6/30 – Lehigh Bacterial Genomics

Hey guys!!

My name is Alanis. I am from Manatí, Puerto Rico. I am currently writing my blog for the second time, why you may ask? Because it got deleted! You can imagine the happiness that is radiating from me. Moving on from the setback, I am writing from the beautiful Lehigh University participating in the Bacterial Genomics program. We have just successfully finished week 1 of the program and have officially started week 2. The first week was not easy, and I can speak for a lot of people when I say it was rough. It was something like never before. Personally, I had a lot of downs and not many ups. Downs being so lost at lectures, so confused at labs, getting used to the new environment, the schedule, among other things. And ups being some close friends I have made and an Amazon package I got delivered. It may sound like I’m complaining a lot but later you will see the effects everything has had on me, but first I have to recap my day.

Today is the first week day without having to meet at the lounge at 7:30 to head down for breakfast , and so I saw my opportunity and slept and extra good 45 minutes. Then, I walked the 10 miles it takes to get to the STEPS building with my friends. I took three lectures back to back and did not even feel tired nor get sleepy, which is in part because it was interesting and the other half is because I got to sleep those extra 45 minutes. During these lectures people ask the most intellectual and formal questions out of the blue, they are always having me think that they are using ChatGPT. After this I went to eat and for lunch with my friends at Rathbone Hall, and had my usual three plates of food. And I witnessed Lila making crazy food combinations, as per usual. Some people may not enjoy the food but I like it. Even though I incredibly miss the food at home, especially my grandmother’s soup and my dad’ steak.

After lunch, we headed down to the lab, where I was lost, but luckily when I do not know something, I feel comfortable asking Griffin (shoutout to him for always helping me out when I ask and being patient. The best!) Thanks to Griffin’s explanations, I could lock in and do my work correctly, until it was time to go to dinner. At dinner, we did not speak much at our table but we talked about tv series and movies. After dinner though, Kailey, Lila, Sara, and I were giving it our all trying to make a Brazilian TikTok dance trend. It did not turn out that bad, but we need more practice. We finished our busy day working on our fabulous P-SETS and lab work. And finally headed off to Taylor house where after watching a video on how in the world the Galaxy webpage worked, I bed rotted for an hour and fell asleep.

Fun Fact: Alex and Kailey were totally matching today. It’s giving twins!

ATTENTION: Lab team #10 finally colored in our water bottle. Ignore the crazy, supposedly “water”, colors.

Now the inspirational stuff I have learned …

My time at SSP has been very tough, as you could probably tell from the first sentences of the blog. While I might complain, I truly couldn’t be more grateful. I’ve only been here for a week, but I can already feel how much it’s shaping me, for the better.

Everyday, I’m surrounded by incredibly gifted and driven individuals who push me to grow. Many of them have had a lot of tools and resources I have never had access to, and while it is tough to not be the smartest person in the room, it sure is motivating. I am lucky to be in a place where the faculty are genuinely invested in each and every single one of us and in an environment that leaves me no choice but to keep moving forward.

I hope that all the weeks to come are filled with memories, valuable lessons, good food, and better sleep …

That is all for tonight!

– Alanis ☺

Alanis

Lehigh Bacterial Genomics Participant

Hi! My name Alanis. I am from Manatí, Puerto Rico.