Fly-ing into the first day of TRIP by Izzy Catalano

Hello!!! My name is Izzy, and I am a sophomore at William Tennant High School. If you couldn't tell by the three exclamation points after ‘Hello’, I am ecstatic for my experience with TRIP!

So, to introduce myself I should probably tell you a little bit about me. I talk probably too much, participate in probably too many things, and am excited probably too often. In my school, I participate in marching band, student government, WISE, the musical, flag football and more! As you can probably guess, my schedule is always packed and I'm never home on time. However, I wouldn't trade my late nights and exhausting afternoons for the world. Each club I participate in allows me to express a different version of myself. I have also met some of my closest friends through these activities. Outside of school, I have interest in music, clothing, and other activities. Along with the fact that I am probably the loudest person you know, I'm probably also the most colorful. I love to wear fun earrings and outfits to lift my mood. My music taste bounces all over the place depending on the season, right now I’m feeling folksy for the winter time. To keep myself even more busy, I volunteer at a cat shelter on Mondays. Though I love fuzzy animals, my pet snake will always have my heart. I also enjoy traveling with my family whenever I get the chance. 

On my first day of TRIP, I had never used a pipette or worked with flies, so everything I did was brand new. I was a bit nervous, thinking that I was underprepared for my first day. However, the first day went much better than I expected. Everyone was so kind and I learned so much. At first, I didn’t know how to set up the equation for the percent of drugs given to the flies. Then, my peers and teachers helped me and I felt so much better. Micro-pipetting was surprisingly enjoyable and I think I’ll only get better at it. Making the fly food was very new, but it was interesting how the calculations were made. I think making more calculations in the future will be easier because of the packets and the hands-on experience I got. Overall, I’m very excited and much less nervous than I felt coming in. 

I can't wait to see what TRIP has to offer. Science is my favorite subject, but I have yet to learn what career I want to pursue in the giant world that is STEM. The first day was amazing, and I'm enthusiastic to see where it takes me!