Olympic Gold

Yes, Michael Phelps has demonstrated his swimming prowess, but I am annoyed the front cover of the newspapers here in the Bay Area chose to front him, and NOT the fact that TWO American gymnasts won gold and silver in the all-around. Have people forgotten that we don't seem to win those golds very often?

Nastia Liukin did a beautiful job and while Shawn Johnson was the favorite, she still is young enough to come again in 2012. Oh, tonight a 33-year-old is competing in the vault, a 41-year-old is swimming the sprints, and the American Field Hockey team (women's) plays on.

I love the Olympics!

Stanford Summer 2008

So, I was asked to give an overview of the teacher experience here at Stanford and how we plan to take the information we learn here and expose our students to advances in science. I asked and overheard my colleagues’ comments on this summer. “Invigorating” “Blood Transfusion” “Different” “Busy” “Overwhelmed” Oh, the last one was mine, but with a twist.

I have biologist training with varied interests in ecology, evolution and the human body. So, what did I apply for? A position in chemical engineering. But I have three logical reasons: (1) I wanted lab experience and I figure chemists do lots of that; (2) the project related to developing an artificial cornea and I teach dissection and the human body, so I knew what the cornea is and how to remove it; and (3) I heard I could put “Visiting Scholar at Stanford University” on my resume.

In truth, after the first week I didn’t think I would like this experience.

My mentor, Dr. Laura Hartmann, asked me to perform tasks I either had never done (writing detailed lab protocol for a rather significant study) or haven’t done in 10 years (dissecting information from scientific journal articles), but luckily, she is a fantastic instructor, giving me just enough information so I would not drown, but still making me work hard to figure out what was happening.

Oh, and I had to design a lesson or lab to transfer this information to my students. Busy was an understatement…I was swamped.

Why was I overwhelmed? Well, I was learning so much from my lab but also from my teacher colleagues and the professors we met every Monday. I realize how much fascination I have in science and how exciting it is to meet so many people with such enthusiasm! My mate has difficulties understanding my excitement, but how cool is it that I can now build my own lethal ping pong gun, know where CGI is going and with swag say I met an Oscar winner, and understand why we need crazy people and lots of money to make seemingly impossible leaps in technology?

So, did I learn anything to take back with me? So much so I couldn’t explain it in the time I have here to speak, but I did achieve my original goal of gaining valuable lab experience and a new even deeper love for science by observing so many people giddy over exploring. I will pass that giddiness onto my students. Thank you to Curt Frank for hiring me, Laura for mentoring me, Kaye and Paul for Mondays planned, and for the cornea group of undergraduates I was so humbled by with their interest in exploring. Thank you for the experience.

This is the speech I gave on the last day in front of teachers, professors, researchers, and students. Click the following link to see the pictures & videos from my experience.