Blog Archives

Exploring the Unknown by Olivia Bamford

8/14/2019

Howdy, all! My name is Olivia Bamford, and I’m going to be a senior at Wissahickon High School in the fall. Before I get into the juicy details about how science plays a role in my life, some other things about me are that I’m part of my school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, Debate and Speech team, concert band, and school newspaper (I’m very busy, but it’s okay -- sleep is overrated [it’s not.]). I also do Kenpo karate outside of school and have my second degree black belt!

Anyways, having grown up in a heavily science-oriented family, my exposure to the field has been a constant part of my life, starting with those DIY science kits you can buy at LearningExpress. While my school has fantastic and ever-growing opportunities for students to engage in the STEM environment, it lacks the research component of STEM. So when I heard about a few of my classmates and friends doing TRIP for the past winter session, I was super interested! I thought it sounded awesome, with its emphasis on an independent research project, something I’d never even thought of doing until well into college. Thus, I decided to apply for the summer 19 session of TRIP, blah, blah -- and the rest is history!

Anyways, so far TRIP has already taught and exposed me to SO much (and that’s not even including the newfound train station/schedule navigation skills ;)). I was really nervous for the first day (admittedly, I barely slept the night before because of nerves), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the environment is a lot less… scary? I guess? New things are, obviously, very daunting, and I tend to overthink my expectations; however, the first two days were AMAZING! It was really cool to take some of the things that I have learned in school (example: using a micro-pipette), and then take them to another level (follow up example: actually reading a micro-pipette and setting it). Additionally, my mom worked with fruit flies when she was younger, so it’s really cool to compare my experience so far with her’s-- it makes for great dinnertime conversation.

I am very excited for what the next few weeks will hold. I can’t wait to get the hands-on learning that everyone talks about when talking about TRIP, as well as experience failure in ways that will set me up for my career later on in life. I’m looking forward to growing as both a scientist and a young-adult within the science community and in general. I’m honored to be here and am ready to make the most of it!

The Beginning by Rachel McCabe

8/13/2019

I wanted to do TRIP because I love science, and I think the program is a good way to experience what a career in research could be like.

Hi everyone! My name is Rachel McCabe and I’m going into my senior year at Friends’ Central School.
My favorite subjects are science and history. I’m also on the Field Hockey and Track teams, and I play the flute in the orchestra. Outside of school, I love to hang out with my friends, watch Netflix (I’ve recently been very into Grey’s Anatomy and Criminal Minds), and bake. I love to experiment and try out new recipes and foods, but I’m gluten free which can make it a little difficult. This summer, when I’m not at TRIP, I will be teaching swim lessons at Swarthmore College. I’ve been doing it for the past two summers, and always had a lot of fun. I wanted to do TRIP because I love science, and I think the program is a good way to experience what a career in research could be like.

Having finished my first week, I’ve already learned so much. It’s kind of crazy to me that the classes are five hours long, as so far they have felt much shorter. The first day, we learned how to make fly food and use micro-pipettes. I also found out that I will be experimenting next week to find out how constant darkness and St John’s Wort (a drug typically used for depression in humans) affect the social interactions of flies. I will be doing this by using the Social Space Assay, which monitors the distance between flies. I predict that constant darkness will cause an increase in the distance between flies, while St John’s Wort will cause the flies to be close together.

The second day, we learned how to make Graphical Abstracts, made grape plates, and sorted flies. I thought it was really cool to make the grape plates, as we were able to use the pipetting tools in a much more practical way. We were also able to turn a liquid mixture into a gel by heating it, which was really interesting. Next, we learned how to anesthetize fruit flies with CO2 , and sort them into groups of males and females. After sorting, we placed 30 males and 30 females into each of our vials, in preparation for our experiments next week. When we first started sorting flies, I had a lot of trouble with it, but it quickly became much easier. I’m really excited for the next couple weeks of the program. We have already learned so much in the first week, I can’t imagine what the next four will be like.

About Me! by Maha Vijayakrishnan

8/12/2019

I wanted to apply to TRIP to figure out if research is the right field for me. I wanted to learn how to properly conduct an experiment and share my results to an audience, which I know TRIP will help me discover.

Hey everyone! I am Maha Vijayakrishnan. I live in Wayne, PA (it is nearby King of Prussia) and I go to Conestoga High School, which is about 50 minutes away from Philadelphia. As many of you here, science also plays a major role in my life. Everyone in my family is heavily invested in the field of science or technology, so it is something that I have been exposed to everyday growing up. Nevertheless, I have developed a passion for learning about the human mind and how it works, so I am thinking about going into the medical field or becoming a research scientist. To me, it is fascinating how in some ways humans can share so many similarities but also have a lot of differences. Exploring questions such as how thoughts and memories form and how we are able to experience emotions and empathy pull me into the field of psychology. They make me want to enter into this profession and use this knowledge to help others and myself. I wanted to apply to TRIP to figure out if research is the right field for me. I wanted to learn how to properly conduct an experiment and share my results to an audience, which I know TRIP will help me discover.

In my free time, I love to take on volunteering because it gives me something to do in my free time and teaches me how to adapt to the outside world. I mainly volunteer at the hospital because I enjoy talking with patients and other volunteers. If I am not at the hospital, I am either tutoring kids at my house or at the middle schools. I love to share my knowledge with others. Once I learn about a topic, I like to discuss or share what I learned with others. One time, I spent most of a car ride home from New York continuously talking with my cousin about the heart and recent advances in the science field. My passion for learning and discussing information drives my passion to share it with others. However, I want to learn how to share information formally to the public, which I hope TRIP will teach me. I also swim and play basketball in my free time and if I am not listening to music (Khalid is my favorite) I am either watching TV (The Office and Parks and Rec) or going on walks with my friends which is my favorite!

Exploring the New Lab by Ari Sasson

8/11/2019

Hello! I am Ari Sasson, a rising senior at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, PA. I run cross country, participate in my schools debate and speech team, and am a member of my schools health careers club, a club dedicated to science careers. I also participate in my school’s academic trivia team, and even got the chance to compete in Atlanta at the national competition. I am drawn to the sciences, with my academic interests residing with Chemistry and Economics (a social science). In my free time, I watch shows on Netflix, with favorites of mine being House of Cards (minus the last 2 seasons), Breaking Bad, and Chefs Table. Over the next five weeks, I look forward to learning more about how to conduct research in a lab setting, how to communicate my findings, and how science will play a role in my future.

This is my first research program, so coming into the first day, I was not at all sure of what to expect from TRIP. Right off the bat, the most difficult part was figuring out where everything is in the lab. My prior lab experience comes from biology or chemistry classes, which had the same exact setup, so it was hard to get used to a new layout. I’m still having trouble figuring out where things are, but on the second day I was able to locate things (weighing boats, tubes) first try. I have also never worked with a live animal, so flies are very new to me. Coming in, I thought I would hate working with flies (I don’t like bugs). However, after sorting them with the CO2 gun and mat, I realized that my fears were irrational, giving myself much more confidence in the lab. I look forward to working with flies in the upcoming weeks, as it is wildly different from anything I've done before, and something that seems like a vital step in advancing my scientific education.

So far, I have gotten comfortable in the lab, and started working on the first assignment,
which for me involves testing the effects of Holy Basil and UV exposure on locomotion. I enjoyed learning the lab techniques that I will eventually apply to my independent project, such as brushing up on pipettes, and learning how to tell the gender of a fly. I also learned how to use various machines in the lab. One that stands out to me is the UV machine, which administers UV light to flies that are placed inside. I didn’t know this was a thing before Thursday, and it was cool to learn about something completely new to me. After just two lab sessions, I am already seeing my skills expanding, and I cannot wait to see how far they will come before the end of TRIP. I look forward to next week, when we will continue our preliminary experiment, and have our first presentation about our findings, getting us on track for the August presentation of our independent projects.

Just The Beginning of My TRIP! by Amira Phillips

8/10/2019

Hello! My name is Amira Phillips and I will be a junior this upcoming school year. I attend Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School. I have many different interests. The one that has been the most fun and interesting is my SERIOUS love for the field of medicine. I have always wanted to be a doctor or a surgeon of some type. If you were to ask me, I consider myself a very eager person. I always want to learn something new or to add something different to my background. Part of how I ended up here at TRIP 2019 is my eagerness for science and my drive for success. I take a few weeks of each school year to research and apply to summer programs to challenge me and keep me busy. My summer programs are very important to me, as I aspire to go to college and medical school in the near future and I feel that my participation in summer programs makes me more interesting to colleges (when that time approaches).

I have just completed my first week at TRIP and so far I like it. I really like the morning part before the overlap which is where we do most of the lab work and research. My initial experiment that I have been assigned is “How does Ginkgo Biloba and head trauma affect adult locomotion?” I find this type of research very intriguing because I am interested in neuroscience and how the mind develops and responds to the environment, especially as we age. If you would have asked me a few years ago what would I be doing with my high school summers I wouldn't have thought about science summer programs.

Introducing Me by Jacqueline Munis

8/9/2019

Hi, my name is Jackie Munis.
I will be starting my junior year at Lower Merion High School this upcoming school year. My favorite subjects in school are biology and psychology. In school, I’m heavily involved in community service, and I’m an officer in my school’s buildOn chapter. I am also an officer in my school’s social justice club. Outside of school, I take a few dance classes, dabble in graphic design, and listen to a lot of music. In the future, I plan to pursue a career in research, specifically in neuroscience.

I applied to TRIP because I love biology, and I wanted to meet more people who share my passion for science. During the first couple of sessions, I started to test the effects on melatonin and constant darkness on flies, and I am excited to see the results of the experiment. I think it’s really interesting how similar flies are to humans, and how much we can learn from fly research. I have already learned so much, and I am very excited to see what the rest of this summer holds!

An Adventure Begins by Madison Shelton

8/8/2019

My first week at TRIP has left me eager to create and carry out my own project, and learn many skills along the way. I have already gained so much from TRIP in just two days: friends, knowledge, and my own vial of fruit flies!

Hi! My name is Madison Shelton and I will be a sophomore at Masterman High School. My passion for science, specifically biology, led me to TRIP. As soon as I opened the website for TRIP I was filled with excitement about the possibility of cultivating my interests in STEM. I am fascinated with the seemingly endless possibilities that lie in research and I hope to be able to pursue a career in biology. My first week at TRIP has left me eager to create and carry out my own project, and learn many skills along the way. I have already gained so much from TRIP in just two days- friends, knowledge, and my own vial of old fruit flies!

In school, I am always looking for a new club to join or interest to pursue. In the past year I have tried to learn (though rather unsuccessfully) coding and American Sign Language, and joined my school’s yoga club, feminist club, and philosophy club. I have also been playing the violin for 7 years through my school and I play for their orchestra. My favorite extracurricular, however, is rowing for Philadelphia City Rowing. In my free time I enjoy watching Netflix, babysitting, and listening to music.
I am excited to be a part of TRIP and for all the new experiences to come!

Overwhelmed and Surprised by Sebelah Sheriff

8/7/2019

While I was in London and Paris on vacation doing homework for TRIP I had regrets of applying. I had no idea how much work we would really have to do. I thought there would be perhaps a few 1-2 page packets we would need to read and then answer short questions. I was COMPLETELY WRONG. We were doing 2-3 different nine page packets for four Sundays in a row. I was so mad at Dr. Purdy. But now, after the first two sessions, I am glad we had to do that work. I would’ve been completely lost without knowing those things ahead of time. However, as I walked into the classroom, I realized something I never would have thought could happen. I was the only boy out of eight students. This was something that has happened to me many different times in various activities in the past. But as soon as I let my guard down, BOOM, here I am again.

During the icebreaker I felt pretty relaxed, especially after I had entered the science lab anxious and nervous. I realized that everyone else in that room felt the exact same way as me, even the TA’s who went through the same emotions and frustrations as me. Knowing that made me more of an extrovert that day and influenced me to stop staying in my shell and being shy as I usually do.

I picked the morning session which is 5 hours long. I am working at McDonald’s this summer and I usually have 5 hour long shifts. It felt as if the day was way too long! That thought got blown out the window after the first day. Right after the 30 minute lecture, we went at it full throttle. Using pipettes, making solutions, filling vials, and this was only the first day. This pattern didn’t change at all the next session. We sorted flies, and made grape plates. Those five hours became the fastest five hours of my entire life. The entire day goes by in a flash. I would say time goes by when you’re having fun, but that would be an understatement. I have been wanting a summer camp like this for so long. A camp that is beneficial but also, doesn’t feel like an eternity everyday. Overall, I made some assumptions about TRIP that were easily proven wrong, and I am excited to be proven wrong again.

A Little Bit About Me by Justin Forbes

8/5/2019

Hello, my name is Justin Forbes, I attend Abington Friends School, and will be a Junior this fall. I like all my classes, but I enjoy math, science, and history the most. I’m a part of a medical program at my school that delves deeper into the topic of medicine, and I learn more about the medical field. I also enjoy technology and engineering and I have been a part of my school’s robotics team since 9th grade. I’m learning how to code on my own, and hopefully I will be able to code my own projects. I am interested in business as well, and I will hopefully be able to join a business program at my school next year. I run track both indoor and outdoor, as well as run cross country with my school. In my free time I spend time building robots, reading all types of books, coding with raspberry pis, and playing video games.

Science has always been an interesting field to me, filled with infinite possibilities and potential solutions to problems. It’s always amazing to learn about science, whether in school, reading about it on your own or in a program like TRIP. I also applied because I knew it would help me decide if research was a career I wanted to pursue in college or not, while getting some lab experience, and doing experiments is always fun and a great learning experience!

I’m very excited to continue this very unique experience, especially with other people my age who are driven and interested in the same things that I am. I’m also excited to figure out what my independent project is on, and hopefully even though my art skills aren’t great everybody will understand my GA.

All About Me! by Annabelle Jin

8/2/2019

Hi everyone! My name is Annabelle Jin. I'm a rising junior and I go to Moorestown High School. I love learning about biology and the life sciences. When I was little, I would spend hours reading about wildlife, cats, bugs, and everything in between. At one point I had two fish tanks, two guinea pigs, and cockroaches from my basement. My love for animals has expanded to include a passion for medicine and human health.

I am fascinated by anatomy and physiology, from the way that nerve signals pass through the heart to make it beat to the way that myosin and actin interact to make our muscles move. I especially love learning about women's reproductive health, and I participated in the Penn Academy for Reproductive Sciences, a program that taught me so much about women's reproductive system and endocrinology, infertility, epigenetics, and more. It was my first real exposure to a lab environment, and it encouraged me to pursue more research opportunities, which is why I'm attending TRIP! In my free time, I like to play the piano and love to travel. I recently had the chance to go to Peru, where I pet more llamas and alpacas than I could count (they’re so fluffy and adorable!).

My interest in reproductive health is inspired by the global youth-run nonprofit called Period, which provides access to period products for those in need and strives to reduce the stigma and taboo around periods. Many women living in impoverished or homeless situations are not able to afford period products, and are forced to use unsafe and unhygienic methods of taking care of their periods, such as paper bags and other refuse. When I found out about this, I was astounded. Here was one of the most major issues that homeless women face, and yet no one was talking about it due to the stigma that periods carry. Feeling very moved and passionate about bringing these issues to light, I decided to start my own chapter of Period. With Period at Moorestown, I have spread awareness about period poverty throughout my school and community, and have held drives and fundraisers to donate period products to shelters in Camden and Philadelphia.

I am also the treasurer of my school's Urban Challenge Club, a volunteer club dedicated to helping out in food kitchens and homeless shelters in Camden. I am an officer in my school's Math Club, where we compete in competitions against other math teams in the region.
Overall, I’m so excited that I have the opportunity to attend TRIP! I have already learned so much, from anesthetizing the flies to sorting them by gender. I can’t wait to get started on my first experiment, which will test the effects of folic acid and high temperature on female fertility. Stay tuned for the results!

Thank you to our donors for making our mission possible through your generous support.

Company

About
Fox Chase Cancer Center

Support

WEBSITE DESIGN INFORMATION:
The TRIP Initiative website was built by Alesandra (Sasha) Temerte (TRIP@TU'17 alum) and Charity Robbins (TRIP@TU'22) and is not a product of Fox Chase Cancer Center

© COPYRIGHT 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
WEBSITE DESIGN BY ALESANDRA SASHA TEMERTE & CHARITY ROBBINS
LOGO DESIGN BY ARNAV DHINGRA

Photo from NIH-NCATS