Paul B. '11 | January 14, 2008
"One Extraordinary Week, Plus Ferrets"
IAP makes everything at MIT more enjoyable. The past week has pretty much been a whirlwind of activity. For once I have absolutely no problem sets and no commitments other than my UROP - which gives me quite a bit of free time to socialize, relax, and simply enjoy everything that makes MIT...well, MIT. In this entry, I wanted to not only tell you a little bit more about my UROP, but also show you a small sampling of the crazy, fun, and/or ridiculous things I've been up to this past week. To wit, I...
- Threw a late-night Diablo II LAN party with my fraternity brothers...twice.
- Almost was run over by the No. 1 bus when it decided not to stop for me as I ran across the street to catch it.
- Lost a cutthroat game of Settlers of Catan by one point, and only because the other players all ganged up on me. I was so close... (By the way, I just lost the game again. Shoot.)
- Had a quick Starbucks break with Melissa '11 (a.k.a. Piper).
- Gave myself my first zsig.
- Ate out at Uburger for a fun, delicious, and totally unhealthy dinner. I think my arteries are still clogged.
- Bought some of my course books for next semester from the Coop. (Yes, I know that's almost unforgivably nerdy, even for MIT. But it sure beats waiting in line when term actually starts.)
- Chatted for quite a while with John Cloutier (a Skullhouse alum, former student-body president, and Jessie's "partner-in-crime"), who was back in Boston for the weekend.
- Got destroyed in a game of Stratego. (I should take this opportunity to note that, no matter how good you are at any given game, at MIT, you will almost certainly find someone who will give you a run for your money.)
- Updated my résumé and started working on this whole "summer internship" thing. Should be a fun process. ;-)
- Got caught in the Boston Rain.
- Met with the Simmons Hall Mystery Hunt team (codename: Smallish Momenta. I will give something awesome to the first person who can figure out the origin of our name) to coordinate details for the Hunt,which starts this Friday. Our #1 directive? Have fun! (Works for me.)
- Celebrated my friend Caroline's birthday with the most delicious cake I have ever eaten, which Caroline personally made for all of her friends. Seriously, this cake - chocolate with some mouth-watering vanilla frosting - was amazing; apparently it was a recipe passed down from Caroline's great-grandmother. Few birthday girls would make her own cake; only Caroline could make one this delicious. =)
- Played in an Assasssins' Guild game, where I ended up trying to conquer the world with a crack squad of ninjas. Really, I'm not joking.
- Unleashed a birthday explosion in Ben's office.
- And, most amazingly of all, I got to work with ferrets as part of my UROP.
You may be wondering, did Paul really just write that he worked with ferrets? Yes, you read me right: ferrets. They're quite adorable creatures, although they also have a feisty streak a mile wide. I know this because, this past Wednesday, my lab performed surgery on a pair of ferrets we had been studying - and I got to watch.
A little background. Basically, my UROP lab group's ultimate goal is to develop treatments for scarring that can sometimes occur in vocal cords (such as by fire exposure, throat cancer, or botched surgery). One of the ways we do this is by synthesizing various hydrogels. We then test the gels' mechanical properties and, on occasion, test their effectiveness using animal models - that is, ferrets.
Let me apologize in advance to any animal rights people who may be offended by this post. I certainly agree that animals deserve the most humane treatment and care possible. That being said, animals really are valuable models for scientific research, and you have to draw the line somewhere. All in all, I don't really want to turn this into a political blog, so if you really want to talk about animal rights or are curious about MIT's animal testing policies, just drop me an email; I'm always happy to chat.
As you can guess, animal surgery is a pretty big deal, so I had to don full surgical gear just to observe the proceedings. I suited up from head-to-toe in a lab coat, booties, hairnet, gloves, and a face mask; and then I followed the rest of my lab group into the actual surgery room, which happened to be located in the basement of our lab building at MIT.
It was actually a rather surreal experience. Two dedicated surgical fellows performed the actual procedure, while the rest of us helped set everything up, recorded data, handed the surgeons instruments, and recorded video of the tests. To be perfectly honest, I didn't have enough experience or expertise to be very helpful (though hopefully I'll get there someday!), but I was nonetheless pretty efficient when it came to taking down notes or handing the surgeons whatever particular instrument they needed. ;-)
Although this past week has been awesome in so many different ways, and my lab has given me the opportunity to do some pretty cool things besides animal surgeries (such as growing my own cell culture and helping to run an ELISA), watching the surgical fellows work has definitely been the highlight of my UROP experience so far. I wish I had been able to take some photos, but unfortunately that would have violated several sterilization protocols, so I hope you can use your imagination to picture what it was like. Or better yet, when you come to MIT, get a UROP yourself and experience the wonders of scientific research firsthand! I know that sounds terribly cliché, but I'm quite serious: if when you come to MIT, you can and should avail yourself of all the tremendous research opportunities available to you. Whatever your interests and passions - from astrophysics to political science to computer science - there is a UROP for you. As an institution, MIT is incredibly dedicated to letting undergraduates participate in research in a meaningful way. The UROP program itself is one of the major reasons I chose MIT over any other school. Sure, other schools have research programs too - but none of them were quite like UROP.
Even though I've only been UROPing for a few months, I can say this with certainty: the program works. No matter how many hours I end up spending in the lab, or how many times I end up staying past five o'clock just to fix one tiny detail in my protocol or to finish a test we're working on, I can think of no better way to spend my time.
Except blogging, maybe. =)
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The author has filed this entry in the "The Month Of January: IAP" , "Undergraduate Research Opportunities" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
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ferrets?!
say it ain't so, Paul :(
Posted by: karen on January 14, 2008 12:48 AM
<3 Diablo II.
And I most certainly hope that no Maphacks were involved, Paul.
Posted by: Marc R on January 14, 2008 01:02 AM
A very informative post.
And I totally agree with you MIT has the widest of research opportunities for every major. I also intend to there because of this reason. And interdisciplinary research tops.
I would surely like to know how to get involved in UROP from the very beginning of academic term just like you did. I would definitely appreciate some tips from your side Paul :)
Posted by: Akshay on January 14, 2008 01:08 AM
Finally, something about your UROP !
Ferrets, really ? What a coincidence..
And I just lost the game...
Posted by: Isshak on January 14, 2008 01:51 AM
Shoot, I lost.
And hey, that's me! And how come you get the awesome team in the guild game? "Otherkin" was the most boring one and I had to get it... Oh well, at least it wasn't for the 10-day.
I'm glad your UROP is going great!! =) I'm going for one next semester. BWAHAHAHA.
Posted by: Piper on January 14, 2008 02:15 AM
paul, your blog is great, but you don't answer on your facebook...you take too long...i'm hungry too
Posted by: Isshak on January 14, 2008 02:34 AM
Sorry Isshak, part of the problem is that I'm busy doing all the things I blog about! ^_^ I'll get back to you soon, I promise.
Akshay - Thanks for your interest! I wanted to talk about how I got my UROP, but I realized that would have been a little much to fit into this entry. Sorry! I'll be blogging about it soon though, so don't worry.
Posted by: Paul on January 14, 2008 02:53 AM
Great post, your UROP sounds neat. I WANNA UROP! And, of course, the typical MIT crazyness of everything else you do. AND, 3 spots on the main page! w00t w00t!
Posted by: Star on January 14, 2008 05:04 AM
wow! just wow. UROPing and IAP sounds incredible
i want :(
(hahahahaa i'm such a whiner)
oh question. if someone was doing course 22 or something particle physics related , could they perhaps go to CERN as a part of their UROP ? :D
also MIT should get a particle accelerator ( they dont have one do they?) Cornell has an electron storage ring :O
BUT
MIT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Cornell :D
Posted by: Aditi on January 14, 2008 05:08 AM
Aditi, I myself have wondered that. Imagine doing research at CERN! That would just be the ultimate charactersitc of an MIT education.
Posted by: Edgar on January 14, 2008 06:01 AM
If Dan Brown is to believed, the CERN has the paricle accelerator that has D's so huge that the spheres appear to be straight...8Km....Gosh!
Yet, its a fiction..Right?
CERN.....CERN..MIT hear us..CERN..
Posted by: Libin Daniel on January 14, 2008 06:05 AM
Hey Paul, Why don't someone blog a bit about Aeronautical Engineering( Not Aerospace, although either is acceptable)? I would be glad to read bout a different Facade of MIT. Also, as I posted in Snively's Blog...'Shoot' up some pics or facts about the chapel.
Thanks a ton for this scrap and the every shred of info you give us about MIT.
Posted by: Libin Daniel on January 14, 2008 06:09 AM
Hey Paul, I read somewhere sometime back that you were involved in research in your high school too. What you did earlier is helping you now in UROP(directly or indirectly)???
And how do you guys get a chance to do research while in school? I wasn't 'lucky' enough to find the source.
Posted by: Tanmay on January 14, 2008 06:25 AM
@libin : the particle accelerator exists.
its called a LHC ( large hadron collider) I think it becomes functional in may(right?). I want to see it. SoooooOO badly.
oh and my physics teacher is an MIT alum (how lucky am I!). he did his Aeronautical Engineering at MIT.
:)
Posted by: Aditi on January 14, 2008 07:26 AM
@ Aditi:
You are really lucky indeed! :)
Posted by: Tanmay on January 14, 2008 08:02 AM
Aditi, you got a double roll.
MIT...GOOD....AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING....DAMN AWESOME.( CAPS are INTENTIONAL)
Posted by: Libin Daniel on January 14, 2008 09:36 AM
What are the UROP opportunities in economics?
Posted by: Swagnik on January 14, 2008 09:47 AM
Surgery!! I can imagine what it was like. I took part in a hysterectomy, at close range!!! You know all the white lab coat, mask, and a million sterilization rules.
I'm sure you're like, Are you serious?
Well I didn't actually do the cutting but,like Paul, was kind of a robot.
"Clippers!" I give it, then check the saline level, blood pressure....
It was awesome and, well, a little scary; seeing the surgeon put blade against skin and ultimately removing a cancerous body part.
I hope to have greater and more interesting UROPs when I get to MIT.
Hey thanks for the information you guys give.
Posted by: Desmond on January 14, 2008 10:37 AM
Wow. That's sooooo cool. I hope I get into MIT so I can do awesome stuff like that!
And I just lost the game. :(
Posted by: Anonymous on January 14, 2008 11:59 AM
I read your entry, as promised. :)
And actually, I have something that I´ve been wanting to say to you for awhile, that´s somewhat relevant to the topic of this blog.
I´ll let you know sometime. :)
(My current location has now shifted to some random internet cafe in Madrid, haha)
Posted by: Oasis on January 14, 2008 12:07 PM
