TRAIN Scholar Evelyn Rivera Elias' Blog

  The first picture is my plate with the lawn culture method. The second picture is a side-by-side comparison of my plate with Josh's using the streak plate method. Not quite sure why he didn't grow but I'll leave that as a mystery for now. I recorded the cell morphology of the plates in my notebook, which was a bit hard since I couldn't really tell what the texture was. The cells that are visible will be what I'll use for the rest of the tests. I didn't think biology was all too interesting before but I do find it interesting more now. Dr. Marfai suggested I should do a biology class for fun and I feel like I might do that if I have the chance.

  This week I read through the methods of how to identify bacteria. As well as reading a bit about cell morphology. I enjoyed reading both sections a lot more than I would've thought. Afterward, I got to do some labwork, which was super exciting.  I did a lawn culture and the streak plate with an unknown bacteria that was only labeled #007. Josh demonstrated how to do it first then I did it. I was surprised to hear that waving the swab means that it was already contaminated and had to be thrown away. Aside from that, I was able to follow the demonstration well enough. Now I'll just have to wait for the plates to be incubated to see the growth.

This week was kind of stressful for a variety of reasons. First is that I'm really struggling in math class, I haven't been able to manage the workload so it's been stacking up. I'm not quite sure what I should do or how I can voice my concerns properly.  The second thing is that I don't really like the other modules on Dphi. It's been a bit tiring going through it without understanding having many visuals of data to understand the coursework. I've also had trouble doing the modules because it keeps logging me out or not saving my progress. I tried looking up videos online about using pandas but most of them go too fast or don't fully explain the steps

  This week I went through the modules on Dphi. I don't think I've used python since 2020 but I did remember a good amount. I made notes as I went through the modules and just some playing around in google notebooks. I passed the first module so now I just need to do the rest and I should be good to go. Though after reviewing python, I'm thinking of doing a project more focused on computer science. I know that's one of the other majors that TRAIN supports so that wouldn't be an issue. I'll have to wait and see for next semester.

 The last three streak plates came back from incubation.  The green one was by far the most interesting because it had turned red and somewhat yellow. The green growth followed a line but the red growth was more scattered.  The purple one had some yellow tint as well but mostly remained purple. The red one for whatever reason had no color change or growth

 This week I'm wrapping up blog posts and the research poster. As of right now, I'm doing the variable table and hopefully after Thanksgiving, I can write my abstract. I'm trying to not overfill my plate with work since I've been feeling ill but the presentations are next week so I feel a bit stressed.  These past few weeks have been a lot but in a good way. I am incredibly thankful for the TRAIN program and the opportunities it's given me. As well as being thankful for having supportive people like Amanda and Josh. I hope to continue the program til I graduate. Maybe even when I transfer as well :)

      This week I didn't get too much done because of a math midterm I had. I'm hoping to at least get 80% on it. I've been putting in the work, going to the tutoring center to succeed on this so hopefully, it pays off. I managed to squeeze in some time to attend an event for TRAIN scholars. The meeting was about financial opportunities for transferring to a 4-year university. I'm still hesitant about if I want to go to ASU West or even ASU in general. I still think it's worth doing my research. I also found out I could still do TRAIN if I did decide to go to ASU West so that's definitely a pro as to why I should go there.

  Today we did the last test, the Oxidase test. Josh told me that the tube had glass in it so I was scared about squeezing it. Eventually, I was able to get a drop out of the reagent. The small yellow dot is the control because it did not get a droplet. The other dot that has a droplet was the independent variable. There was no color change so it was negative. Aside from the test, Josh went over with me how to build a variable table. I should have about everything I need to build my table and start my presentation. 

This week I watched a variety of videos on lab safety on a website called labsafety.org. The videos went over how to have a safe lab environment and what to do in case of an emergency. It wasn’t too difficult to remember because some of it was common sense such as keeping the fire away from flammables or wearing protective clothing at all times. Afterwards I filled out a test so I could get started on labwork. There were some guidelines that I was worried about forgetting because it was about keeping specific groups of chemicals away from each other. Fortunately, Josh said I didn’t need to remember that since I wouldn’t be working with anything too advanced. Afterward, I did a quick quiz on lab safety before I could start the actual lab work.

This week I went to the Dalby Building to do some lab work. Amanda suggested that I could do lab work this semester and next semester I can use it for my data science. I was a bit nervous to do the lab work because I hadn’t had a biology class since my junior year of high school, which was around the time when lockdowns started. Fortunately, the binder Josh had me read through was enough for me to at least understand the process. Though we had to rush through the tests this week because the holidays were close by. I was never quite fond of biology simply because I didn't want to think about all the little bacteria that are everywhere. After this week, I do understand the importance of it. Still not a fan of bacteria itself but it was really fun to do the lab work.  Unknown bacteria under a microscope Aseptic Technique More streak plates!

My mind has felt so scrambled for the past few weeks. It's my first semester as a student, Student Success Specialist, and Train scholar. Balancing all 3 whilst trying to have somewhat of a social life was difficult, to say the least. I wasn't sure what to do or who to ask. I wrote an email to Amanda, and Josh about quitting because I felt like I wasn't the right candidate anymore.   Amanda called me later that day, and it was intimidating at first because I assumed there'd be negative precautions for me. I was so paralyzed with fear and anxiety when I picked up the call. To my surprise, she was very understanding and didn't want to give up on me so easily. We had a long phone call discussing my frustrations and how I was approaching my problems. It felt nice talking through it all and being able to troubleshoot with someone else.  She said that I could quit if I really felt like that was the best decision. During the call, I felt a lot less alone and felt like I sh...