Research....
Research has its ups and downs. Just like pretty much everything else in life. Unfortunately unlike life, research can have a slightly higher failure rate. This is one of the downsides of research. In addition to the anguish and frustration that a failed experiment causes, it also means that you have to repeat the experiment. This is probably my least favourite part of research mainly because it is so inefficient. I really don’t like it when I do a PCR that takes like 2 hours to set up and then another 5 to run and then when I run the gel I find out that I lost a whole day cause the bands are too weak. Another part of research which isn’t always pleasant is analysis. I usually like to do analysis, but when it comes to fixing sequences it can get monotonous really fast. Thankfully when all the sequences are fixed I can analyze them statistically which is a lot more funner than is sounds(thanks to Gotwals and my stats teacher). You can generally make the statistics fit specifically to your needs mainly because it “statistical analysis” is so vast.
This brings me to the better part of research. For me I prefer to proceed the science with math just because I am more comfortable with it. Another part that I enjoy is work at the bench. Doing the PCRs and gels can be fun. Just so long as you don’t daydream and mix together 4 primers in a single tube when you are only supposed to do one (I did this once and sadly for me all of the sample had run out once I realized I did it incorrectly). I should say that the most satisfying part of research is when you get a successful experiment the first time it was run. The efficiency and rewarding feeling that you get is great. It also means that you made some headway in your project. After I get back a good sequence which I don’t have to spend time fixing I feel awesome..until I see the next sequence with a bunch of “N”s. The nice thing about this work is that you do learn to deal with the frustration and learn a lot about perseverance which is irreplaceable in this field.
Anyways research can be good or bad. It just depends on the way you look at it.
