Today I finally have my first visit for my internship!!!
With Ms. Mroczka's accompany, we headed to RPI this afternoon right after school. To be honest, I was nervously excited. I did not know what my mentor is going to ask me or what task am I going to be assigned to, yet I was so ready to express my passion to him. In fact, my mind was blown away even when I first entered the building. There is a broad space in the build with modern designs that makes it look very "technological".
I met my mentor, Dr. Koffas, and he led us into the building to his office. Not surprise at all, he was a really nice man. In his way of talking, he conveyed a sense of intellect and patience. He is also very flexible, too. When we asked about the privacy issue about the lab, he was very generous and welcomed us to take pictures of the project, which made me really glad and thankful.
My research mainly focuses on molecular biology. His current research group is working on "Network, Metabolic, Cellular Engineering". He told us that some common used techniques in this lab are purifying proteins, purifying DNA, and even cloning! I was literally so excited (and Ms. Mroczka was excited for me too!) when I heard this because they are exactly the things I would like to explore even though they were completely new! When he asked me about my interests and what I hope to take away from this internship, I answered anything and everything, and I told him how much I love biology. As we are entering my favorite chapter in my biology class - genetics, and I hope I can apply my knowledge on the labs I will be working on and further explore the topic:)
After all, I will not be starting my internship until after the Thanksgiving break, and I will be working with his graduate students or postdocs. However, although it was just a short meeting, I am glad that my internship is finally starting!
