experience has taught
me techniques to cope with this struggle that I believe will aid me far into the future.
Being surrounded with grown-ups (as compared to college students such as myself) who
are in more developed and concrete times of their lives is both motivating and daunting to me as
I make my way through the world. Seeing people who are so bright and work so hard in an effort
to change the world inspires me to better myself in the pursuit of mirroring their contributions to
humanity. However, it also fills me with doubts about myself and leads me to believe that I may
never accomplish as much as them. This has led to a more critical approach to my academics
where my failures are taken harder and my successes are more easily diluted in my mind.
Nevertheless, my resolve remains unbroken as I wake up day after day in an attempt to make a
contribution to society in the same vein as those who surround me.
This experience requires a great amount of teamwork and collaboration with others as
we are all small parts of one greater machine. While I have worked with others throughout my
life, this experience made me especially appreciate teamwork in a more scientific setting. In fact,
it ignited a love for collaboration pertaining to academics and knowledge accumulation, and has
inspired me to be more outgoing and social in my daily life. I believe that this characteristic will
be invaluable in my desired profession as a doctor, as this socialization will likely allow for
greater efficiency in patient care in both patient-doctor interactions, as well as behind the scenes
healthcare interactions. Despite not being what I want to do as my career, I think that this lab
experience has set me up for my desired path greater than any other experience I've ever had.
Both images above represent my work as image one pertains to the genotyping process
which I complete on a daily basis, while image two relates to some of the phenotypic changes
that can result from the genotype deviations which my lab searches for.
Hello, my name is Jacob Belardo. I am from Ashburn, Virginia (just outside of Washington D.C.) and am a rising senior at the University of Iowa studying Neuroscience on the Pre-Med track. My hobbies include weightlifting, coffee-drinking, and of course studying. Go Hawks!
No comments:
Post a Comment