Thursday, May 9, 2013

That moment

when you finally get results!

There's no other feeling like it.

And in my honest opinion, I don't think any other career gives you the same satisfaction.

Oh the joys of being a scientist.

After months of your experiments not working and troubleshooting and endless frustration and feelings of helplessness, you finally get a piece of data that is actually going to contribute to an overall end result. You see a light at the end of the tunnel and you realize that all the anger and stress you had been doing through led you to this point. It was your perseverance to keep pushing that gave you that sweet, sweet data.

After dealing with two round of plasmid contamination and the general issues we were having with primer extension, it was great to see little glowing bands on the gel. That sequencing ladder also makes for a beautiful picture. Especially when they are all even. The first time I saw the gel I wanted to run around the lab screaming, "It works! It works! IT WOOORRRKKSSS!!!" I was so excited I immediately had to go tell the boss, who seemed quite please with the results.

Now that we are past the troubleshooting and preliminary data stages, it'll be nice to get some real concrete data.

But I'll never forget how it felt to finally see it work. I believe it is because of this feeling that so many of us work so tirelessly to produce results. We refuse to yield to the unrelenting obstacles of being a scientist. We're constantly searching for that high. Because we know that sooner or later, we'll feel it again.  

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