Chadron Biochem Day 30 – Nathan

Hello fellow SSP participants! Today is the last Tuesday of SSP Biochemistry at Chadron State University AND my little sister’s birthday! Happy birthday, Maya!!!! This morning, I woke up with a pit in my stomach: It is the final day of wet lab :(. Fortunately, it started at 8:00 AM, where we would hopefully conclude with reliable data and work on our paper. I grabbed a blueberry bagel and rapidly walked to COIL.

Sister who misses me dearly

In the lab, all we did was create dosage curves, which ultimately failed miserably. It’s okay, though. The ADs were hoping all groups would be done by noon… that was not the case. Our data is not the worst, as there are groups with dose response curves that oscillate! I’m disappointed that my last day in the lab didn’t go as planned, but science is unpredictable.

Around 2:30, we finished cleaning up the lab and left it for good. There are lots of mixed feelings. On one hand, I am happy that I won’t experience failures anymore, but on the other hand, I will miss all the hands-on wet lab activities. I got my group, Advith and Ayla, to pose up for one final photo in the lab 🙂

Goat lab team flicking up

After a sad departure from the lab, we went to lunch, where I experienced more sadness. The lunch was self-serve tacos, but the tortillas were either raw or undercooked. Soooooo, I had a small bowl of cereal and waited until dinner to eat a full meal.

Dinner was great. They had pork, potatoes, broccoli, and my favorite—freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Me and cookie monster were SO excited. I left dinner with a full tummy :).

I went back to the dorms to change into something more comfortable before heading back to COIL to lock in. Also, I wore something that I wouldn’t mind getting dirty because we were having SMORESSSSS!!!!!

After doing work for around an hour, I went out to the fire to make s’mores. They were amazing. The gooey chocolate and crispy marshmallow are a top-tier combination.

Holding my amazing s’more

I ended the night by rehearsing with my group for the upcoming talent show on Friday afternoon. I had a good day, and although I’m sad about the lab ending, I’m grateful for all the skills I developed.

Nathan is a rising senior from Dublin, Ohio. He loves to read, listen to music, run, and be outdoors. He plans on majoring in biomedical engineering or neuroscience on a pre-med track.