The Final TRIP by Amira Phillips

Hello again, my name is Amira Phillips. I am a rising junior at Lankenau High School. I am very proud to say that I have completed the 2019 Summer TRIP @ Temple session. Let me just start off by saying that it was so much fun. My first day at TRIP was an interesting one. I met a lot of new people in just a few hours. We also dove right into the workload the first day which was really awesome and thrilling. I was really skeptical about the flies. At first I felt a little bad about using flies as “testers” or as “experimental models.” That did not last for too long because I got really excited about being able to do my own experiments and to learn from the flies. I learned to CO2 flies for sorting, which means that I put them to sleep to separate them in groups of males and females. I also learned how to test female fertility and how to test the activity of flies. I was part of the morning session from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm, and it was really amazing to start my day off by learning so much. 

Once it was time to choose our own independent project I was super nervous but really intrigued. I had already had a few things in mind as to what I wanted to test but I had to change direction a few times.

Then It hit me. 

My project was on “How erectile Dysfunction medication affects female fertility and development”. Crazy right? Yes, I know, but very interesting. I wanted to test something out there and on a subject most people aren’t comfortable with. I also wanted my independent project to be about something that was important. To sum things up, I tested female fertility by using the female fertility assay.  I first administered my drug which was called “Rhino 69” to my flies and then let them feed. I then used grape plates and agar to get my females to lay their eggs. Finally I was able to quantify the number of embryos, hatchlings, and embryos laid per female.

To be completely honest that's not even half of what I learned in the TRIP lab. I learned to be more independent. That's really important. I learned that it's okay to fail but it's NOT okay to quit. There were a few instances in which my patience was tested, such as when my flies woke up from CO2 anesthesia and flew away. More importantly, I learned to keep my head up and keep going, even when it’s hard. I learned to communicate with others better. Most importantly, I was able to narrow down my career path. I had known that I wanted to work in medicine and that I wanted to help people. There are so many ways to do just that. Working in the lab made me realize that I definitely want to be a surgeon or doctor. Although the lab was really fun and I appreciate the valuable experience, I now know I do not want research as my career. 

Overall I would like to thank Dr. Amanda Purdy for having me participate and for creating a program for high school students that allows them to really learn in a hands-on setting.