Back at it Again! by Xose Agbadan

Hey! Long time no see! 

​It’s Venus again, back at TRIP to close out my independent project.

​After my long hiatus due to COVID, I came back during this project to finish my independent project. I can’t believe it’s over!

If you recall, I decided to test the effects of taurine and SSRIs on the cognitive function of teenagers. This led me to do the larval memory assay.
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The larval memory assay is definitely a really long one; it always took up most of my day and had me staying for really long hours. But, having my fellow trip lab mate Nadija doing it with me in the morning made it less lonely. My larvae and I now have a strong and unbreakable bond from hours we spent together week after week.

Although no one from the morning session joined me again this time around, I met Evelyn and Aarushi who were in last year’s afternoon session! It was fun to meet new friends and expand my TRIP family

Now that I have completed my experiment, I can now say that the hardest part of research by far is the data. Collecting data, analyzing data, presenting data -- the whole shabang. I definitely wasn’t expecting to struggle with that part of TRIP, but working with data just takes so long and is so tedious - it definitely tested my patience. 

I am so ecstatic to show everyone my final product at the symposium on Saturday. I can’t believe it’s almost over! I’ve expanded so much of my knowledge and grown as both a thinker and problem solver during TRIP. I’m gonna miss my larvae and the lab so much. Well, you know what they say: time flies when you’re having fun!