Friends
Posted September 23, 2012
Mekka Garcia
As I sit in my Physical Biochemistry lecture, I find myself “creeping” on Facebook. I scroll down my news feed hoping to find something interesting that will keep me awake during my 50-minute lecture. When I was about to click on a friend’s name, I received a text message from Arin Kettle that says, “Calveria today?” My heart immediately beats faster and excitement consumes my whole body. The response was so natural that I didn’t even have to look at my cell phone to reply, “Duh!!! I’ll be there after class!”
Arin Kettle is one of the graduate students I work with in Dr. Charlotte Phillips’ lab. Her project deals with myostatin and it’s potential medical use to treat individuals with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). One of the things Arin does in lab is perform hydroxyproline assay, a way to indirectly measure the collagen content of calveria, or skull. Her text message was simply asking me if I want to harvest calveria from mice, which means surgery. I love surgery—it’s one of the things I look forward to in lab. It’s not only necessary, but it’s also an opportunity to see things I’ve learned in class that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to see.
I opened the door to the Schweitzer building full of excitement. When I entered the Phillips lab, everybody was right at home. Dr. Phillips was telling one of her stories as Arin, Jae, Marcus and Laura sat in amazement. When Dr. Phillips was done telling her story, the four mentees who were sitting attentively started laughing hysterically. I couldn’t help but smile and be thankful that the people in my lab are what I call my friends. This is one of the times I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be in this lab. Not only do I love my project, I also love the people.
After this quick break, everyone went back doing their own thing: Arin and Jae moved in front of their computer to analyze data; Marcus went to the tissue culture room to analyze bone geometry from his microCT scans; and Laura went to her desk to order lab supplies. I happily said “Hi” to Arin and asked her how her weekend was. After our quick chit-chat, she showed me where the mice were and I quickly did what I was supposed to do.
The previous story is a normal day in my lab. A day of hanging out with friends.
Tags: Hurler's Syndrome
