Boots on the Ground

Yes, I did in fact mistake this metaphor for a simile the other day... I just misspoke, I promise it won't happen again. So anyway, this metaphor is, well, basically me. Last year, Mr. Bott, Mrs. Gergen and I talked endlessly about how I was forced to operate in a way that was far removed from the substances I was studying. What I mean by this is that I had limited power over what I manipulated, observed and experimented with. I was confined by the work of others - they were the ones in these metaphorical boots working on these metaphorical grounds. All I could do was observe from afar. But then, this summer kind of changed everything. I got my first, and hopefully not last, chance at slipping on those boots and venturing onto the grounds. All of which is proving to be quite the experience.

Although it may seem like 3 months in a lab is enough time to do an experiment, gather data, and maybe even replicate it a time or two, I will tell you that is not the case. In actuality, I have spent the past three months just trying to set up my experiment. Worms must be bred, specific genetic backgrounds must be integrated, worm-ages must be synchronized, and all of this takes time. And then there are always those lovely glitches that set you back a couple of weeks - you know the failed PCRs and the unnecessary mutations that ruin your experiment's validity. And then, school started...

I was boots on the ground for the summer, but it was not enough. I am not finished and its hard to be unfinished because I have to go to school and study for classes and do everything I normally do except in a lot less time because 8 hours of my day are already taken up. I'm not really sure how this is all going to play out because I'm kind of caught in the middle. What I mean by this is that without continuing to go to the lab and maintaining my work - I have no thesis and no project. At the same time though, I am not entirely sure exactly how I'm supposed to find the time to make it all happen. I know I have to and I definitely want to keep going back, but my most pressing question right now, is when? I was able to go in one night this week and next week we have a day off from school, but there is no telling what will happen in a month when things start getting busy and college applications start to possess a heightened urgency.

I think this brings me back to something else though - the ability to adapt between being "boots on the ground" and being an active observer. I'm sure there will be some weeks when I cannot make it in to the lab and will have to accept the fact that certain circumstances qualify for certain sacrifices. It is imperative that I know what to do, how to work with my situation and still achieve my goals at the exact moment I am supposed to, in spite of the unexpected occurrences. The purpose of this opportunity over the summer was not to replace the observation skills I had developed over the past two years, but rather, to give me an ability to be versatile in my work. So that I could learn how to do research directly and indirectly.

Sometimes, when we achieve a certain place, we forget all the work that we have done to actually arrive there. I fear that is what has begun to happen to me. As much as I love putting on my "lab boots," I think it's important to remember what came before.