Tag: Day 2

Budget Busting!

Working with a camper on engineering the most effective catapult while keeping it decorated with flower Legos, which until today I had no idea they created.
My second youngest camper, Ryan, working on his catapult!

Today was very similar to my first day at Cra – Z – Brain. In the morning, I sat with Aaron and discussed budgeting. He asked me to create a spreadsheet with two separate columns. One column was the sources of income, and the other column was costs required to run the business. After I created these lists, I was told to estimate the amount of money each item either brought in or costs. While some of my predictions were accurate, other costs (like the cost of rent and profit from each camper) were way off. It was very interesting to see how each much detail goes into calculating and budgeting money. There were little costs to accommodate for that I had never thought of before, such as the prices for a first aid kit or snacks for the campers. After I knew the average income and cost, I calculated how many campers Cra – Z – Brain requires each month to break even. I learned that in business, you have to remember that the supply and demand fluctuates depending on when things are needed. By this, I mean that if Cra – Z – Brain struggles during the off summer months to fill the camper quota, however easily exceeds twice their requirements during the three summer months. After my conversation on business with Aaron, I worked on lesson planning and creating a curriculum for the day I will be teaching next week. Aaron asked for a camp specifically geared towards biology, zoology, chemistry or environmental sciences, so I altered several labs that I have done in the past 3 years to help create a jumping off point for my curriculum. After spending about an hour lesson planning, I led another session on engineering with Legos. The kids, being as young as they are, have already completely adapted to having me around the camp. I’m very excited to continue lesson planning and working with the kids tomorrow!

Day 2 – Exploring the Wonders of the Electron Microscope

Day two was just as action packed as the first. The anticipation from the first day was slowing wearing off, and I felt ready to work. I started off the morning hearing about the results from the previous days experiments which led to the plan for today’s work. Almost immediately after my arrival, I headed into the EM (electron microscope) room with Dr. Bermek. I had gotten a taste of the EM yesterday, but today it was like I was eating a three course meal. Dr. Bermek loaded a grid which required lots of precise and intricate detail to move the spec sized grid, put it in the right place on the tip of a long metal wand looking piece of equipment, and put the wand shaped piece of metal into its correct spot on the EM. Since it took a little while to get loaded she showed me how to switch between the two computers in front of us which made my task a little more daunting because I had to worry about working with two different programs.

Once the EM, was loaded she showed me how to focus the beam – another tricky aspect of the EM. There were so many controls it felt like I was sending a space ship into outer space. She first showed me the magnification which was pretty self-explanatory except it worked in accordance with another control – the intensity. Whenever I changed the magnification I also had to change the intensity. I had to make sure not to move the magnification to quickly or too much or the beam would be too wide for the etched circle on the plate, and I wouldn’t be able to see anything. The next control she taught me was the one that allowed me to look at different parts of the grid. There was also a button called R1 which I would press when I was finished choosing the part of the grid I was looking at, and it moved the bottom of the plate upwards so I see the sample we were analyzing. The first sample we were looking at was the DNA which was the control. My job was to analyze the sample by counting the number of super coiled, relaxed, and “other” stands of DNA that appeared. After showing me the basics of the EM controls and the features on the computer, Dr. Bermek left me to count while she continued working on a different experiment. I was a bit hesitant when she left because I didn’t trust myself with a machine that costs more than college tuition, but she had set up everything so well I felt prepared, and I was very cautious. As one sample after another went by I felt more comfortable. I used a  handy counting machine that made the process a little easier because on some samples I was categorizing over 400 DNA strands. The hardest part was figuring out where I was on the sample because it all looked the same, and I didn’t want to accidently count a DNA strand twice. It was really neat to see up close what super coiled and relaxed DNA look like. Some grids had a UL8 protein while others had topoisomerase. The different solutions added caused the super coiled DNA (what its normally like) to become more open looking by uncoiling it.

Once I had finished counting the results from mini grids, Dr. Bermek asked me to drop spread some more grids. It made me feel really important because she left me to do it by myself while she worked on something else. I used the same technique from yesterday where I dipped each grids in various solutions and then immersed it in 75% ethanol for 30 seconds and then 80% ethanol for 45 seconds. Once I was done preparing the samples, we looked at a few more things through the EM, and just like that my second day was already over. It was super cool to work so closely and independently with a electron microscope, a piece of material super intricate but really useful. I was also glad I could help Dr. Bermek with the preparation for other experiments. It felt like I was really working in the lab. Day two was just as informative and action packed as the first. I can’t wait for tomorrow!

 

My handy dandy counting tool.

Examples of what some of the DNA strands I counted looked like.

My Drop Spreading layout.

Up-close example of the tiny grids after they were prepared.

 

My control panel for working and manipulating the EM.

 

 

Day 2 Update

Day two started similarly to day one. At the beginning of the day, Dr. Huff and I met in the parking lot in front of his office. From there, we walked across the street to enter the main hospital building. We then went into the locker room to change into our scrubs.

In his first procedure, Dr. Huff had to repair a rotator cuff. During the operation, Dr. Huff used a variety of tools, along with his small camera, to help probe and repair the fractured tissue within the shoulder joint. Some of the tools included clippers and grinders. The clippers were used to snip the fractured tissue away from the actual rotator cuff. The grinder was used to remove a bone spur inside of the shoulder joint.

In his second procedure, Dr. Huff amputated the radial part of an index finger. The reason for the amputation was because the current condition that the finger was in was more of a bother to the patient rather than an aid. Since there was no dexterity in the stump of the index finger, it would just get hung up on objects when the patient was working. So, it only made sense to remove the small portion of the index finger.

In his final procedure of the day, Dr. Huff replaced a hip joint. To me, this operation was very interesting. Similarly to the knee joint, the concept was very simple; however, the actual work and procedure involved was complex. During the surgery, Dr. Huff removed the ball joint in the hip which was fractured. He then sized the different joint replacements accordingly to the right size of the hip. After he found the right size, he placed the ball inside of the hip. He then hammered to securing devices into the femur. The supports connected the actual femur to the replacement joint which was placed in the socket of the hip.

To finish off the day, Dr. Huff and I met with some of his patients in his office. We looked over the progress that they had made since their surgeries and what the plan was moving forward. Again, I particularly liked this portion of he day because I was able to see Dr. Huff interact with the patients he had recently helped. After making his rounds, we then traveled to the Lakewood High School to do sport physicals on students. This was program that Dr. Huff had initiated himself. He would contact local high schools and ask if he could do sports physicals on the students. Not only did this prevent any complications during the seasons with scheduling a physical, but Dr. Huff also helped raise money for the school athletic department. Each student was required to pay $10 in order to have a physical. Instead of keeping the money, Dr. Huff wrote a check back to the athletic department so that they could have funding for new equipment. To me, this was a creative and compassionate way to give back to the local community. Overall, day to was awesome and I am looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow!

Day 2- Investors Meeting

This morning I met Tiffany‘s cousin Olivia who is also interning with her for the next two weeks. Today we met with potential investors for investment properties and potential investors in her company. Because it is a start up company, she is looking for more of brokers and people to expand her business. Therefore, we worked on growing her Facebook groups to have members request to join by joining similar Facebook groups like buying and selling real estate or Raleigh or Cary real estate groups and posting about Alexy Realty. This way we can try and to get more customers looking at Alexy Realty in addition to potential brokers or agents to join the team as well. She is still looking for the right office space in between Raleigh and Durham and Cart because she has to do a lot of driving since she works in the triangle and in western Wake. Finding a good central place is difficult because she will eventually want to meet clients in her office and she wants it to be convenient for all. Tomorrow we will meet another investor and potential property buyer who works in biotechnology in Chapel Hill. Today, many people form different job backgrounds are seeing how lucrative real estate can be. 

Day 2 – Spreadsheets and Busy Days Ahead

Today was somewhat of a slow day at the office for me, but it gave me the chance to really observe the work and chaos happening all around me. Between spreadsheets of revenues made from the past 2017-2018 season of concerts, I would overhear the conversations about the newest publications and what they need to be able to sell tickets. I learned the importance of less words the better as well as always having a target audience in mind. The NC Symphony, in hopes of finding better ways to sell tickets for the Summer Fest activities, focuses on finding deals and events for families, deals that discount the tickets to make sure the entire family can get out and enjoy the music. Over the sound of spreading papers in the copier room, I could hear the various conversations about what colors work well together and can create a more cohesive pamphlet to get people’s interest sparked for the upcoming season.

Tomorrow will be my first day working a Summer Fest Event, and although I am sure I will not be doing the most important tasks around the venue, I am excited to see how the community interacts and impacts the work done in the office.

Day 2 – Integrated Lab Solutions

Today, we spent the morning assisting Sean, one of the scientists, in the Integrated Lab Solutions area of the clinic. Sean gave us a quick introduction to high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and tandem mass spectroscopy, two methods employed by the equipment in the lab. HPLC separates and then determines the identities and concentrations of the components of a substance by comparing the retention times (time needed to detect molecule) and peak heights detected with those of known molecules. Tandem mass spectroscopy ionizes a sample, breaks those ions down into fragments, and then detects and identifies specific product ions. We used these techniques to analyze seven components of hemp, including the cannabinoids CBD, THC, CBDA, and THCA, thus ensuring that the hemp products contained acceptable levels of each substance. We helped Sean prepare samples of dried hemp flower and CBD oil to analyze in the HPLC and tandem mass spectroscopy machines by pipetting different amounts of each substance into small vials and diluting them with isopropanol.

After lunch, we conducted further research on HPLC and tandem mass spectroscopy independently while waiting for the results of the sample analysis. We went more in-depth to solidify our understandings of the two methods, learning about the different types of HPLC (normal phase and reversed phase) and its detection methods (UV absorption, fluorescence, etc.), along with the stages and applications of tandem mass spectroscopy.

Day 2 – Production

Today I moved onto the second stage of video production: producing. This morning I traveled to WakeMed to observe a live shoot for a commercial. It was crazy at times, boring at times, and pretty cool overall. The commercial was to promote a new section of the hospital. Since WakeMed is a working hospital, we were right in the middle of a hallway full of doctors, nurses, and patients. There was chaos all around the shoot and practically nowhere to stand. Because of the ensuing madness, Rebecca (a managing producer) and I drove back to the studio. Once back we participated in a live murder mystery game with the production team. Even though it was tons of fun, it was still for work. The team was determining how the game would work best for a reality TV show they produce. Spending hours simplifying and perfecting the game, the production team finally figured out the best way for the people in the show to play the game. I was amazed to learn how much the production team is really involved in the reality shows. Everyone knows reality TV is fabricated, but it’s way more fictitious than we know. I had a great time learning about the crazy schedules and brainstorming sessions that go into making our favorite shows. Tomorrow I will dive into the world of editing!

Day 2 – Trip to CA??

Cary Academy Extension Project

Day two was full of some wonderful surprises. In the morning I got to shadow the day to day of a lead architect. This involved going over the design plans in Revit (the architecture drawing software), and calling meetings to see how the project was moving along. I then was very fortunate to be invited onto a job site, and not just any job site, but the Cary Academy Extension Project. LS3P is the company working on the project and today I got to be the first CA student allowed in the off limits construction zone. While at the site I witnessed the raising of the last beam ceremony, which involves the superstitious tradition of being raised with an evergreen tree to scare off evil from the project. This was a really cool event, and we were even provided barbecue to celebrate. From this point I was given an inside scoop on the design plans of the extension, and even got to partake in design discussion about the the space. For the rest of the afternoon back at LS3P I got my first assignment, to research for a product that could actually be used in the CA extension. This was really cool, and I might actually affect one of the choices about the new building! I can’t wait for tomorrow, where I will get to go on site at SAS and learn about a new project.

Day 2- Hip hop and Lava lamps

On the outside, Osceola studios is just a simple, small brick building however, on the inside, the building couldn’t have any more character. There are tons of trinkets and small toys that lay across the music editing software and there are at least 11 lava lamps in the studio.

The day started off with me doing basic housekeeping things such as making a pot of coffee, washing dishes and spraying the perimeter of the studio with bug spray. That sounds dull however while tidying up I learned how to properly wrap chords, where the microphones are safely kept and how to turn on certain power sources.

Soon a client came in, and for the next few hours I got to sit and observe as Mr. Hodgen reviewed a hip hop artist’s music and went through the process of mixing it. It was fascinating to see how the artist’s song started and how it ended up after the mixing was complete. I learned that the most important part of the entire process was making sure that the song is in correct time and that the BPM (beats per minute) stay consistent throughout the song.

I am very interested to see how the work will vary with different kinds of music.

 

 

Day 2 – More About Reproductive Health and Contraceptives (+ a Durham Bulls Game!)

Our awesome first day at FHI 360 left me with very high expectations for our two weeks, and our second day was no different!

We started the day by working on a project that we have been tasked with – finding a way to use social media to gather feedback on a topic of global health interest, such as contraceptives, water and sanitation, or malaria. In our mere 30 minutes of brainstorming, we came up with many ideas, and are now working on a presentation that discusses the benefits of an FHI 360 Instagram account, which would include giveaways to spread awareness, Q and A sessions on Instagram’s live video tool, and polls and sliders to learn more about what users want.

For the rest of the day, we were lucky to spend time with many people who shared their journey and experiences. First, Jill Ferguson, who is a scientist for FHI 360 AND a Nurse Midwife at Duke, gave us a basic lesson on anatomy, types of contraception and how they work, and physiology. This lesson has already proven to be incredibly helpful to our work at FHI 360. Additionally, everyone at FHI 360 told us that the topic of reproductive health is uncomfortable for everyone at first, but becomes incredibly normal over time – that is becoming true for me and my Cary Academy peers!

Next, we talked to Betsy Tolley, who works with BECS just like Dr. Lorenzetti from yesterday. She shared her journey with us, and it showed me that, no matter how sure I am about what I want to do with my life, things change, and that’s okay!

After that, we ate lunch on the balcony facing the Durham Bulls Baseball fields. Yesterday, I didn’t think the view could get any better, but there was actually a game going on! We hung out there in awe of how lucky we were to be at FHI 360.

Next, we met with Dr. Laneta Dorflinger, the director of the CTID, again. Just like Dr. Tolley, her story was so intriguing. She also talked to us a little more about the different types of contraceptives and how they worked.

Last, but not least, we talked to Dr. Rebecca Callahan, a scientist with the CTID. She talked to us about a project that she was working on in Kenya and India, where she collected qualitative and quantitative data to figure out which aspect of birth control was most important for them (ex. price, visibility, duration). We will be helping Dr. Callahan to put her findings together in a powerpoint later on.

We finished the day with our heads spinning from all of the incredible and intelligent people we had met and everything we had learned. After some more time working on our innovation project, we hit the road, exhausted.

 the, as I like to call it, “contraceptives collection”

durham bulls vid-1kppvq3

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