On my last day at SEPI Engineering and Construction, I met with Mike Harris, a construction project manager at SEPI. He is currently working on multiple road repair and widening projects around the state. We drove to some of the sites where the road was being widened and he explained to me what they were doing and the procedure used for widening a road. Afterwards, we went to Taco Bell for lunch and I got one of those Doritos tacos that they have. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself!
Today was a rather slow day at first. We didn’t have many patients, although most of the patients I saw were patients I have seen before. With many of them we used a lot of the tools we keep on the back wall. We have ankles weights hanging on the wall in the order of navy, white, gold, green, and black which are 1 lb, 2 lbs, 3 lbs, 4 lbs, and 5 lbs respectively. We also keep regular weights up there: lightest (1 lb) on the top to heaviest (5 lbs) on the bottom. We also keep the therabands here. We have some precut ones in the basket and uncut band on the wall. The bands also increase why tensile strength and we can cut whatever type of band and however much we need for any given patient so that they can go home and perform their exercises. In this area we also keep a multiple of other things like a goniometer which we use to measure the degrees of mobility a patient has in certain directions. In this way we can track a patient’s progress in increasing mobility. We also store a myofascial releaser in this area that can help when doing deep tissue massages. Sometimes it is difficult to get to certain muscles or the go over them we a need amount a pressure so you can use a myofascial releaser to help. We also keep a strength testing tool on the wall for dynamometeric strengths tests. This is when we test a patient’s strength (in pounds) while they perform abduction, flexion, internal rotation, and external rotation.
Today I was at Alamance Regional Medical Center learning about Radiology from Dr. Hoss. At the beginning of Work Experience, I was not super excited to do radiology, but after the first week at WakeMed I was excited for it. At WakeMed and Carolina Ear and Hearing we looked at many scans but I could not understand them for read them.
I followed Dr. Hoss, who is an interventional radiologist (IR). This means that he can perform procedures such as stents and fluid drainage. In the morning, he performed two minor procedures each lasting fifteen minutes and looked at scans the rest of the time until 12. At 12 he was apart of a medical conference to discuss patients that had difficult cancers. For example, some where in a difficult location or of a strange composition. Here the group of doctors all brainstormed different ways to treat the patient and then decided the best route. I really enjoyed getting to watch this. In the afternoon, he performed two more procedures and looked at scans for the rest of this day.
Today in the lab I got to work with the MDs and Sarah to create a gel that stores the drugs that we want to test on the mice so that it is ready for use and ready to be tested. Additionally, we continued monitoring the growth of the organoids in the tissue culture lab which we’ll need to develop for the next few weeks before they’re ready to be injected into the mice. Overall, today was a pretty relaxed day as the 119 drug was ready to be tested and all we could do was monitor the organoid growth to make sure that they were multiplying without the dilution of fibroblasts. Ultimately, for the next few weeks the lab will be moving at a pretty slow pace until the mice come and the drug tests can be carried out. Sarah and I finished most of the pre-lab data analysis yesterday, so today we just observed organoid growth under the microscope and made gels to store drugs before they get tested on the mice.
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Our last day at FHI 360 was a little nerve wracking. Krishan, Salma, Chiara, and I all got to sit in on the FHI 360 senior staff meeting, in which we heard presentations from a lot of people regarding future strategy, media approaches, and recent progress. The nerve-wracking part wasn’t the listening though. It was when we had to present in front of the senior staff, our final projects regarding youth, technology, and health. We were responsible for promoting global health in some way through social media. We employed Instagram to educate and gain feedback regarding water accessibility and conservation. In our presentation we talked about generational appeal and why Instagram is a lasting platform, we talked about the various components of Instagram that enable its users to tell a story, and we highlighted the unlimited connect ability of a platform like Instagram. Dr. Dorflinger and Dr. Nanda liked our presentation so much, they even want to move forward with it.
Overall, I have had such an amazing experience working with the Polanco law firm! On this last day of work experience, I continued to work on many of the projects I have spent my time working on this week. I closed cases on the online data base, renamed files, made copies and did a myriad of other small tasks. Then, I spent the afternoon working with one lawyer to organize her cases. She asked me to try to determine which ones were open and which ones were closed. This is a little bit trickier than it sounds, I had to dig through her notes to try and determine if the case was finished. However, I was proud of myself because over the course of these 2 weeks I have learned enough about this firm to know what “VD granted” and “MCH on this date” mean and say about the case’s status. Today was also great because this lawyer that I have been working also ate lunch with me. Usually, I ate lunch with the other interns, but today I got to have a really meaningful conversation during lunch about law school and why one person would enter into this profession. It was nice to get to know better and more personally someone I had been working with for the last 2 weeks. If that was my last day at the firm, I would sincerely be sad to be leaving. I have learned so much these past 2 weeks about the everyday life of a lawyer, the importance of immigration law, the state of immigration and human rights for migrants in our country, the ins-and-outs of a law office, and so much more! I think the most meaningful thing I witnessed was the passion and joy that each individual I met found in their work. It was amazing to be welcomed with open arms into the Polanco law family and to see not just their work life but their motivation and drive and sympathy for their clients. I am truly excited that I will be able to spend more time working with them this summer and cannot wait to see what other things I will learn and experience.
In these past eight days I feel like I have learned so much. Whether it be from my daily “Numbers Talk” with Kim where we go over how sales are doing and what we theoretically need to make to be in a good place (guys please buy Blinds Boys tickets), or Maria’s stories about her time with the symphony and over the cubical wall conversations, or watching everyone work the shows, I feel like I am really coming away from this with some amazing experiences. From the ins and outs of Excel and prospect searching to my days at Summerfest interacting with the community, even to all the paper shredding, I feel like I have clearer perspective on what it is I maybe want to pursue one day.
The North Carolina Symphony is not simply a conductor and musicians (although important, yes) but a group of knowledgable, creative, hard working individuals that work behind the scenes all day to make sure the orchestra is able to put on shows that everyone can be proud of. So to 3700 Glenwood Ave., thank you so, so much for this experience.
Some highlights:
-Beth and the Orchestra Library
-A tour of the concert halls (very nostalgic – I forgot how much I love Memorial Hall)
-Parking in the wrong parking lot at Koka Booth 1000 miles away from where I should have parked and having to drag a 3000lb cart to the front entrance
-My goodbye fruit tart (Thank you Maria!)
And…
I finished the filing cabinet today!
Today marks the final day of my brief yet incomparable time at Chesterfield. I started the day continuing to use the Lulzbots with Natalia. We printed another cylinder out of PCU for dog bone testing and finally got the other printer to work properly! For that one, we used a slightly different polymer that was more rigid at room temperature. Instead of printing a cylinder that would be cut into dog bones later, we directly printed dog bones onto the second Lulzbot, even though they did not turn out great (many of the samples ended up breaking). Natalia also fixed the other material extrusion printer that can go up to 600*C at the nozzle for printing special polymers, and we started some dog bone prints on that as well.
As we waited for the prints to finish, she explained to me some of the science behind the data analysis. There are two main things of importance when analyzing the data from mechanical testing of these dog bones: the stress vs. the strain. The strain is how much distance the sample moves while the stress is the amount of force used by/exerted on the object. As depicted in the graph below, the stress is the y-axis variable and the strain is the x-axis variable. Stress is measured in Megapascals (a standardized measurement of force) and strain is measured in millimeters. The x-mark on each curve represents the stress and strain at which the material breaks. The linear representation of glass in the graph reveals its brittleness: low strain yields high stress because it will break under a lot of force without stretching much. A material like rubber, evidently, will stretch more even when experiencing less stress. The unique corner on the aluminum curve represents the yield strength: the point at which the material will no longer return to its original shape after being stretched since the strain has exceeded the material’s ability to repair. Another interesting note is that the “stiffness” of each material is represented by the slope of the curve before the yield strength.
That’s basically all we did today! It was concise but fun at the same time. What strikes me is that my experience in the past eight days has been so much more beneficial than I had anticipated. I did not expect to understand so much of the information I was given, and it inspires me that there are such dynamic lab groups working on extraordinary projects that are truly aimed towards helping humankind. I think the bigger picture is what got me; the people I met here at Chesterfield are not motivated by publishing papers or pursuing degrees. Rather, they cherish the excitement that comes from developing devices that they know will go to help those in need. I sure will remember all the phenomenal educational learning opportunities I have had, and I definitely will not forget the benevolence and dedication of all the people I have worked with throughout this journey.
Today was my final day at Bavarian Nordic. I parked my car and walked up to the big glass frosted doors which seemed so intimidating the first day and rang the doorbell. Through the crack in the door, I could see Brenda hustle to open it for me. Brenda always greeted me with a big smile on her face. Every morning my key fob was sitting on my desk. She was always so nice to me! I will definitely miss her a lot. After I sat down at my desk, Erika came over to greet me. She told Kaitlin and me that we would be having some time to work on our presentation while she attended a meeting. Turns out I accidentally coded for the wrong variable, so I was able to fix that. However, I had to go back into the Brachury raw data and find all the really long labels- that part was a pain! Overall, it was a quick fix. During that time I also planned out what I would say for each slide.
After Erika got out of her meeting, we headed to the conference room to practice and get some last minute tips. After I gave mine, I changed a couple headers and added another variable to one of my data tables. I also got a chance to look at Kaitlin’s. Her PowerPoint was very good! Unfortunately, Tricia went home sick today so she could not talk to us about Regulatory Affairs. This branch of clinical trials works closely with the FDA to ensure everything is running in according to the rules and regulations. I was a little upset because I was looking forward to hearing about this career path. However, we got to spend more time with Erika and learn more about some statistics and Bavarian Nordic products, which is always a good thing!
Next, it was time for lunch. It was rather sad having my last lunch here. I will miss the little talks I have with Kaitlin and the other people in the office. After I finished my chicken, it was time to head back to work. I put my finishing touches on the PowerPoint while waiting for Chris, the Chief Medical Officer at Bavarian Nordic. However, he was in a meeting so Erika took me and Kaitlin to Starbucks while he was finishing up. It was so nice of Erika to do that! Throughout these two weeks, Erika has done all these nice gestures for us- she is so thoughtful! I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with!
Once I finished my iced caramel macchiato, we met Chris in the conference room. He went to medical school and then worked for the National Cancer Institute. His job seems very interesting! It seems to involve a little bit of everything! He is also very good at explaining complex subjects. I hear he is a big help to everyone in the office. After we finished speaking with him, it was time for our big presentation!
Kaitlin and I set up in the other conference room while everyone grabbed cookies (that Erika brought). Kaitlin and I decided that I would go first. Then, I walked through each of my slides and the data visuals I made. Afterwards, I watched Kaitlin present. The, we entertained any questions they had. Most of the office was there- I was rather nervous! However, I think it went very well.
After that was all over, I was coming to my final moments at Bavarian Nordic. I chatted with Erika, Kaitlin, Ms. Handelsman, and Chris for a little while in the breakroom about various things. Then, it was time to say goodbye. Brenda made me promise to stay in touch – which I will definitely do! Kaitlin and I were trailblazers. There had never been any interns at Bavarian Nordic before. Brenda and DeShara noted that the future interns would have some big shoes to fill!
As I packed up my desk, it really hit me how much I would miss this place. I would miss Kaitlin and our random talks, Erika and all her sweet gestures, Ms. Handelsman and her wise life advice (although I’ll still be seeing her around CA), Brenda and her cheerful personality, Janelle and her infectious passion for her job, and my hilarious cubicle neighbor DeShara. When I got home my dad told me something that really made me think: sometimes it’s not always the job you do, but the people that make the whole experience worthwhile. As I pondered this over, I realized that if I end up working in a place with the kind of people I met at Bavarian Nordic, I would be extremely blessed.
