As I visited streams my first semester of college I was pretty intimidated for the most part. Although, DIY Diagnostics caught my attention because it was a new stream and Dr. Riedel seemed very eager to get things going in the lab. It was different from the other streams because we get to work on our own projects and whatever innovative idea we have we could test it out in the lab (of course with Dr. Riedel’s permission that is). If you fail somewhere within your experiment you would not be considered a failure in our laboratory. Dr. Riedel always tells us is go back to your protocol and check what step(s) you may have messed up on or what can you change to get the product you wanted in the first place. I’m extremely excited to keep developing my app with my lab partner Lisa, and hopefully get it to work within this semester. Also aside from that I will continue to either work on Waller Creek or testing for P. Gingivalis. I’m leaning towards the experiment that has less people on our lab working on it, because research needs to keep being done on these super awesome research experiments. |
I talk to my parents all the time about the FRI and how much of a great experience it has all been. Aside from being in one of the best labs of the FRI, I’ve made great friends and study partners for other classes. FRI opens many doors if your research is done correctly. When I explain to people what exactly we do in our lab they say wow you’re so young and here you are doing research. For instance, my cousin who is a dentist, he thought our research on P. Gingivalis was a really interesting idea and he told me to keep researching on it and that he was proud that I was learning about this at such a young age.
Being in the research lab has been a great experience and I’m actually thinking about being a doctor and maybe doing research on the side because in research there is always something new to be found (random or not). Research needs to continue being done for all sorts of causes. As I stated before meeting great friends in the lab has really pushed me to study with them and do great in school so the research lab has had an impact on my success here at UT. Also, Dr. Riedel is someone who has also helped me be successful here at UT, whatever a student needs in lab he will get to it right away. If you’re dealing with a personal problem in your life Dr. Riedel is there to always talk to us and guide us in anything we need. For instance, after my first year at UT I was thinking of going back home to the university in my hometown because of the cost of attendance at UT. Dr. Riedel right away told me he was going to ask around for scholarship applications and see what he can find out for me. It is educators like this that you look up to and say I want to be just like them and think to yourself that your willing to help people always.
My experience within the FRI lab has been very memorable especially when trying to make an app. It was a challenge at first, but when I finally completed my first app and coding it was probably the happiest moment of my life. It took me many tries to finally get my app to work, but it was all worth it.
Diagnostics in 20 years will definitely be a lot bigger than it is right now because research has been evolving so that’s what I think but I could always be wrong. In 20 years I see myself more as a doctor than a researcher but I can always say I once did research in a diagnostics lab. FRI DIY Diagnostics is an experience I will never forget and I really want to stay in the lab as a mentor because the lab feels like my second welcoming home.