Oh RNA-seq...


After an accumulation of probably over one hundred hours of drafting, editing, and revising of my research paper, I finally submitted my research paper at 9:35 pm of Saturday night. I had never felt as relieved and joyous as I closed 20+ tabs on my laptop. In the weeks leading up to when the research paper was due, I felt a roller coaster of emotions - most of which was stress and confusion. However, with the help of the BE Comm Lab and feedback from Leslie and Noreen I can happily say that I am proud of my final research paper. 

Over the span of the last week before the research paper was due I met with the BE Comm lab two times. In the first meeting, I came prepared with my introduction and methods complete. The fellow I met with helped me identify ways to concise my methods and create a flow throughout my introduction. In the second meeting, I came prepared with an outline and the beginnings of my figures. The fellow I met with helped me walk through the process of coming up with a "story" for my paper and asked a variety of larger context questions that really challenged the way I viewed this module and the experiments I did. I found this second meeting incredibly valuable since it forced me to examine why we conducted every single experiment and how these experiments tied into the bigger picture of the motivations behind this module.

Besides utilizing the wonderful BE Comm lab, I also found the feedback from the teaching instructors on my Mod 2 assignments very valuable. Specifically, the feedback on the initial paragraphs/outline of my introduction and the sequence of figures was the most useful for me. I realized through their comments, that I was trying to incorporate too many figures and my introduction wasn't compelling to the reader. Additionally, through feedback on the one RNA-seq figure we generated for homework, I realized that I was making too many assumptions on the data and needed to take a step back and determine what conclusions I could actually make.

I have learned so much from writing this Mod 2 research paper. I have recognized the amount of time needed to generate a cohesive and compelling paper with notable findings. Additionally, I have learned how to write in a concise yet comprehensive manner. In the future, I hope to utilize the tools I have learned in this Mod 2 report for my own research.

- Margaret Zhang

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