I suppose a reflection on my 20.109 experience is also due.
So why not kill 2 E. coli with one
phage?
Where to begin?
I guess with a confession: 20.109 did not go as I expected
it to.
No need to panic, though – let me explain. Prior to taking this
class, I had already taken one other lab course at MIT: 5.301 in IAP of my
freshman year. Now, 5.301 –Organic Chemistry Lab – went from 10am-5pm every
weekday. Roughly every three days would be a module-equivalent, from identifying
the mystery chemicals behind banana and peach scents to optimizing crystal growth.
While 5.301 was incredibly informative, it was also incredibly exhausting; it
just felt like I was constantly being bombarded with information (that I knew I would not retain). So… coming
into 20.109, I *expected* my experience to be much of the same – being pelted
with experiments, with knowledge that would be useless in the scheme of my MIT
experience. To top it off, I had heard from friends who’d already taken the
class that it would also be a tremendous amount of work, and that time
management was key.
I was wrong. Very, very wrong. And I couldn’t be happier
about it.
20.109 is probably one of my favorite classes that I’ve
taken at MIT thus far (spoiler alert: it means I liked it). It was so, so, so
far from the way 5.301 was structured. Every bit of information had context, every module and experiment had
relevance, every instructor/professor
was enthusiastic. These made the experience
all the more enjoyable, and truly gave me a glimpse into the inner workings of
Course 20, and the creativity and mindset needed to be successful in the field.
The course was “real” science; it represented the experience
to which one would be exposed to in an internship or UROP. It was a very good
model for scientific reality (although 20.320 would have us believe that all models
are wrong…). It also helped gain insight into the collaboration needed to get
things to work. Success was directly correlated with group effort – not only
the effort of TR Green Team (thanks for an awesome semester, y’all!), but the
combined effort of Leslie, Emily, Maxine, Noreen, the rest of the 20.109
groups, and Profs. Engelward and Belcher. In the words of Isaac Newton (side
note: Maxine showed us that the long-distant relative of the apple tree that
dropped an apple on the genius’ head is at MIT!):
If I have seen further it is
by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Thank you, 20.109, for a truly incredible experience this
semester. Perhaps this is cliché, but every day in the class was filled with small,
new discoveries, with hilarity, with collaboration.
See everyone in 20.309!
-Nicole
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