Massachusetts General Hospital

“Above all, this internship has taught me how to think and plan scientifically. I’ve not only learned useful lab techniques that I will put on my CV, but the importance of understanding every step, compound and technique used in an experiment and how these can be tweaked and optimized towards different goals using my own understanding. I've learned the invaluable habit of truly immersing myself in the literature of a discipline to draw connections and always be well informed. Something that will serve me well beyond my work with cancer immunology. My research presentations were ripped apart, my pipetting technique chastised, my sanitary techniques refined, and I now come out a more polished and deliberate laboratory worker with a newfound respect for the meticulous work that MD/PHDs constantly produce. This internship has given purpose and importance to the lab courses I've taken at Holy Cross. I would always work diligently and carefully in these courses to set proper lab habits for when I got to research that would actually affect the lives of others. But it always felt like I was just running on a treadmill preparing for the real race: a qPCR that would never actually add to our shared scientific knowledge, an organic compound that would be tossed in chemical waste all the same, a banal exercise with coke and diet coke just to prove I could use sig figs properly. But now that I'm immersing myself in glioblastoma research, it feels all that training has finally come to fruition. I feel like every compound I double check, every pipette box I make sure I close, every extra hour I spend so I can do another experiment tomorrow, truly has the potential to make a difference in the lives and give hope to those who suffer from such an ugly, scary disease. After the long days I ride home tired on the T I feel as though all those hours toiling at my lab notebook have finally paid off, and I have contributed to and explored research where my work will never be personally invaluable and universally important. Lastly, I've learned and experienced something invaluable about the sacrifice, passion, immigrant work ethic and dedication. Every member of my lab used to be a neurosurgeon in Japan or China and has given away at least 2-3 years of their lives to work within a foreign culture and language in order to learn how to be better scientists, observe the quality standards of a Harvard research lab, and take this knowledge back home to improve the work they do and the perspective they keep. I've watched my colleagues brush off their cultural and economic struggles and immerse themselves in vitally important, unprecedented research to improve and save the lives of all who struggle with glioblastoma. That lesson may be the most important of all.”

“Shadowing a doctor in a clinic”