The journey through Mod2 (so far...)
Looking back on the few weeks we've had in Mod2, it's definitely been quite a different experience from what we were doing in Mod1. In Mod1, I felt comfortable, having done most of the procedures before. Yes, things went wrong (like losing our FKBP12 pellet...oops), as I somewhat expected with getting re-acquainted to lab. Mod2, however, has been quite a different beast so far.
For me, Mod2 is somewhat of an introduction to lots of things I've never worked with before. I've worked with RNA in lab, but never with BRCA and cancer genes or coding languages such as R.
Oh R, the emotions I have for you.
Coding. Why???? R. Why?????? Why can I never get my code to work in you???? Do you think it's fun to throw errors at me like every 2 minutes?
Yes, you give me pretty pictures and cool data. But why do you have to be so frustrating? Why?
I constantly feel like R is mocking my ability to write code (and honestly, 18.06 is doing that to me too, adding to my frustration) and the R exercises have definitely been the hardest part for me.
Thankfully, the lab work has gone much more smoothly (and less frustrating-ly!) even though a lot of it is very new to me. While I've worked with RNA purification before, learning how to do cell culture and qPCR has been an enlightening experience.
Mod2 has also been somewhat of a blast to the past - cue research presentations. Speaking in front of crowds has never been my favorite thing, especially when it's in front of people that I know. I don't know why, but for some reason giving talks in front of those I know has always been harder and worse for me - maybe because I actually care what they think about me.
I felt a little bit like when I was back in high school and first doing lit review for a new project - we had so many choices of papers! Picking what paper to read was probably one of the hardest parts as there were so many interesting options. Eventually, I picked one and began to dive into it. While the paper was relatively short, there was so much information packed in. I had to take time to synthesize what was going on with all the jargon used, but eventually, figured out what was going on. What they found was actually really cool - and I knew right then that I would struggle with putting together a presentation that I felt happy with.
In the past, I've always had an issue with presentations and speeches being too long, causing me to develop a habit of speaking really fast when I give presentations. Yes, not the best habit to develop.
I started putting together my slide deck, deciding to keep it more on the sparse end at first to avoid the issue mentioned above. I picked the three or four points I thought were the most important, and voila - a deck came together. Upon giving a practice presentation for the first time, I realized my strategy had backfired. The timer had read seven and a half minutes. It appears that I had overcompensated.
I went back and added more slides, putting in more information. I practiced again. 14 minutes. It was too much now. Overcompensation. Again.
Slowly, I began to cut material out. Eventually, I got my presentation down to 10 minutes. I cut out lots of information I thought was important, but the presentation still seemed wholesome enough. Learning how to construct an ideal presentation is a valuable skill to have, and this includes figuring out what to keep out. Honestly, putting together and telling a cohesive story is just as important as being able to present it properly. This presentation only leaves me room for growth, which I plan to take advantage of in the future. Presenting research occurs all the time at MIT, and this is just the beginning of the adventure.
-Sharon
For me, Mod2 is somewhat of an introduction to lots of things I've never worked with before. I've worked with RNA in lab, but never with BRCA and cancer genes or coding languages such as R.
Oh R, the emotions I have for you.
Coding. Why???? R. Why?????? Why can I never get my code to work in you???? Do you think it's fun to throw errors at me like every 2 minutes?
Yes, you give me pretty pictures and cool data. But why do you have to be so frustrating? Why?
I constantly feel like R is mocking my ability to write code (and honestly, 18.06 is doing that to me too, adding to my frustration) and the R exercises have definitely been the hardest part for me.
Thankfully, the lab work has gone much more smoothly (and less frustrating-ly!) even though a lot of it is very new to me. While I've worked with RNA purification before, learning how to do cell culture and qPCR has been an enlightening experience.
Mod2 has also been somewhat of a blast to the past - cue research presentations. Speaking in front of crowds has never been my favorite thing, especially when it's in front of people that I know. I don't know why, but for some reason giving talks in front of those I know has always been harder and worse for me - maybe because I actually care what they think about me.
I felt a little bit like when I was back in high school and first doing lit review for a new project - we had so many choices of papers! Picking what paper to read was probably one of the hardest parts as there were so many interesting options. Eventually, I picked one and began to dive into it. While the paper was relatively short, there was so much information packed in. I had to take time to synthesize what was going on with all the jargon used, but eventually, figured out what was going on. What they found was actually really cool - and I knew right then that I would struggle with putting together a presentation that I felt happy with.
In the past, I've always had an issue with presentations and speeches being too long, causing me to develop a habit of speaking really fast when I give presentations. Yes, not the best habit to develop.
I started putting together my slide deck, deciding to keep it more on the sparse end at first to avoid the issue mentioned above. I picked the three or four points I thought were the most important, and voila - a deck came together. Upon giving a practice presentation for the first time, I realized my strategy had backfired. The timer had read seven and a half minutes. It appears that I had overcompensated.
I went back and added more slides, putting in more information. I practiced again. 14 minutes. It was too much now. Overcompensation. Again.
Slowly, I began to cut material out. Eventually, I got my presentation down to 10 minutes. I cut out lots of information I thought was important, but the presentation still seemed wholesome enough. Learning how to construct an ideal presentation is a valuable skill to have, and this includes figuring out what to keep out. Honestly, putting together and telling a cohesive story is just as important as being able to present it properly. This presentation only leaves me room for growth, which I plan to take advantage of in the future. Presenting research occurs all the time at MIT, and this is just the beginning of the adventure.
-Sharon
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