Monthly Archives: December 2013

Why I Suck at Blogging

I’ve never been the type to openly share my emotions and frustrations. And this semester has been frustrating. However, it has also been extremely rewarding.

After adopting Walker’s phage, I experienced several problems. The first week, I accidentally used the wrong TA. After correcting my mistake, I went through several rounds of purification. My phage had two morphologies- large plaques with halos and small plaques without halos. I went through five rounds of purification to make sure I had one phage. I then began to calculate my titer, and experienced more problems. Once my phage did not lyse at all, and there was contamination on another plate. After making my ten plates, only four of them webbed; the others barely lysed. Luckily I had enough lysate to continue with the procedure. I made my EM grid, and got to look at my phage. After spending fifteen minutes trying to find my phage, the one grid that had it contained a broken film. The picture was too fuzzy to retain an image.

While these events have frustrated me to no end, I have also realized how much I love being in the lab. When I have a bad day, I go and check on my phage. I do not like being vocal about my frustrations because I am determined to overcome them and persevere. I also am not bothered by the failure I have experienced. In my opinion, research is not a pass or fail subject. I am encouraged by the passion I am developing, and I am determined to persevere.