Saving memories one photograph at a time

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Science Day


O.K. don't hate me but I spent yesterday going to classes and having lunch at the U of U for free. Yes FREE! Once a year the University holds a science day for High School students and their parents. My daughter Taylor, a junior at Westlake High School, wants to be a Pediatric Endocrinologist (wow that was a mouthful typeful. LOL). This was her second year (last year dad went, this year was all me! YEAH).


Our first class was Fluorescent Microscopy. We looked at yeast cell protein that had GFP (green fluorescence protein) and RFP (red fluorescence protein) from the jellyfish attached. When you attach the jellyfish protein to another species protein that protein will also fluoresce. It was so exciting! By studying how the different proteins work in the cell this lab is hoping to learn how to turn off the Cancer and HIV triggers and stop the disease from spreading. I hope I didn't bore you too much, but it was so exciting to see the beginning stages of a possible cure that could save millions of lives. Yes, the truth is out I am a total science geek. The best part of the whole day was when Taylor was offered a 4 week internship with this lab next summer. WHAAA HOOO! She is so excited she can hardly stand it.

Our second class was Extreme Makeover: Human Body Engineering. This class was about how Metallurgy and medicine come together. We learned about artificial joints, stents, and disk replacements. We have come so far but have even farther to go. For every problem we solve we create a new problem to be solved.

Our last class was Astronomy. We were able to look through the telescopes at the Observatory. One telescope was pointed at the sun. All Taylor and I saw was a big red blob. Apparently we are part of the unlucky few who have a hereditary eye problem and can't distinguish the different colors put out by the sun. Taylor looked on the bright side (no pun intended) and decided that knowing she couldn't major in Astronomy had an upside. She has one less major to think about leaving 75 other majors to consider. That girl cracks me up!

We ended the day with a yummy lunch and awards ceremony. The College of Science has a random drawing and gives away six $500 scholarships during lunch. Taylor may not have won a scholarship this year but the excitement for college and learning new things is a prize that is immeasurable.

No comments: