Well, I just spent the past week lying on a sandy beach, soaking up that warm Florida sunshine, so it was extremely hard to come back to Batesville and begin work this week.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve always found something to occupy my summer break, whether it was babysitting, mowing yards, being our “housekeeper” (and getting paid for it), or working at a pharmacy.  But this summer, I’m trying something a little different; I was given the opportunity to do research in Dr. Lindblom’s lab.  The first few days of work have been tedious and trying at times, but I guess that’s to be expected at the beginning.  Thankfully, I have an extremely patient lab partner who’s teaching me the ropes!  

So, this job may not sound like fun to you, but it’s such a wonderful opportunity.  I have to actually think and apply the things that I’ve learned from my biology and chemistry classes, and before this summer, I’ve tended to shut off that part of my brain during the summer…I mean, really, who wants to think about that stuff when you don’t have to?  Also, having experience in the research field is very helpful when applying to any type of professional school or graduate program–they tend to be pretty impressed with that kind of stuff, and it also gives you something to talk about during the interview.  Every single one of our biology and chemistry professors here at Lyon have some specific area of research that they’re interested in, so if you are interested in eventually working in one of the labs, there’s tons of options!