Today marks 3 weeks since Arrival Day for PUR Biochem 2.
Remarkably, these past 3 weeks have felt like simultaneously the longest and shortest weeks of my life. The longest, because I now feel like—cliche incoming—I’ve known my fellow SSPers and the Purdue campus since forever; the shortest, because once we settled into our steady routine of meals and lecture and lab and activities, the weeks flew by.
This week, my lab group braved the trials and tribulations of enzyme activity assays, designing our own protocols for the first time. We created procedures to characterize our target protein’s catalytic activity on generic and specific substrates—and as we would discover, designing the tests was the least frustrating part. Our group had to repeat the same test 3 separate times. To this day, acceptable data from the assay remains a fantasy, and Excel is actively trying to drive me crazy.
With all this in mind, it makes sense that on Sundays, I throw down the micropipettes and centrifuge tubes in favor of laundry and extended boundaries. To us, Sunday is the reset day. Instead of waking up at 7, I wake up at 9. Instead of spending a day in the lab, my cohort spends a day out, sampling “local cuisines”. Instead of eating at Ford, we eat at Cane’s. With, of course, an obligatory stop at Mango Mango for dessert.
In particular, today was also Parent Visit Day. A few SSPers had parents take them out, but the majority of us enjoyed a relaxed day out, starting from sleeping in. While the morning was uneventful, the afternoon was packed with activity.
Once extended boundaries started at 2, we grabbed boba at Tsaochaa (trying new flavors each time! I highly recommend the lychee jasmine milk tea) and headed to Target & Von’s to shop. Every week, I buy a new bag of mandarins from Target to supplement frozen dining hall fruit with fresh stuff. I try to share it throughout the week.
I spent dinner at Malatang (Chinese hotpot) with my incredible labmate Aimee and a friend from Purdue 1. May have loaded my bowl with a bit too much food, but I’d say at least I left dinner fulfilled. 5/5 stars. Some of our cohort chose to go to Taste of India instead, which apparently has some really nice food for cheap (but be prepared for spicy).
We concluded extended boundaries with Mango Mango for dessert. I ordered the mango pancakes, while others got ice cream and cake. Honestly, West Lafayette is doing wonders for my sweet tooth. It’s a blessing and a curse, because this may be the best dessert I’ve ever had, but I’m pretty sure I messed up my hunger cues.
The day ended with laundry. Someone in SSP Discord a while back—in a reference to Everything Everywhere All at Once—that this is the universe in which we do laundry together (not the taxes part). Kind of deep, if you ask me. Because since arriving, I’ve been immersed in science: between learning the principles of enzyme kinetics, practicing micropipetting daily, and troubleshooting pesky Excel sheets, my mind is practically swimming in biochemistry. But my time here has been characterized, too, by laundry and shared meals and time with friends I’m not ready to leave. By playing duets in the laundry room because the practice rooms were locked, by riding on terrifyingly rickety roller coasters, by dinner conversations about eating paper and Sprite-milk concoctions (our professors have some strong opinions on those topics).
We’re more than halfway through the program now. I plan to cherish the time we have left, but I’m not thinking about it too hard. For now, I’m eating my leftover mango pancakes in peace.
-Mingjia
