This last week was SO hectic- but we made it. I handed in my poster on Tuesday morning after many editing sessions to catch the smallest errors that I had gone blind to. After I handed in my poster I felt a huge feeling of relief. It came out really well and I'm truly so proud of all the work I accomplished to get as far as I did in the program. I spent the remainder of Tuesday re-slicing the best blocks at 60 nanometers for TEM. putting the small slices on tiny TEM grids was so precarious, but it definitely paid off once I got to Eugene. Main campus was so pretty! The TEM is stationed in CAMCOR, UO's super technologically advanced underground scientific bunker that's cleaned with blue light. Walking through CAMCOR felt like I was in a sci-fi movie. TEM was successful and I was able to snag a few images of Alviniconcha testis. After successful imaging, the grad students walked us around campus and we went out to get food in Eugene. It was overall a really fun and successful day. Pictures below! The poster session wasn't as scary as I was expecting- then again I think my brain was just burnt out so I'm not sure I was able to feel intimidated anymore. People asked good questions, I answered well, and I got to show off snail gonads. Oh!... and Lisa and Debby made cookies. All in all, quite the success. Here is my poster! Sitting here writing this, I'm having a hard time believing the program is over. It's hard to put into words what this program meant to me. I met so many amazing people. I gained such invaluable confidence in my research. I bonded with Lauren, Caitlin, and Avery over all the little things. I'm going to miss so many little things. Walking to Bayside Coffee, OG, and Millers for some snacks and sweet treats. Laying on the jetty with Cat and Ytxzae counting down the days until we go home. Picking wild blackberries behind the dining hall for way too long. Watching movies and making charcuterie boards. Jumping in the freezing pacific, screaming, and then laughing. Watching fog roll in from the bay and saying "it's so twilight (2007) out." Hearing everyone snore because the walls don't go to the ceilings. Spontaneously flying to San Francisco for the weekend. Hearing the bell ring for every meal. Saying goodnight to my friends anxious and excited for the next day. I think OIMB encompasses all the little things anyone could want.
So, if you are reading this and wondering if you should apply to this REU, don't think twice. You wont get an experience like this anywhere else. Coming from NJ, I wasn't too excited to travel so far from home and not see any of my friends all summer. Don't think like me. The distance is worth it. The stressful lab days are worth it. It wont be an easy goodbye and being a 2 minute walk to the water was something I took for granted. There truly isn't a place on earth like Charleston. Until next time :)
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AuthorHello! My name is Flynn Gorman and I am working in the Young Lab and studying the embryology of the gastropods Ifremeria nautilei and Alviniconcha this summer. I am from New Jersey and I am pursuing a B.S. in Biology at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. I also work at a coffee shop on campus and act as the PR Director for my acapella group. Archives
August 2022
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