Honestly, this week was pretty dull. Nothing much was accomplished all week, I didn't do anything on Monday. I didn't do anything on Tuesday. I didn't do anything Wednesday. Wednesday was a half-day and we had to do that stupid exhibition day that the school makes us do. I had English first period and we had nothing to present. A lot of students didn't want to come that day. I have been so tired lately, so my mother said we could stay home from school on Wednesday. I didn't want to go to school on Wednesday either way so I jumped at this opportunity to stay home. I slept in and relaxed all day. I did do some homework, but I tried to take it easy. I didn't do anything Thursday. I didn't do anything today besides this blog post. So this week has pretty much been a waste. It was so unremarkable, I don't even remember what I did earlier this week. I did help my friends with their abstract and introduction for their paper because I was so bored. That was the most notable thing I did all week.
The only other remarkable thing is that I got sent some data by my mentors at Johns Hopkins University. Although there is some valuable data that I can use, they didn't send me the results of the NMR-Spectroscopy. They did send me the western blot results, so at a worst case scenario I would just have to forget about the NMR-spectroscopy and move forward with the western blot as my primary source of data. They also have it as Trials 1,2, and 3, but they didn't specify what the levels of estrogen are and whether the levels of estrogen were even used in the first place. The saving grace is that my uncle is coming today, so I can ask him about the data and get his feedback. From my understanding, Trial 1 is 50 ML of estrogen, Trial 2 is 100 ML of estrogen and Trial 3 is 250 ML of estrogen. I am probably going to use that as the basis for my result write-up. My results are due in two weeks, so I have a lot of time to do it. I will probably start some time next week. This weekend, I have to study for the SAT Subject tests (again!) and I have to finish some of my college applications. Tags: Forward, Communication, Planning, Results
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This week was productive for Capstone, surprisingly. We started presenting our presentations on Monday. For every presentation, we had to provide feedback on their delivery, presentation, and organization. I thought everybody did really well. Our classroom is in the hallway though, and at times students were making quite the ruckus, making it harder for the class to hear the presenter. If these background noises were not present, most of the presenters would have been quite loud. My presentation went really well. I presented on Wednesday. I made a lot of people laugh with the jokes and puns I put in my presentation. People seemed to be giving me their undivided attention. I spoke really loudly, almost close to a scream for most of the presentation so that way people in the back could hear me, even if the lunch crowd was creating a disturbance. I tried to use my hands and relax my body so that way I looked relaxed and ready. I also smiled throughout the whole presentation because I thought people would be more likely to pay attention if I looked happy.
The feedback from people was mostly positive, with two people saying that I was reading off the slide. Some more people said that at times I should have spoken louder, but I think that it was just because of the room we were in. Most people gave me a perfect score, with only the same two people taking off some points in delivery. Other than that, my presentation was really good. I forgot to include a rationale for my experiment, so I got some points deducted off for that. I didn't really practice for this presentation because I was pretty busy, so next time I would like to practice a little bit more before the presentation, that way I don't have to look at the slides that much. This week, I obviously worked on my communication skills. I had to communicate my project description, my methods, the science behind it, the materials, and the problems I was facing. I thought I did that pretty well, as evident by my presentation and my rubric and feedback from my peers. Next week, I would like to gather some data from other sources on the effect of estrogen and GDPD6 expression on GPC levels in breast cancer cells. In other news, I am supposed to get my data within the next few weeks. The head of the lab said that she would ensure I at least get some preliminary data for my project, so that's good. Hopefully next week is easy on me. Tags: Forward, Planning, Presentation, Reflection, Projects This week was productive for everything outside of Capstone. On Monday, we had no school, which I celebrated only shortly. I had a lot of work to do, especially because the SAT was on Wednesday. On Tuesday, I was studying for the SAT. I didn't have a lot of work to do that day because I had finished my methods section and all the revisions I needed. I decided to study for the SAT. On Thursday, we were assigned our first formal presentation for the semester. The topic was on our methods. It needed to include your topic, question, materials, methods, problems you are facing, and solution to those problems. I decided to add some background information to my presentation so that way people could understand my project. I tried to dumb it down as much as I could for my classmates, because last time it felt like some people didn't understand the science behind my project and what my project is about. I included some diagrams about metabolism and the Kennedy pathway to help people understand it. I tried to insert some humor into my presentation so it was more lighthearted.
Other than that, I am still waiting for data from my mentors, which is not fun. I don't really have a lot of work to do, so I've just been sitting around, sometimes doing work for other classes, sometimes doing work for one of my clubs. I have been working on being more flexible, which I think I've been doing pretty well on. I have done work for my other classes, while keeping up with the work from this class. I have switched my schedule around to make sure that I can complete my tasks in a way where I don't have to jeopardize my mental health for it. I think that I am doing pretty well considering everything. Until next week. Tags: Forward, Independent, Planning, Reflection This week was pretty productive, but not for capstone. You see, tomorrow I have the SAT subject tests in math and biology, which I have admittedly left to the last minute to study for. Next week, I have a calculus quiz, which I really want to get a good score for. I also have to take the SAT next Wednesday, which I need to study for. I finished my methods on Monday. Since I didn't have much else to do for the rest of the week, I was spending most of the class time studying for the subject test. I can't go further in my project because I need the data to come through from Johns Hopkins. I don't think that studying was a waste of time per say, it was just off-topic work. I wouldn't have had enough time to study had I not studied during class. I knew it would be difficult for my to study, so I just substituted work for capstone with work for the SAT. I could have also worked on college admissions, but this is a much more immediate matter.
While I am waiting for that though, Ms. Crudale suggested that I look into some other research as a back-up plan in case the data from Johns Hopkins doesn't come through. I would then take that data and present it as my research. It would be difficult to meet the capstone requirements, but I think I can do it. I plan on looking more into estrogen and its links with GPC levels and GDPD6 and its links with GPC levels. I will probably connect the two after that. When I was writing my literature review, I didn't find many sources on these, so I will probably have to dig deeper. I plan on doing it next week. In between, I will probably work on my college application. Honestly, most of my stress is not even due to capstone. It's just college application and the fear of the unknown. I have been trying to work through it because I just feel bad for not doing any work. Through Ms. Crudale, I have been able to get into contact with an admissions officer in Johns Hopkins and will be ale to ask him questions. I think this will take away some of the unknown for me and I am hoping that this will help my mental health. Until next week! Tags: Forward, Problem Solving, Reflection, Projects, Planning |
AuthorShubhangy Raghavan Archives
January 2019
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