The TRIP Of A Lifetime by Phoebe Ting

Time really does “fly” when you are having fun. It’s been twelve weeks since my first day in the TRIP lab, and I have nothing but positive words to describe my time in this program. Over the past two months, I have gained invaluable skills. In the lab, I learned a myriad of skills ranging from creating drug stocks to performing assays on my fruit flies. Outside the lab, I learned the most effective way to turn numbers into meaningful results and how to communicate these findings at a research symposium. I learned to manage my time efficiently. (There was A LOT of talking in the TRIP lab, so I had to learn how to ensure I finish my work on time as well). Most importantly, I learned to never stop being curious about the world around me and to seek out answers myself when the world provides none.

A major shoutout to Dr. Leystra, Dr. Purdy, Dr. Valdez, Mr. Cozzone, and the best TAs, Anoosha and Niki, for all their help in making this the best experience possible. Furthermore, I am eternally grateful for the relationships I built with my peers in the lab. From bonding over random Gen-Z slang and many more inside jokes to helping each other with our projects, each Saturday was filled with laughter and joy.In my last blog, I mentioned how I would be studying the short- and long-term effects of energy drinks and fruit fly motility. Because of their prevalence among teenagers, I chose to study Celsius and Alani Nu. Additionally, I chose a 1x and 10x concentration to understand whether energy drinks have diminishing returns when drunk in excess.

I am happy to report that my project went (mostly) successfully. I faced a few hiccups along the way, but with each challenge I faced, I fell further in love with research. Initially, I struggled with the negative geotaxis assay because sorting on ice affected the flies’ ability to move in the testing chamber. However, after some problem-solving, I found a solution: I set up my testing vial as soon as I got in the lab so the flies would be ready by the end of the day. From here, I thought it would be smooth sailing through my project, but I faced another issue. One day I did not finish collecting developmental data in class, so I took my vials home to continue. However, I did not account for the temperature of my house and how it is significantly colder than the William Tennet environment. This slowed the growth of my flies, so when I went to perform my larval locomotion assay the following class, the flies had not reached the larvae phase yet. Ultimately, I had to scrap that week’s data, but luckily I still had four other trials to refer to. These challenges pushed me to find new solutions and showed me the reality of scientific research.
​This program has been, without a doubt, one of the most memorable experiences of my high school career. Once again, thank you to everyone who helped me get to where I am now! Cheers to such a bittersweet ending (I am definitely not shedding a few tears while writing this)! Your favorite Session B yapper is officially signing out…