Becoming a Member of the Team

This is the next in a series of posts by recipients of the Career Services Summer Funding grant.  We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they’ve been spending the summer.  You can read the entire series here.

This entry is by Whitney Carriveau, COL ’16

I remember when I first interviewed to be an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Wellen’s lab at the Abramson Cancer Center. It was cold, perhaps one of the first days of the winter season where the snow actually stuck to Philadelphia’s city streets. I had made the mistake of wearing open toed flat shoes and I was paying for it with nearly frost bitten toes. They were my only formal shoes at the time and I wanted to look presentable. “I’m a tough Minnesotan girl. I can handle the snow,” I repeated to myself as I quickened my pace down Curie Boulevard. I wanted this job more than anything in the world and I knew being late wouldn’t vouch for my seriousness; there was no time to return home to get new shoes. When I arrived, Dr. Wellen had showed me around the lab and introduced me to the other researchers. I was clearly over dressed, which made me further regret my shoe choice. Not only did I feel awkward and out of place, but I was intimidated by the professional setting of a reputable cancer research laboratory.

Much time has passed since that day, some things have changed and some have stayed the same. While I still appreciate the opportunity to work alongside the other researchers in Dr. Wellen’s laboratory, I can truthfully say that I no longer feel awkward or intimidated. Rather I feel as if I am a valuable member of this team. This summer has given me the experience and the confidence to effectively work alongside of this research team. I know that I am contributing in many ways to the research we are conducting. I’ve gained knowledge and learned experimental techniques that I hope will facilitate my future goals as an MD-PhD student. I have had the opportunity to collaborate on projects with some of the great minds that work here at the University of Pennsylvania and I’ve learned unmeasurable amounts of information about cancer metabolism.

This summer I was able to take things I had learned in the classroom, things I imagined I might never get to apply to real life situations, and apply them to work that I did every day. Specifically, I remember taking biochemistry my junior year and going through problem set after problem set, trying to arrive at predetermined answers provided on a key. However, this summer I had no key, but instead both a vast amount of resources allowing me to search for unknown answers and a post-doc who supported and guided me through the process.

More important than any scientific discoveries, I have built great relationships with people I now consider mentors and role models. The researchers I worked alongside of have made my experience as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Wellen’s lab exciting in many ways. They have helped me learn and grow as a young scientist in ways that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Many of them are at different steps in their own academic careers and have provided great insight on how to pursue my future goals. They have ultimately helped me further shape my passions for cancer biology and plans for my future academic career.

Author: Student Perspective

Views and opinions from current Penn students.