Preparing for POLs

​​My view of life beyond high school has become a lot more hopeful after this experience, and I also know that there are many more careers choices I could take that would still fall under categories that are interesting to me. I've begun to visualize my life as a college student a lot more clearly now, it doesn't seem as difficult as I had originally thought. I now see so many possibilities of classes I could take and places I could go. This internship has reassured me that life beyond high school will be filled with opportunities and not just obstacles.​​ I've had a lot of questions pertaining to the experiments done in the laboratory and for what purpose but it has all lead me to think of bigger questions like how is it possible that large clumps of matter conducting small chemical reactions can lead to our own self awareness? what causes us to become curious? and why do we continue searching for answers no matter how consuming it is?

​​One of the main things I wished to get out of this internship was the knowing of whether or not I felt that participating in research studies would be a possible career choice. I had a wonderful time working at this laboratory and although I knoe that each laboratory provides a different experience I am certain that I would enjoy working in one. I also feel a lot more motivated to apply to UCSD next year given that I really enjoyed the environment and the opinions of the undergraduates were all positive.

​​Working at this laboratory required a highly specific education on neuroendocrinology, and so I spent a few hours each day for about two and a half weeks reading and note-taking on different scientific journals as well as textbook chapters. I had little to no knowledge of brain functions before this internship began so being able to learn so much about the brain's relation to the reproductive system was a completely new and fascinating experience for me.​​I definitely have begun to appreciate my body more, specifically my brain for helping me do every single thing I've done with me never noticing, my heartbeat, my sight, my understanding of speech, each thing seems so effortless thanks to my mind. It's even led me to become aware of myself in a much smaller yet much more complex manner, with my memories, thoughts, and personality all present in a 3lb mass of tissues. And I wouldn't live a life in any other form.