Jinkies, it’s field trip time! At the crack of dawn (more like 8 AM), the Genomics Girlies hit the road for the Indianapolis Zoo. The bus ride was full of excitement and Andrew’s nostalgic music taste as we rode all the way from West Lafayette to Indianapolis (approximately one hour). As soon as we landed at the zoo we were greeted by the captivating smell of the animals. We set off in small groups visiting most of the attractions like the Macaques Enclosure, the Kangaroo Crossing room, and the Reptilian centers… but the real showstopper of our time there was the Dolphin Showcase! Miranda, Jasper, Neha, and I decided to sit in the splash zone, a certainly memorable experience. Seeing the dolphins execute flips and turns was exciting but like also kind of weird because they all looked sad. After a few more hours viewing animals and drying off, we left the zoo to prepare for our next half of the field trip: visiting our biochem friends at Indiana University in Bloomington.
After what felt like forever (actually only an hour) we arrived at IU and got the chance to visit our AAD, Dr. Manzella’s, ASURE Lab. He explained the purpose of ASURE which is to give undergraduate students a more personal and interactive chance to participate in scientific research. Even if a student decides they do not want to continue in the realm of research they can take the essential problem solving and reasoning skills they gained from ASURE and apply it in their future lives. We then got to explore our TA Logan’s lab, a bio-safety level 2 which means it contains potentially hazardous agents. After that thrilling sight we were greeted by our IU friends who gave us a tour of the food around campus. Some of us dabbled in getting boba tea, soft serve from the local creamery, or fries from Five Guys. We then visited the dorms and admired the beautiful architecture. Almost every building looked like a castle. Sadly, we ended our time at IU with a laughter-filled dinner with our new friends and a ceremonious goodbye as we loaded back on the bus to home sweet boilermakers Purdue.
Special shoutout to my fellow SpringISD Houstonian, Maybeline for being the best campus guide and taking the IU Public Library to visit the local hotspot there!
About Me:
Howdy! I’m Nosakhare and I’m a Nigerian American Student from Houston, Texas. My favorite classes have been College Chemistry course and College Medical Terminology. Outside of academia, I’m a huge television and music lover. I am so excited to be at SSP because it’s helped expose me to the life of scientific research.