Run and Tumble

Tonight’s lab was a nice change after my disappointment with my performance during the intro to microscopy lab.

It was the standard ‘learn how to mix media, pour a plate, and swab something’ lab. I’ve read about it a dozen times, but one of the great things about taking classes is that I actually get to do it.

It turns out that I like the smell of TSA. Not everyone does. I’m taking this as a good sign.

I got a kick out of practicing aseptic technique. I thank my dad for his chemistry genes, I suspect they made things easier.  Especially when it comes to holding a cap with your pinky while doing other stuff with the rest of your hand.

I geeked it up and brought in a piece of my home environment rather than being the millionth student in history to swab a doorknob.  I brought in a dish sponge and became the millionth student in hstory to swab one of those.

It was pretty neat to use agar for the first time. It’s got a resiliency that’s really hard to describe, but made it pleasant to use. It’s a lot less delicate than I thought, and a lot of things I’ve only read about make more sense now that I’ve got some tactile experience.

I even remembered to store my plates lid side down.

I guess I had a general appearance of having read the lab procedure,  a few people asked me a question or two. Not many, but it felt nice, and I actually felt confident about my answers.

It’s silly, but I’m excited that a few miles away from me, a bunch of bugs I’ve sampled are growing. Some of them are already great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents by now. I’m looking forward to opening the incubator on Tuesday and seeing what’s grown. I mean, it’s pretty bad that I’m thinking about taking a camera, isn’t it?

I was the last student heading out (I say I’m slow, my wonderful wife says I’m not in a rush and want to be there), and nearly forgot handwashing. I stopped short and started scrubbing, and ended up having a small conversation with the professor about the plate count anomaly, soil bugs, and bioremediation.  I think she actually read the student questionnaires she passed out and knows that’s what I’m interested in.  It’s really encouraging to have such an engaged prof.

This is the first lab I can remember walking out of grinning. Even when a lab in CS or EE went well, I was usually just happy it worked out, or was over. I was smiling all the way home. I really have to figure out if want to pursue a degree in microbio or not. Right now it feels like that’s what I ought to do if I want a maximally happy occupation.