The End Has Come for Fall 2013

Well everyone we have come to the end of this very busy chaotic stressful semester but we made it. I know I am not the only one who is glad this semester is coming to an end. Like everyone else this past week for me has been full of finishing up my final report on my unknown and trying to put together the presentation for tomorrow. On top of finishing everything for S-STEM I also had to find the time to squeeze in studying time for tests, finish writing final papers, and wrap up group projects. Even though this semester was crazy busy and very stressful I would do it again in a heartbeat. Why??? Because this past semester with the S-STEM program has opened up my eyes to see that I can do things that I once believed that I could not do either because I did not have the knowledge for or believed it was just out of my reach. I am happy that I got this opportunity to gain the knowledge I learned this semester and for all the wonderful new people I meet. I wish you all good luck on finishing up this semester and on your presentation tomorrow. May all you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR; be safe and remember to relax and have some fun before the spring semester starts up again. Image by http://www.dcottawa.on.ca/english/about-us/news/happy-holidays.htm

Oh Happy Day Its Turkey Day Tomorrow Plus A Four Day Weekend!!!

M.I.A that is what I have been for this week. However, I didn’t get a break to rest. I have been on the go since the weekend trying to get my projects done for my other classes. With all the madness going on I almost forgot to turn in my reapplication for next semester for the S-STEM program. However, I did get it in and hopefully I get reaccepted back for the spring term. As for my research paper it is still under construction. With the four day weekend I am hoping to have it done by Monday so Matt or Josh can take a look at it before I have to turn it in. Like me I am sure most of you are going to be using this four day weekend to hammer out everything or close to everything that has to get done. Good luck everyone and may you all have a happy and safe thanksgiving.

http://www.glogster.com/lou2roxsox13/stress/g-6lm68c0m8ivdfskcd2iuva0

A week of playing keeping up...

Hello, my follow S-STEM scholars. How many of you can believe that the end of this semester is right around the corner. Who else out there is freaking out and happy at the same time? Like my title says this past week, I have been trying to keep up in all my classes and rewrite my rough draft. However, despite the week being packed full of things to do, I still got to sit down with Matt to talk about my next project. I get to embark on fomites. I cannot wait to start this project but more then likely I will start on this project after the Thanksgiving holiday because next week is so short. I have already started researching the topic of fomites. Fomite is a term for any inanimate object that can carry disease-causing organisms. Things like cutting boards, kitchen skins, the change in your pocket, and the pens you use to write all have fomites. For my project I get to go around PC to collect samples and see what I can find. I am really looking forward to do this experiment but at the same time terrified at what I am going to find out there on.

The image above came from http://previncblog.com/what-are-fomites-and-how-do-they-transfer-viruses/

A whole lot of typing going on!!!

This short week has been a very busy week. It feels like all I have been doing is typing away on a computer ever since Saturday. On top of researching and typing up the rough draft for my unknown, I had two other papers due this week for my BIO 181 and ENG 102 class. Other than getting my rough draft ready to turn in this week was spent meeting with Matt to talk about the next project I will be embarking on. On another note last Friday (11-8-2013) I got to go to the Mesa Natural History Museum with some other of my follow S-STEM scholars and wonderful chaperons. It was a great trip and I learned some great new information. Blow are two pictures I took at the museum that were my favorite items to learn about. The first one is of the moon forming. The moon came into existence after a planet-size body smashed into the Earth. The final picture is of a mammoth a specie that lived about 150,000 years ago.

YES!!! I KNOW MY UNKNOWN…

This week I finally figured out my unknown. Last week I left off doing an oxidase test and a glucose fermentation test. The oxidase test turned out positive and the glucose fermentation test turned out positive for acid and negative for gas. With a positive result of acid on the glucose fermentation test, lead me to do a SIM (Sulfide-Indole-Motility) test. My SIM test was positive for motility, which lead me to do other test this time it was a Gelatin test. In both the SIM and Gelatin test, I had to take my unknown sample and put some on a needle then stab it through the media that was already in a test tube. Then I had to place both the SIM and Gelatin tests in the incubator for 24-hours. When I came back today, (11-7-2013) I had to take my Gelatin test out of the incubator and put it in an ice bath for 20 minutes. Once I took it out of the ice bath, I saw that I had a positive hydrolysis for the Gelatin test. Finally, my unknown was no longer unknown. Serratia marcescens!!!

Gelatin Test

Round Two... A week of re-do's, learning from mistakes, and asking questions.

So this week started with me doing my very first gram staining and trying to identify my unknown. However, I ran into a problem when identifying my unknown the first time. I thought I had gram + cocci, but it turned out that was not correct. I tried gram staining a second time to identify my unknown from the same petrie dish as the first time, but ran into another problem. I had too much of my unknown sample on the slide and it still came out looking like cocci but this time around it was negative. After confirming with Josh that I still did not have it correct. Josh suggested I start again from the very beginning and re-doing my lawn streaking. All this took place on Monday (10-28-2013).

I actually did not re-do my lawn streaking until Wednesday (10-30-2013). The reason behind it was Josh suggested that I incubate this sample over a shorter period of time (one day) rather than a long period of time (three days) like beforehand. After re-doing my lawn streaking and incubating, I started to think about what could have gone wrong with my first sample to keep on coming up incorrect. The first error I thought of was when I was gram staining I was scooping up too much of my unknown on to the inoculating loop before applying it to the slide. Making it hard to find a spot where I could identify my unknown clearly. The second error that could of effected my findings was when I was gram staining; over using the crystal violet and the decolorizer. And the last error that I thought of that could of made a difference was time. Over timing how long, the chemicals stay on the unknown sample on the slide.

Therefore, when I did my gram staining today (10-31-2013) I made sure I only gazed the inoculating loop on top of my unknown. Secondly, I made sure not to over use the crystal violet and the decolorizer and kept a close eye on the time. With making these adjustments, I finally got the correct result. My unknown was gram – bacilli. Once I had the correct answer, I moved on to the next test, which was the oxidase test. My sample came out positive, which led me to do a glucose fermentation test. On Monday (11-4-2013), I get my results for the glucose fermentation test. Blow are pictures of the oxidase test and the glucose fermentation test I did today (10-31-2013).

First week as s-stem intern!

So it begins I started my very first internship this week with the Bioscience Department at Phoenix College. Once I found out, I was accepted into the program I was excited. My first day was on Wednesday (10/23/13) and I begin by watching the safe videos. The videos were very long but full of information. I did not get to do anything else on my first day besides watching the safe videos. However, today Thursday (10-24-13), I did my first experiment. I first had to look up information on isolation streak, lawn streak, and gram staining. Once I understood what isolation streak, lawn streak, and gram staining I got my first chance to try isolation streaking. With the help of Josh, I did my first isolation streak on a petri dish using an unknown sample (unknown # 2). After I did my first attempt, Josh gave me some pointers on how to isolation streak properly. For example when I first attempted to isolation streak I totally took off the lid and placed it on the counter. Josh corrected me to keep the lid on so I wound not contaminate the sample. On my second attempted on isolation streaking I followed Josh’s advice and left the lid on while I zig zagged the loop across the second petri dish. Below are two pictures of my attempts on isolation streaking. After I was done with my second attempted I incubated my two samples. Tomorrow (10-25-13) I get to work on figuring out what the unknown sample is. I have to say that my first two days as an intern have been great. I got to try something new and meet some new friends.

The bottom petri dish is my first attempted and the top petri dish is my second attempted.

A side view on the experiment I did on 10-24-13.

Embarking on a Exciting New Journey

Hello, everyone some of you like me just made it through our first week in the S-STEM program. True we have not done too much just got our blogs set-up and waiting to hear about our internship placement. But so far the more I look around at seasoned S-STEM scholar’s blog pages and I even got to talk to one too (Deeda Webster). The more I realized that we are about to take part in a one of a kind program. Excitement is running through my veins knowing that I am about to start this journey. However, just like when I start something new and unfamiliar I am feeling a little nervous. I hope that I am not the only one out there feeling this too. Well I wish everyone good luck on this journey we are about to embark on.