TRAIN Scholar Justine Horton's Blog

This has been the most exciting thing I've done this semester. As I wrap up my research paper, I can't help but reflect on what I could've done differently. Such as, I wish to find a topic I know more about. Nonetheless, I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I'm excited that I got this opportunity to step into the research world. I'll make sure to bring my A-game next semester. Outside of the internship, I'm so ready for finals. Mainly for them to be over with. I hope everyone has the motivation to study. Good luck, everyone! Finishing my conclusion

This week I spent most of my time avoiding any amount of homework. However, I did go to Piestewa Peak Park and saw a snake hiding under a bush. I was disappointed that the internship lab was not open on the days I came down. I can imagine my latest Staph. A dish is still incubating in its toasty new home. I was looking forward to analyzing it today. I haven't been able to start the aloe extraction process either. I am about to enjoy my second cup of coffee before work. I hope everyone else's week was excellent, and I look forwards to a better next week. (P.S See if you can spot the snake in the picture :))

This week was spent drying aloe vera leaves. I finally got the procedure down right, and just as I thought I was ready to move on to the next step...it turned out that I didn't dry enough aloe. It was more funny than anything because the little I did make wasn't even enough to show up on the gram scale. It's all okay though, next week I hope to make a lot more. As for my secondary experiment, I plated Staph. A today and found 3 new substances to test. Another mixture of aloe vera and ehtanol, lavender essential oil, and tea tree oil. I can't say I have any high hopes for the oils but I tried a different technique with the aloe that I hope will yield better results.