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My First Blog
Hey everybody! My name is Kristen, I’m going to be a senior this upcoming fall semester. I thought I’d begin by giving you some background information about myself. I’m from Marlton, New Jersey which is home to the Cherokee Chiefs. During my summers I usually spend time at the Jersey Shore working as a waitress on the boardwalk. During my free time I love to play sports (hockey, softball, soccer, etc), go to the beach, or watch movies and hang out with friends.
You might be wondering why I choose to go to JMU. One of the main reasons was because of the Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) program. While in high school I knew I wanted to go to a university and study either math or science, but I was not sure which one I liked more. I heard of JMU through one of my soccer teammates who was accepted and was planning to major in ISAT. My dad and I decided to visit because of the great reputation JMU has and all the positive things I had been hearing from other people about the school. We made a day trip of it. When I first came to JMU, I was a little overwhelmed visiting such a large school. I had doubt in my mind right from the start, but my dad talked to me and said, "Just give it a chance". After I took the tour, I knew I had found the university in which I wanted to pursue my Undergraduate degree. Everything about JMU made it appealing. The campus was beautiful, school spirit was high, and every single person I encountered while on my tour was so nice and extremely helpful.
After I knew this was where I wanted to go to school, I started doing some research about the ISAT program. ISAT incorporates both science and math within its major, which I felt was exactly what I wanted. I figured if I don't like the classes, I can always change my major. Well, it's going to be my senior year and I am still an ISAT major. I can't believe how fast college is going.
So far I have given you information on why I have chosen JMU as well as why I am an ISAT major. Now I'll tell you what I am doing with my summer. Currently I have an internship under the supervision of Dr. Raab working in the biotechnology lab here at JMU. We are working in collaboration with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). USAMRIID is responsible for all the vaccination testing against biological weapons such as Anthrax, Plague, Ebola, etc. They send us the DNA of the biological weapon and we purify the proteins. Once we have our proteins we send our research back to them and they will use that in their vaccination testing. Don't worry, we do not have the actual bugs in our lab, we only work with the DNA, so we are perfectly safe at all times.
Well I guess that's all for right now, I'll keep you posted on how the internship is going as well as the rest of my summer. Feel free to send me any questions you may have about the research I am doing, the ISAT program, or even some general questions you may have about college.
Posted by Kristen on June 1, 2005 11:29 AM | Link | Email Kristen
