Parchment Student Profile

I have always wanted to be a scientist. At a young age, when most children indicate they want to be teachers or other familiar professionals, I would tell people I wanted to be a marine biologist. Recently, my interests changed to the medical field. Why science? I excel in science classes, but more importantly, I honestly enjoy it. It comes naturally to me. This summer, I was fortunate to secure a job as a research intern with the IU School of Medicine at IUPUI. The experience was provided through a program called Indianapolis Project SEED, which gives high school students the opportunity to conduct summer research in a laboratory. Forty-five students were competitively selected from a group of well-qualified, talented students and placed in labs at a variety of sites, including IUPUI, Ball State and Eli Lilly. I was placed in Dr. Irina Petrache’s lab at IUPUI, where, under her mentorship, I researched the effects of cigarette smoke on autophagy in alveolar macrophages. Later, I wrote a report and presented a poster during an academic poster session highlighting my research, methods, and findings. This was my first chance to apply science beyond a structured classroom lab. I brought with me knowledge of calculations and basic lab concepts, but I had no idea how to use a simple pipet or how to handle cells in a culture, among other things. Despite my lack of hands-on experience, I overcame these obstacles and contributed to the research team.
I learned how to perform some extremely difficult procedures and work with machines that were probably worth more than my parents’ house! After starting with a limited amount of practical experience, I learned to conduct western blots, gel electrophoresis, flow cytometry and MTT assays without the help of my mentor.
This summer, I grew as a scientist, but more importantly, I matured as a person. Not only did I learn how to work with machines and perform experiments, but I learned important skills related to working with people in a real-life setting towards achieving a common goal. This gave me valuable insight into working with others in a college-level, professional environment. The entire experience was exceptional and reinforced my career choice: I now am one-hundred percent certain that I want to pursue a career in medicine. Specifically, I want to become a doctor and use my knowledge to help people in need of medical care. However, because of this amazing summer experience, I would like to conduct scientific medical research in the area of mental health. Specifically, I hope to focus my work on gaining a better understanding of mental health disorders. This internship helped me realize how important research is to science and beyond. It’s not just something that people do to benefit their labs, but the world of research is a collaborative community of people who aim to create a better world and solve many of science’s mysteries. I want to be a significant contributor to that effort.