Just suffice to say that I overlooked a significant detail in Damned Yeast Project and am doing one last hail-mary experiment before leaving for Major European Conference (next week). This one is my fault and I should have read through all the material and caught it. But I didn't. Neither did Advisor who helped me design Damned Yeast Project for my Proposal or my committee members who read and subsequently tested me on Damned Yeast Project. I'm not trying to cast off the blame; I'm more in awe that at least four well-educated people (besides myself) all missed this significant detail.
I was discussing this with Former Roommate (who needs a new pseudonym now that she's a labmate, too) and in search of a silver-lining she said, "Well, at least you've learned a lot." I thought about it and she's right. I've learned:
-To trust, but verify (i.e. just because Advisor says, "This reagent will work perfectly!" does not mean that he is correct.)
-Jumping into the middle of things (i.e. Trial By Fire) may be a good way to learn how to do things, but it is not the most timely.
-The old adage about an hour in the library saves a month in bad experiments is true (but how to convince Advisor of this? Results are always needed now!)
-The only way I'll be able to do my cool FPE-Related Project is if I make time for it (now that Advisor has lost interest, he pushes more for Damned Yeast Project)
-I don't think that I'm cut out to spend 70+ hours in the lab (cue panicky feeling of what do I do now? The Alternative Scientist has come at a good time for me)
-I want a family (unrelated to Damned Yeast Project, but I have discovered this during this time period)
-I'm going into my fourth year and I still don't know anything.Labels: Grad School, Stupidity, whining