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Sarah, Weeks 2 and 3

The last two weeks have been slightly hectic.  My first week in the lab I became used to the easy 7 minute walk from my apartment to the Schattner building.  However, due to the need to go through some mandatory training for Penn, I was required to take a 17 minute walk past Penn and past Drexel to reach the Environmental Health and Radiation Safety (EHRS) office.  This training session covered basic, common sense rules, such as "Do not eat in the lab" and more specific guidelines for chemical safety and biohazards.  I was glad to find that I already knew much of what was explained during the training, thanks to having worked in a fume hood before for chemistry and having had some hands on experiments in my previous science classes.
On Tuesday of my second week, Dr. Peretz, Ms. Cozine, and Ms. Terhaar came to take all of the EXPers in Philadelphia (except for Wendy) out to lunch at the White Dog Cafe.  It was really exciting to see some alumni and catch up with people in the area.  I had fun comparing our experiences up to that point and seeing how they differed and how they were the same.  After lunch, Ms. Cozine came to the lab and watched me load a gel.
For a large amount of the rest of the last two weeks, I was learning how to do western blots, stain cells, and to use the microscope.  Claire printed out a few protocols for me to follow and explained each step to me, so I would be able to really understand what I was doing.  When she told me I had to learn how to use the microscope, I was a little confused.  I thought that she meant that I needed  to mount a slide and focus the microscope.  However, the microscope that she was referring to is attached to a computer which works in conjunction with the microscope to take pictures of the plate.  The end of this week was meant to prepare me to work without Claire as she will be away for the week.  I was really trying to absorb all the information that she was giving me in order to try to succeed next week.  I am a little bit nervous, but I am sure I will be fine.
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