CCB Ski Trip
Table of Contents
Sunday, February 16
165.4 lbs (Day 51, starting from 162.6 lbs on Dec 28) | 🏃🏻 Done (6/6) | ★★★★
In the morning, I went with some friends to a local retail chain(REI; 840 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94103) that sells gear, clothing, and footwear for a wide range of outdoor and fitness activities. The new ski clothing was quite expensive, and I wasn’t sure if I would go skiing often, so I decided to rent all the gear instead. For rent, we then headed to Sports Basement on Bryant Street (1590 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA 94103)
I had hoped to try a bib-style option, but unfortunately, none of the bibs fit me, so I just picked regular pants. I rented an outerwear package that included a jacket, pants, gloves, and goggles. I also bought socks and thermal innerwear on Amazon because I thought I could use these items when hiking or on other cold days.
After renting the gear, I went straight to the gym with my friend. We usually meet every weekend to work out together and catch up on our week. He’s funny, and this helps me stay organized, so I always look forward to it. Later on, I worked on my blog, studied Benchling to design primers, wrapped up my week’s work, sent a summary to my mentor, and then went to bed.
Monday, February 17
165.2 lbs (Day 52, starting from 162.6 lbs on Dec 28) | 🏃🏻 Done (1/6) | ★★★★☆
Outside of Work
Actually, today is a national holiday. I quickly went to the gym in the morning and finished my lab work before noon. Afterward, I visited a local poke restaurant(I’a Poke; 684 King St, San Francisco, CA 94107). One surprising difference I noticed about poke is that in Korea, it’s usually considered more of a salad or healthy diet food. In the US, however, poke is served as a dish of diced raw fish tossed in sauce. The US version has a lot more raw fish and fewer vegetables, which I found much more appealing👍 Following a friend’s recommendation, I ordered a poke bowl and it was really great. I recently tried a poke taco as well, and I loved it. I think I’m kind of addicted to this type of food.
Later, my friend and I decided to visit a coffee shop near Chinatown. We walked across Chinatown, a relatively long walk that included some hills, but the clear sky and warm breeze made it enjoyable. The poke was a bit heavy although delicious, so the walk was perfect for digestion. Passing by an unexpectedly wonderful sky view from a hill, we arrived at Motoring Coffee(1525 Union St, San Francisco, CA 94123), a coffee shop that displays actual cars. The place was pretty, though I wouldn’t highly recommend it on weekends because it was too crowded; weekdays might be a better option.
Later on, I finished my blog post from last week and thoroughly prepared for tomorrow’s experiment on protein preparation, which will be my first time doing it by myself.
Lab Work
I set up two reactions and made a starter culture for protein preparation. I used the same protein as before, but since the previous preparation was not very successful, I wanted to try again.
Tuesday, February 18
164.2 lbs (Day 53, starting from 162.6 lbs on Dec 28) | 🏃🏻 Missed (1/6) | ★★★☆
Outside of Work
It was just a routine day. I attended a journal club class in the morning and worked hard in the lab. After work, I managed to finish my reaction mechanism assignment (to be honest, I forgot that the due date is tomorrow) and went straight to bed.
Lab Work
For the reactions I set up yesterday, I purified both mixtures; however, no UV signal was observed during column chromatography for one of them. I couldn’t check the reaction progress because LC-MS was still down, and TLC isn’t effective for this chemotype, so I just followed a similar procedure. My current guess is that the filtration in the first step almost entirely removed my starting material, leaving little to no substrate for the electrophile in the second step. I suspected this was due to a solubility issue with the starting material, so next time I will screen a range of solvents, including ACN and THF.
For the biology part, I inoculated the starter culture I set up yesterday into two 1L TB cultures in a roughly 3L flask. I grew them until the OD reached around 0.6 and then induced protein expression with IPTG. I plan to let them shake at 18°C overnight. Although I expect more challenging experiments in the future, for now the biology work requires less intuition. In my case, we don’t need to optimize the processes because we only require a relatively small amount of purified protein for the labeling experiment. The entire process is well-organized, even if it does take a lot of time… 🫠
Wednesday, February 19
164.7 lbs (Day 54, starting from 162.6 lbs on Dec 28) | 🏃🏻 Done (2/6) | ★★★★
Outside of Work
I was swamped with work, so nothing special happened. In the afternoon, I attended a class, in the evening I participated in a journal club at the lab, and once I got home, I went straight to sleep.
Lab Work
I completed the first purification step of the protein I induced yesterday. However, the Ni column didn’t finish as expected, so I continued with the elution a bit further and then froze the sample. Tomorrow, I’ll check it again with SDS-PAGE. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have done it that way. The next day, after thawing the sample, I found that significant precipitation had formed in some fractions. In the future, I’ll continue with the purification process without freezing.
Working alone for the first time without anyone’s help is certainly challenging, but I feel that it’s the best way to learn the most. As I followed each step, I began to wonder, “Why is this done this way? How were these procedures established on a scientific basis?” These questions opened up many avenues for further study, and I believe that making the most of this opportunity will lay a solid foundation for the future.
Thursday, February 20
165.0 lbs (Day 55, starting from 162.6 lbs on Dec 28) | 🏃🏻 Missed (2/6) | ★★★
Outside of Work
Leaving work after 8 really makes it hard to go exercise the next day. It’s not that I didn’t sleep well. I just feel mentally drained..?, and that seems to have a bigger impact. During the morning, I spent time reading and rehearsing the paper I need to present in class tomorrow (Suddenly during class yesterday, we received our papers and were told to present on Friday… it’s low-key, but it still feels like a burden). Once I got home, I just watched some YouTube before going to sleep. When things keep going wrong, I definitely feel down😐
Lab Work
I spent the entire morning thawing the sample I had frozen yesterday… and running SDS-PAGE again. But wasn’t the Coomassie stain working perfectly fine just yesterday? It turns out we had run out of the instant Coomassie stain, and the stain that a lab member had ordered requires either prolonged incubation or the application of heat for use on the gel(although it’s still a Coomassie stain). So, I rechecked using a different gel that allows for in-gel fluorescence. I saw the column finished, and I collected more fractions than the last time, believing that any impurities would be removed by the two subsequent purification steps. Finally, I set up an overnight dialysis.
Friday, February 21
165.6 lbs (Day 56, starting from 162.6 lbs on Dec 28) | 🏃🏻 Done (3/6) | ★★★★
Outside of Work
I had a refreshing workout, attended classes in the morning and afternoon, and then headed straight for Lake Tahoe! The weather was so beautiful that we cruised along happily while sharing our playlists. About halfway through, we stopped for some delicious Mexican food, and the friend behind the wheel told wild😶 stories from his college days. Driving an ambulance, performing CPR on a dying person, and even fighting fires. Also, he’s great at skiing, loves scuba diving, and enjoys outdoor activities like backpacking. It’s really impressive how varied his interests are and how much he can enjoy so many things.
Those stories made the 5–6‑hour drive feel surprisingly short. I felt like everyone in the U.S. knows how to drive, and because there’s so much open space (unlike in Korea), long drives don’t seem as burdensome. Anyway, once we arrived, we slept early to prepare for tomorrow. I’m so excited!
Lab Work
I checked the dialysis, but there was still some precipitation left. It seems like a bit irreversible. It’s definitely important to prevent it from forming in the first place. I had planned to check the TEV cleavage, but the LC‑MS is still down, and since I must verify it with LC‑MS eventually, I decided not to run the SDS‑PAGE immediately. With classes running from 11 AM and a direct departure for Lake Tahoe after the afternoon sessions, I decided to freeze the sample again and continue purification on Monday. As I mentioned before, it’s best to plan things well so you don’t have to stop midway through purification, especially once the lysis is done.
Saturday, February 22
🏃🏻 Travel (3/6) | ★★★★★
We got up early, quickly got ready, and met up with two of my friends who had left for Scripps a while back (it felt so good to see them), and we headed straight for the ski resort. We picked up the equipment we had rented in advance and hit the slopes. I can’t remember exactly when I last skied. Since I didn’t do it during pharmacy school, it must have been at least 6–7 years ago. Even though I’ve grown and learned a lot since then, my fear of speed hasn’t changed haha.. Except for a brief break in the middle, I was skiing nonstop, and it turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected.
What made it even better was that my friends, who are excellent skiers, practically gave me one-on-one lessons one after another! Even though I’m still pretty rough around the edges, by the end I was able to do some decent turns (despite falling quite a bit). One of my friends even came with her significant other (both of whom are really good on the slopes), and they taught me like parents, offering so much advice that I ended up feeling like I’d improved a lot. I understand, in theory, that when you feel like you’re about to fall, you need to lean forward. But my body just doesn’t cooperate as easily. Even so, it was incredibly fun. I’m so grateful to my friends for giving me such a wonderful experience, and I’m coming to realize just how lucky I am to have such a great cohort.
I skied with full effort until 4 PM when the slopes closed, then headed back to freshen up (many of my friends ended up with really sunburned faces. I got a bit too). Afterward, we went to grab some pho nearby, thanks to a friend with great taste who recommended the hot, savory broth👍 After dinner, we checked out a nearby village. I won’t go into too many details, but we even made a little trip to Nevada! Later at night, we stopped by a nearby Safeway to buy some wine and ice cream, then gathered around a campfire at the lodge. Even though I’ve only been in grad school for about six months, I’m already making so many precious memories. Long live the CCB cohort!
