This week consisted of careful planning and preparations for both the Final Product and the 1st Semester presentation.
First, I began the week by searching for possible areas of interest to create my Final Product. Although I greatly enjoyed environmental biological chemistry, I wanted to expand my knowledge in biochemistry and began searching for other subareas of biochemistry. After surfing many different databases, I came across forensic biological chemistry. This field of science examines physical evidence to support criminal investigations and prosecutions using forensic serology, DNA/RNA analysis, and immunoassays that can determine the blood, origin, age, and gender of an individual in a crime scene. After I chose the specific field of biochemistry I wanted to study, I began listing out things I wanted to incorporate in my Final Product. After much consideration, I decided to create an array of sketches and a full report over a criminal investigation that used forensic biochemical techniques. Lastly, this week I also prepared for my 1st Semester presentation. I began preparing by creating an outline of the things I might say in my presentation. Then I created a powerpoint as a visual aid that goes along with the items I will say in my presentation.
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This week I conducted two interviews that have helped me reflect upon my growth in the Independent Study and Mentorship program. My first interview was conducted with a professor at UT Southwestern. This professor addressed how the work of biochemists affects neighboring professions and touched on various research applications that he explored in his laboratory such as catalytic reactions, medicinal chemistry, and natural product synthesis. After this interview, I was able to connect my research and knowledge from previous classes to the information I learned during this interview.
My second interview was with a laboratory manager at Cates Laboratory. This interview helped expose me to a different side of biological chemistry as it mainly addressed how biochemists improved environmental conditions. The laboratory manager talked about asbestos and mold formations and as a result, I was able to connect knowledge from my original work to the interview. This week I also began preparing for my Original Work/1st Semester presentation. I planned out the key ideas I wanted to address in my presentation and outlined a slides presentation. Next, I need to create a gist of what I want to say and create an outline for the verbal portion of my presentation. This week was calm and relaxed. After multiple cold-calls to many different professionals in the field of biological chemistry, I was able to successfully schedule two interviews in the upcoming week. These interviews will be to get a better insight into the field of biological chemistry as well as for a possible mentorship. The first interview is with a lab specialist working in the medical field and the second interview is with a biochemist in a research laboratory. This week I also reflected upon my Original Work, semester goals, and my performance in the Independent Study and Mentorship program. As I reflected upon these subjects, I was able to see my growth in the program not just through my increased knowledge in the topic of biological chemistry but also how I grew in the field of professionalism and soft skills. This week I also edited part of my website. I updated my assessments and weekly reports. For the upcoming week, I plan to reflect upon my interviews and hopefully ask the interviewees for mentorship. Also, I plan to start brainstorming ideas for a product (Final Product) that incorporates my knowledge over biological chemistry and shows my growth in the Independent Study and Mentorship program. This week was Showcase!
I began this week by submitting Original Work and preparing for my presentation during Showcase. First and foremost, I created a document of possible questions that people could ask me during showcase night, such as: when did you first get into biochemistry, what has ISM taught you, why should I do ISM, and what is your original work? I also added any extra details I wanted to include in my presentation such as the different aspects of biological chemistry I researched and how those topic tie into my Original Work. Then I rehearsed those questions and details with my parents and friends. I added any finishing touches to my display board such as adding images and making sure nothing was misspelled. In addition, I made sure my portfolio and binder were finished and up-to-date with all assessments and weekly reports included. During Showcase, I met with many different people that helped me grow my network. For example, I met with an IT consultant. Although this topic was not related to biological chemistry, their contact may be useful in the future. In addition, I also met with different ISM students at Showcase. I was fascinated by everyone’s creativity with their display boards and Original Work that next year I hope to also bring a new creative design to Showcase night. This week was consisted of finishing my original work. First, I began the week of with creating my article. Then, outlined key components of my article in a separate document to help organize my thoughts. I listed any introduction and subcategories that needed to be included in my article. In addition, another list was made that showed who my audience is, what they care about, what my main message is, and what the purpose of my article is. Afterwards, I created my article and a list of references at the end of the article. Lastly, I changed parts of my introduction to catch the reader's attention, proofread, and made sure to get rid of any mistakes in my grammar and vocabulary.
Consequently, this week also consisted of working on my interactive map. I researched various environmental disasters that were related to bioremediation and compiled them all into a single document. From there, I added picture and the information to the interactive map. In addition, I added a few key locations to the map that helped show how significant bioremediation is and how widely used this process is. During this completion process, I realized I needed to improve on my time-management skills as I struggled to complete most of my work within the timeframe I alloted for myself. However, my research skills have sharpened because of the extensive online searching for the interactive map and article. My next steps will consist of preparing for showcase night such as listing out any key details to share with the audience when I present during showcase, practicing handshakes and professionalism, and making sure both my display board and portfolios are completed and up-to-date. This week has been very challenging. First and foremost, finding a mentor is difficult. After calling the doctor at EliteMed laboratories and emailing him for an entire week, I was told that the doctor no longer works at the facility. Then I reached out to a professor at UTD by emailing and calling. After another week, I have not heard back from him. Not giving up, I have been gathering a list of possible biochemists and biochemistry professors to contact for more interviews and possible mentorships. In addition, this week I worked on my original work. I found more websites that could create interactive maps for free and also enrolled in them. Likewise, I began annotating an article over bioremediation and that helped me understand why some environmental disaster cannot be cleaned by bioremediation. I also added to my list of environmental disasters and also found how oil spills spread. Then, I planned out my next steps in the list of environmental disasters by leaving space to add information about nuclear explosions and chemical spills. Lastly, I planned out my display board. I wanted to keep a subtle but relevant color scheme. In addition, I wanted to highlight my original work. Since it will be a digital interactive map, I will create a small version of the map on the display board with my topic proposal, mission statement, and mentor information all supporting the original work in the center. This week consisted of extensive research for my original work. I began the week off by gathering articles that related to microorganisms, enzymes, and bioremediation. I carefully analyzed each article as means to get a better understanding over environmental biochemistry. However, as I kept researching, I came across the idea of creating an interactive map that assess major environmental disasters around the world and how the various cleanup efforts relate to biochemistry. This would serve as a visual for my audience in addition to the article over bioremediation.
Afterwards, I set forth to plan out my interactive map. I visited a variety of websites that would provide free templates for the map and also began researching different areas around the world affected by environmental disasters. I created a list that shows the name of the disaster, the location, impact on the environment, and clean up efforts that took place. My next steps will consist of more research over these affected areas as well as bioremediation processes. I hope by next week I can begin formulating a plan for my article (introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion) and begin writing it. My long term goal is to finish at least half of the article and map by year end. This week consisted of many new tasks.
First of all, I began researching for my original work. I started finding articles that were related to microorganisms, enzymes, and bioremediation processes. Then I compiled these articles into a document and began analyzing each document. In addition, I also was planning on incorporating a survey and interactive map in my original work, after I run the ideas by Mr. Speice. This is because I want to add an interactive perspective to my work for my audience that allows the readers to assess environmental problems and how people in the community help the environment. Afterwards, I found areas around the world that used bioremediation processes to incorporate in the map and survey. This week I also began reviewing over past interviews in search of possible mentors. I must find a mentor that is nearby Frisco but also someone who is available to help guide me along my original work process. Some possible mentors are Dr. Bob Patel from EliteMed laboratories and Professor Gabriele Meloni at UTD. Likewise, as I interview more professionals in the field of biochemistry, my possible mentor list will grow. Next week, I plan to keep analyzing research for my original work as well as learn different methods on how to create a map and survey. In addition, I plan to reach out to many professor and biochemists for interviews and mentors. This week primarily consisted of preparing for my research presentation. I already knew the thoughts and ideas that I wanted to incorporate into my presentation. Yet, the question remained how to arrange my ideas into a presentation.
To begin, I laid all my thoughts onto paper. Then I composed my research section and then branched out my ideas from there. For example, in my presentation, I analyzed environmental biological chemistry experiments and then connected that to a interview with a biochemistry professor and described how the interview led to a better understanding of biochemistry. This allowed me to efficiently communicate my journey throughout ISM so far. Next, I had trouble creating an engaging introduction. However, after watching previous research presentations, I understood how to combine traits about me with my ISM career study. This week was also challenging in finding new professionals to cold call. This was because most laboratories are unavailable for interviews and most professors are to busy. So to find new professionals, I had to search up different types of biochemists and labs. However, this provided a great learning experience as I realized how to orient the search engine to fit my needs. This in turn will help to create a network of contacts for mentor and interview purposes. Overall, I look forward to contacting these professionals and creating future research presentations. This week I conducted my second interview with Professor Meloni at University of Dallas. The following interview was for the purpose of understanding a college course over biological chemistry and gaining additional information for creating an article over environmental biochemistry. Professor Meloni was very passionate about his field of study and clearly explained why he choose biochemistry and how he has come so far with it. This interview inspired me to also look into my passion and really visualize where I see myself in the future working with biological chemistry. Additionally, during this interview I gained insight over how to structure my original work and what I should incorporate in it.
Likewise this week, I began constructing my original work. First, I researched microbial enzymes and their role in the environment. I then also began to plan out how I want my article to be interactive yet informative. My next steps will consist of analyzing environmental problems and effective solutions to those problem as well as tie them to microbial enzymes. However, this week I have been slacking in my time management and organizational skills. To improve upon this, I must thoroughly plan what assignment I need to complete and what timeframe it should be completed in. |
AuthorWritten by Khushi Borikar Archives
April 2019
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