The Beginning of My TRIP by Ismaeel Qureshi

Hey! My name is Ismaeel Qureshi, and I am a junior at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, PA. I got involved with TRIP because it allows me to channel my never-ending curiosity into something productive. I have always been interested in the “why” behind the way things work, so I am excited to get an opportunity to conduct research that can help me reach conclusions about why things happen the way they do. Also, I want to pursue a career in STEM, so I figured that getting experience doing research in a lab could help me develop skills that are integral to my future success. Finally, my favorite subject in school is biology, so an opportunity to further my biological knowledge with such an amazing community was one that I could not refuse.

I have always been interested in the "why" behind the way things work...so an opportunity to further my ​biological knowledge with such an amazing community was one that I could not refuse.

Here’s a little bit about me: I am of Pakistani heritage, and I enjoy keeping in contact with my cultural roots by eating Pakistani food and listening to Pakistani music. I am actually a dual citizen of the United States and Pakistan, which means that I have passports for both countries. Recently, I traveled to Pakistan to attend some weddings, and I had a lot of fun. I also love playing and listening to music. I play the alto saxophone school’s marching and symphonic bands, and I recently joined my school’s choir to explore my newfound interest in singing (except I’m not very good). As for listening to music, I mainly enjoy listening to R&B and rap, but if I think it sounds good, I’ll listen to it. Another activity I enjoy doing is Quiz Bowl. I am currently a member of my school’s Varsity Academic Team, which competes against other high schools in Chester County in quiz bowl matches that test our knowledge of everything from South African playwrights to American geography. One of my favorite hobbies is doing crossword puzzles and logic games; I love how they stretch my brain and challenge me.

My first day in the TRIP Lab was a fun experience. It was nice to meet such an intelligent group of people with diverse interests. We started off with an icebreaker activity and learned about the various types of micropipettes. Who knew there was so much to know about micropipettes? Then, we took some fun group photos and practiced performing calculations to make solutions. We ended the day by preparing our fly food for the kickoff experiment.

In my experiment, I will be studying, “How do Fenugreek and a high-sugar diet affect motility?” I am eager to begin my work, and I’m interested to see how the experiment turns out. As we were leaving, we were each given a vial of fruit flies, which is currently sitting on my desk at home. Based on my first-day experience, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the program has to offer!