Highschool shadow

This week I have a highschool student following me around in the lab. She is the daughter of my co-worker's friends, and really wants to get into forensics, so Darci asked if Chloe could come into the lab and see a bit of what it's about. Now, I don't do 'forensics', but I can do a lot of the techniques on CSI, and do so on a regular basis. I do not go to crime scenes and it DOES NOT take 1 hour to genotype someone (it takes days), amongst other things that occur on TV in an unrealistic fashion. However, the lab skills involved are the same as seen on TV, so Chloe came in to try her hand at science. So far, I think she's had a really great time and has enjoyed the tasks she's done. I've let her do a lot of things herself, so she's really had a 'hands-on' experience, and is actually quite skilled at the things I have her do, considering she is so young and inexperienced at it. She's a lot better than some fourth year university students I used to know, who planned on going to med school....hmm...

In any case, I hope that I can inspire her to pursue her science interests in the future! As a grad student, I've really enjoyed teaching students who have come into our lab, and look forward to doing more. In fact, I have a another great teaching experience with my co-worker's 11 year-old daughter, who comes in to the lab with her mom every month or so and spends the morning with me. She's a precocious little girl who is quite capable of doing the tasks I set out for her, and since she's been coming to the lab and working with me, she's been getting A+'s in science! Which I think is just fantastic and I am happy I can be a positive influence in her schoolwork.