BIOL368/F11:Class Journal Week 14

Chris Rhodes

1. Over the course of this semester I've learned a lot about disappointment. Certainly nothing in this class is handed to you. You have to work hard every week to get the assignment done or interpret the data on time. You definitely have to look creatively at your results in order to come up with relevant and useful conclusions. Sometimes it felt overwhelming and somethings had to be rushed and sometimes what you could give or what you could do just wasn't enough. And its frustrating knowing you put in so much time and effort and yet you don't get it perfect or missed something small along the way that ended up costing you a better conclusion than the one you came up with. It's disappointing to struggle against your data and lose. But I've learned and this class has taught me that, that is what science is about sometimes. In the real world there is no neat and pretty right answer, there is no perfect. There are deadlines to meet and data to crunch and sometimes what you come up with just isn't enough. You will miss things along the way and you will screw up because thats just a part of the job. Gaining knowledge means making mistakes and its a hard road to walk but the fact that I've seen it through this far, the fact that I've given so much of myself to this class has shown me that this is what I really want to do for the rest of my life. If it wasn't, I wouldn't still be in this class because the only thing that has ever kept me here was my love of science and research. So what I've learned in this class is that in spite of all the crap that goes along with the pursuit of knowledge and in spite of all the hardships I'll have to face in the future because of it, I want to be a scientist. So yeah productive semester I guess.
2. I feel like I answered this pretty well already but for the sake of space filling: If I were to take one thing away from this class it would be the importance of perseverance. This class has taught me that real science takes a lot of work and a lot dedication to achieve results and that sometimes the results you achieve are less than what you were hoping for, but thats ok. You keep on trying and you keep on working until eventually something goes right and then you start over and do it all again. Without the ability to get it wrong over and over until you get it right you can't do science and thats another important thing I've learned from this class.

Chris H. Rhodes 23:34, 6 December 2011 (EST)

Robert W. Arnold

1. I learned a lot in this class. First, I learned how to make wiki pages. This skill will prove useful down the road as our world becomes more and more online. Also, this class taught me to think outside the box. A lot of the time I was forced to think about what aspects of data I should test. I also had to choose which methods to use in order to test the data. At times, I was completely lost and had to turn to classmates for assistance. Luckily, I felt everyone in the class worked well together and everyone shared information when needed. It was cool to have a full class collaboration at times. I really enjoyed it.
2. I completely agree with Chris. I think that this class really tested my ability to manipulate the programs along with my patience. There were times when I just had to remove myself from class and the material for ten minutes just to clear my head and get back to the material with a clear mind. I think that I will be able to remember my experience in this class later to help remind myself to be patient and to not always try to rush through the work just to finish. I think I need to slow down sometimes and comprehend what I am doing and I think this class helped me see that.

Robert W Arnold 00:39, 7 December 2011 (EST)

Nicolette S. Harmon

1. I learned a lot in this class over the course of the semester. I didn't really know a lot about how to use science databases before this course but after much practice I can see how they can make one's life a little easier when it comes to finding protein sequences or anything else for that matter.
2. This class has taught me to be more patient and when something doesn't go the way you think it will you just need to step back a minute and think about what happened. I also think I may use this Wiki page again if I want to remember something that we did in class, all I have to do is log back on and find what I need.

Nicolette S. Harmon 00:40, 7 December 2011 (EST)

Alex A. Cardenas

• Throughout the course of this entire semester I have learned alot about lab methods as well as how to present my findings. I have also learned how to read scholarly journals that at first seemed very tedious and overwhelming, but the more I have presented information on them, the easier they are to read. Working with partners has more advantages than disadvantages. Partners help you understand the information more fully and of course, two brains are better than one.
• I will take away my hard work ethic in this class and knowing that sometimes things take a while. What I have also learned about this class is personal responsibility which I will use to my advantage later in life.

Alex A. Cardenas 01:10, 7 December 2011 (EST)

Zeb Russo

• I relearned about wikis during this class since I did something very similar in a previous class last year. However the focus here more on the big picture and less on the itty bitty details greatly helped my understanding of the subject matter. This class greatly helped my ability to analyze published research papers since I will be looking at many of those or writing them in the years to come. Working with teams was a lot of fun and it really helped me learn how dividing up the work can really make ones life easier in the long run instead of having everyone do a part of every job. I have also always been bad at presentations so this gave me the opportunity to lose some of my stage fright.
• I will hopefully take with me the knowledge of how to parse out research papers as well as presenting my own findings in a scientific environment.

Zeb Russo 01:15, 7 December 2011 (EST)

Isaiah M. Castaneda

1. This class really helped learn to pick up my pace and focus when working on tasks. I feel that over the years, I have lost a lot of the intensity and focus I once had when I was a spry young child. Aged and more relaxed, I found myself falling behind when trying to complete the assignments in this lab. I had no choice but to put myself in another zone toward the end of the semester to be able do as much as I could, as quickly as possible. When it was time to do bioinformatics, nothing else mattered. I possessed a special type of concentration that I could not reproduce, even when handling some 400 pounds for deadlifts. I also enjoyed learning so much about the HIV virus. Now whenever I hear others speaking about HIV, they sound like utter amateurs! The various tools we used were quite astonishing and exciting as well. I felt as if I was placed into a land where my text books from previous classes came to life. I got to manipulate sequences, violate proteins by peeking into their structures, and create relationships with data that had not previously existed in research papers.
2. Though much knowledge may be lost in a year, the experience will last a lifetime. This is a lab that I can certainly not forget. In the future, I would love to be able to get an edge in projects by using some of the protein/nucleic acid tools we have used. If I am lucky, I will be able to weasel them into upcoming academic work. I may even get into editing Wikipedia with me new found wiki skills. We shall see how adventurous I feel in a year.

Isaiah M. Castaneda 01:25, 7 December 2011 (EST)