Benjamin Baker discusses the Biology Honors Program, research, and medical technology.
Starting at Brockport, I knew exactly what to expect. I decided on Brockport because it was just the right distance from home. I started as a nursing major and was certain that I wanted to become a registered nurse. It wasn’t until the spring semester of my sophomore year that I realized nursing was not for me. I was unsure of what I wanted to do until I realized that Brockport offers a medical technology major. I changed my major to medical technology that spring, and took classes through local community colleges to get caught up.
I was unaware that the biology honors program existed until Dr. Morton brought it up in genetics class one morning. From there it was a no-brainer. I applied, got accepted to the program, added a second major in biology, and joined Dr. Rich’s zebrafish lab during the Spring semester of my junior year. I started out in his lab doing fishcare three times a week, which later developed into assisting in experiments on fish blood. Through Dr. Rich, I was given the opportunity to attend a developmental biology conference in Ithaca, NY, as well as a fish conference in Syracuse, NY. Attending those conferences gave me valuable insight into the world of research and gave me the opportunity to talk to other student researchers about what they are doing.
As well as the biology honors program, I took a class, recombinant DNA laboratory taught by Dr. Morton, that prepared me well for my future as a medical technologist. Dr. Morton taught me how to perform PCR, gel electrophoresis, and CRISPR, but most importantly her class taught me how to persevere. One of the experiments we performed involved transferring Caenorhabditis elegans from a small petri dish into a tube. I was unsuccessful the first time I tried, but still had a single worm left in my dish. I was frustrated at first, but I took deep breaths and kept trying. I ended up successfully transferring a worm into my tube and to this day I still have the mental image of my worm floating in my tube, along with the joy I felt from the success.
The lessons I have learned from the biology honors program, Dr. Rich, and recombinant DNA laboratory with Dr. Morton has led me to where I am today. My current focus is writing my thesis about zebrafish red blood cells and whether or not they shrink before they swell when exposed to a hypoosmotic challenge. In addition to that I will be attending Rochester General Hospital’s Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program this August. My experiences at Brockport have prepared me well for the MLS program, and I am looking forward to all that my future has to offer. Go Golden Eagles!