Wins from this quarter

1. I successfully completed the general biology sequence. It's not every day that I get to finish one of the most challenging weed-out intro series at UW during a pandemic. After putting in my best effort to learn a subject I'm passionate about and seeing great results, I'm ready to apply my knowledge to future coursework and research projects.

2. I started my first research experience. Participating in undergraduate research is something I have been wanting to do since high school but I feel especially grateful that I had the opportunity to get first-hand experience in a lab during an unprecedented time like this. 

3. I reached my target cumulative GPA. With all of my hard work and commitment, I ended the quarter with three 4.0's and the cumulative GPA I have been aiming for since freshman year. Now, I have a new target GPA that I will strive for as I work through the upcoming quarters.

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Getting exposure to research

I'm excited to say I have been working in the Moorjani Lab since October! Using rat models, our project examines how effective neurophysiological therapies are in improving motor recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). There are multiple groups of rats in the pipeline, including acclimation, pre-injury, pre-implant, and therapy. The experimental procedure that all of these rats undergo involves placing a pellet on a block in front of the cage and observing whether the rat is successfully able to reach for the pellet with their dominant hand, bring it into the cage, and eat it. Because their dominant hand will be paralyzed in cervical SCI, it is important to correctly determine the dominant hand and make sure the rat is familiar with this process. 

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As a research assistant, my job has been to work with the acclimation rats and train the pre-injury rats. The first time I came into the lab, I shadowed one of the research scientists involved in the project in order to become familiar with the experimental procedure. By the second or third day, I was surprised with how quickly I was able to learn everything and from then on, I was allowed to do the training entirely by myself. Through the over 30 hours that I have spent in here, I gained experience in inputting data, fixing behavioral issues, and practicing basic medical care of rats. I even have my own key to the lab now! Ultimately, I have come to appreciate the scientific process and I'm hoping to learn more in my time here.

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Continuing along new but familiar paths

Although I tend to write a lot of articles for The Daily at the beginning of the quarter, I found myself taking it pretty slow this time. Regardless, I still seized opportunities to cover important stories, ranging from COVID-19 research to new advancements in bioengineering.

• October 5, 2020: UW researchers study new low-cost PPE decontamination method

• October 12, 2020: ‘A whole new set of capabilities’: UW researchers develop technology to build 3-D artificial tissues

• November 9, 2020: UW researchers design ultrapotent COVID-19 vaccine candidate

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I have also continued to be involved in the Neurobiology Club but this time, as a mentor. I wasn't sure if this was the right decision for me, as I still haven't applied to my major and I didn't know how helpful I would be to other students. However, I was still able to help my mentee in many ways, such as helping her apply to her major and find research opportunities. I also applied and was accepted into the Mentorship Committee, allowing me to run our Instagram page and hold monthly check-ins over Zoom with my cohort of 20 mentors and mentees. The experience of mentoring my peers has been so rewarding that I decided to become an Honors Community Ambassador next quarter and apply to be an Honors Peer Educator for next year.

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Overcoming my language attrition

"Korean was my first language but as I entered the American education system, I had to sacrifice my Korean to learn English. My parents continued to speak in Korean to me over the years so my comprehension skills did not decline much but because I kept responding in English, I could not speak Korean well and I lost the ability to read and write. Recently, I developed an interest in relearning the language so for the past few months, I have been teaching myself how to read Hangul and speaking Korean at home. Doing the latter though has made me realize how frustrating it is to have an idea in my head of the English version of what I want to say but not knowing how to accurately translate it into Korean, even though it is a language that I have been surrounded by for my whole life."

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That was an excerpt from my HONORS 220 final paper, where I talked about my language experiences as a Korean American. After teaching myself Korean for three months, I've gotten a lot better at reading, writing, and speaking it. Although I still have a long way to go, I'm proud of how deeply I immersed myself in this language through watching K-dramas, listening to soundtracks and podcasts, and reading a Korean picture book and I'm looking forward to seeing how much more I will improve in 2021.

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Goals for next quarter

1. Maintain or raise my overall GPA. It's possible that next quarter may be one of my more difficult quarters given the classes I am taking. But keeping in mind how hard I've worked to come this far, I'm hoping to manage my course load in a way that will either keep my GPA where it's at or increase it.

2. Start my own research project. In a discussion with my PI towards the end of the quarter, I was happy to hear that she thinks I'm ready to begin my own research project. Although this means I might have to push back using this as an Honors Experiential Learning Activity for winter quarter, I'm excited about transitioning into an independent researcher and seeing what the process is like from start to finish.

3. Apply to scholarships. After accomplishing my goal from last quarter about applying to internships, I feel a lot more confident with writing applications, which is something I hadn't done in a while. Although applying to scholarships will be a new experience for me, I definitely believe it's something worth trying.