As the year comes to a close, Final Presentation Night and graduation is becoming more and more of a reality. While thinking of the end of the year, I cannot drop everything quite yet. In fact, these last couple of weeks have been very stressful in terms of completing the little tasks needed before May 29th.
Fortunately, I finished my final product early on in May, which relieves the stress of last minute final product work. Instead, my focus is currently on updating my board for Final Presentation Night and completing little tasks that remain, such as door signs and room programs. Furthermore, I made sure to confirm logistical information by emailing Mrs. Bekerman in regards to using her room for my presentation. Also, I confirmed once more with my mentor on his attendance to the final presentation next Tuesday evening. With Dr. Meintjes constantly working, I wanted to be absolutely sure about whether or not he would be able to come, which is why I have asked him about four times over the last couple of months. I find it hard to believe that I will be graduating next week. With that said, the preparations for Final Presentation Night have been intertwined with preparing for graduation and the post-festivities. I was able to buy my dress online while I simultaneously ordered my nude colored tablecloth. Furthermore, as I went shopping for shoes, I stopped by the craft store to pick up a few last minute items to spruce up my board with final product information. My experience in ISM 2 has been beyond what I expected back in August. My mentor, Dr. Meintjes, has allowed me to further my research abilities and aspirations through his constant motivation. I could not have imagined submitting an abstract to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine back in ISM 1 last year, and these unexpected events that I have worked hard for are what changed my ISM 2 experience for the better.
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This past week in ISM has probably been the most exciting one in a very long time. Not only did I successfully deliver my final presentation night speech, but I also officially submitted by abstract to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).
The week began with Dr. Meintjes finally submitting our abstract after we had worked on the submission papers the day before. Once all of the physicians filled out their disclosure forms, we were able to submit everything on time in order to receive a response from ASRM in a month. Furthermore, I was able to get a better understanding of all of the factors we analyzed throughout our whole research experience. The reason why we looked at the days of biopsy and the estradiol levels have finally become clear. In class, ISM students gave their final presentation night speeches to their student groups. Fortunately, my speech turned out better than I expected. I appeared confident and knowledgeable about everything I was talking about. Also, I utilized the right amount of hand gestures and avoided the pitfalls of words like “like” and “um.” However, areas I still need to improve on include the description of my final product. I would like to meet with my mentor once more before my final presentation to go over the logistical terms that we have used to describe our research. Those phrases that I have forgotten can often be crucial in the description of my final product. My goals for next week are to complete my AP tests and simultaneously find time for another mentor visit. Now that our research is complete, I can focus on observing more in my mentor’s lab. Furthermore, I plan on finishing the final touches on my final product for submission to google classroom as well. This last week was quite significant in terms of my final product, for I finished one of the final drafts of my research abstract for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Besides reaching this incredible milestone in my ISM 2 school year, I was able to further my understanding in assisted reproductive technologies and witness an actual in-vitro fertilization procedure take place within the laboratory of my mentor’s office.
Although my final product calendar had been set back by about a week, I was able to make up for the setback this past week. After meeting with Dr. Meintjes, I received some great advice from him in regards to what I need to include in my abstract and how to do so concisely. With all of the clinical and laboratory factors we looked at in our retrospective analysis, there were many results and observations that we could have included. However, do to the 250 word limit, I had to be careful and pick the most pertinent data to write about. After having my mentor visit, I went straight home to revise my abstract draft and send it back to Dr. Meintjes. I wasted no time, especially since my mentor’s advice was fresh in my mind. Once I had written this next draft, I immediately received an email from my mentor with some more suggestions for improvements. The revisions made to this draft allowed me to feel confident about the data and observations I chose to include. Fortunately, I have ended this past week with a semi-final draft that needs a mere tweaking for grammar and punctuation mistakes. Furthermore, my mentor visit this past week allowed me to watch an in-vitro fertilization procedure in the laboratory. I learned a great deal about the process that I did not know before, such as the sperm “activation” that takes place before injecting the sperm into the oocyte. By rolling the sperm between the head and the tail, the membrane is broken apart and allows for the egg to become fertilized. Typically, the membrane is broken apart on its own when the sperm is naturally swimming into the egg. I find details like this to be one of the most incredible parts of my mentorship experience, for online research is not normally this specific about the in-vitro process. Being in the lab reinforced my intrigue and curiosity for the field of reproductive medicine and reignited the excitement I felt at the beginning of the school year. This next week is when I am going to be making the final submission of my abstract to ASRM. Once submitted, I can focus on writing my research and abstract reflection, which I will be turning in with my final product. Additionally, I may now attend mentor visits that are more observation based and not solely intended for working on my final product. This, to me, is the exciting part of ISM and the time to finish the course with some great experience under my belt. This past week was quite similar to the last, for I spent most of my time in the ISM classroom. Unfortunately, I still had not heard back from my mentor with revisions for my final abstract. Also, due to an unexpected emergency, my mentor was not able to meet in person to discuss my latest abstract draft. All of this meant that my final product was placed on the back burner this week, but this can absolutely not be the case this next week, for it is my mentor and I’s last full week to work on my abstract prior to the submission deadline. Hopefully, one or two more drafts will be all that is needed to completely finish my abstract.
Although I was not able to write another abstract draft this week, I spent my time reorganizing my ISM binder. I was able to print out everything I needed in class and prepare everything for my mentor visit next week. Another thing I remembered that I need to ask my mentor as soon as possible is in regards to the submission process for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. According to my current knowledge, all I will have to do in order to prepare for submission is hand over the final abstract to Dr. Meintjes. However, I am unsure about whether or not I need to make my own account on the official website or if I still need to fill out some personal information for the abstract. In all honesty, other than some maintenance work, much of this last week was spent preparing for prom. Since I know that this next week is going to be busy, I took advantage of my free time to conduct my prom preparations so that I have time to work on my final product and my final speech next week. This past week was one of the most relaxing weeks in ISM, except for my lingering cold that had remained from the weekend. I finished my abstract draft early on in the week and emailed it to my mentor, Dr. Meintjes, for review. While waiting for a response, I was able to catch up on different forms and logistics I had not had time to look at before.
My abstract is finally starting to come together as I work on my second and third draft. After my mentor visit, I received great clarification on the structure of my abstract. Since then I have improved greatly and have gained a much better perspective on our research as a whole. The complexity of this final product is not one that I understood back in January. I understood the general idea of what Dr. Meintjes and I were trying to do with our analysis of patient records, but all of the different factors we were looking at were quite confusing. Now as I am working my way through each draft, adding more and more detail to each one, I am beginning to understand the purpose of everything we have done. It is almost as if I have worked backwards and am starting to understand everything after the fact. Overall, this portion of my final product has allowed for more independent work that I send to Dr. Meintjes for approval, which is quite different from the analysis-based research that my mentor guided me through. The free time that this past week presented allowed me to organize my many thoughts and many class forms as well. From travel requests to mentor logs to mentor confirmation forms, making sure that I was updated on everything helped clear my head of unnecessary stress. I find days like this, which I refer to as “maintenance days,” to be necessary when in the process of completing a final product. This next week will be similar to last week, for I will be working on another draft of my abstract. However, I hope to complete more than one draft because of the deadline that is looming closer and closer. Furthermore, I am hoping to start studying for my AP tests, which are starting soon. Fortunately, most of my final product will be completed prior to the start of test season, allowing for more focus on my final presentation night speech. |
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