6:30: I woke up, ready for the day ahead. I watched a few Instagram reels and finally got out of bed to go run with my roommate.
6:45: We left our dorm, and the cool air rushed over me. It is the first day in a while that it is actually cooler outside the dorm than inside. After a brisk three miles, I showered and got ready for the day.
7:40: I headed over to breakfast with my roommate. There is currently a theater convention here at IU so it was packed. After a quick breakfast, we made the long trek over to the Chemistry building for lab.
8:15: Oh no! I forgot my pants! I ran back to the dorm in order to get on my pants and not be late. Despite having been at IU for over a week, I still don’t know the inside of the chemistry building and therefore got stuck taking 2 elevators and 2 flights of stairs.
8:20: I met with my group at the lab, ready to tackle one of the lengthiest and most important labs of the program. But disaster struck! Our cell pellets were not stored in the -80 degree freezer like they were supposed to be; instead, they were left out at room temperature for the whole weekend. After consulting with Dr. Hollenebeck, she told us that backup proteins were made before the program, so we should be okay. Whew!
8:40: We finally started the lab to purify our protein. One thing I’ve learned here is that a lot of biochemistry is mixing buffers. After finally preparing our cells for centrifuging, we began to work on our chromatography column to purify our protein. But another disaster! Our centrifuge tube exploded in the centrifuge, spilling half of our protein all over the inside of the centrifuge! But we still trudged on.
11:00: We grabbed an early lunch. I got Chinese food and some other people got burgers.
11:30: When we returned to the lab, we finally started purifying our protein. And it took a loooong time. We were in the lab for almost five hours waiting for our columns to drip through.
4:30: I got back to my dorm and “took a nap” (scrolled on my phone).
5:30: We all went to dinner. I had chicken, mac and cheese, and ice cream. Very nutritious, I know.
7:00: I went back to my dorm and started working on my introduction for our final research paper at the end of the program.
8:00: We had our weekly dorm meeting and found out about our field trip this week. We are going to the amusement park Holiday World!
9:00: I worked a little more, picked up some packages, called my parents, and finally went to bed. It was a stressful but productive day.
