My name is Tori Anderson and I am from Oakland, CA. I recently graduated from Phillips Academy Andover, an independent boarding school in Andover, MA. I am attending Stanford University in the fall hopefully majoring in Psychology and History. At my high school I enjoyed spending time in club meetings, sports, and other campus activity. I was a part of my schools Ambassador's board, Student Activities Board, and I was a Proctor (Resident Advisor) in my dorm. I loved going to class (ironic, isn't it) and I especially enjoyed my bioethics class and my history of disease class. I guess those classes got me interested in the study of disease and its physical, and social consequences. After graduating I didn't want to just come home and sit on the couch all summer. I wanted to have a smooth transition between high school and college. After being offered a positing in the MSI intern program I accepted hoping that I would somehow retain some knowledge from high school to take with me to college.

Being an intern at MSI for the past two months has taught me things I would never have thought existed. I learned lab techniques and which substances not to set on fire as well as important information about current disease study. I went from knowing nothing about the lab or ma king mutations in Ste5, screening them, and ultimately finding out more about the protein. I really enjoyed our field trips including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a trip to JGI (Joint Genome Institute), a visit from some UC Davis graduate students, a trip to UCSF and Cal, along with out many interactions with the other scientists in the lab. Being at MSI really opened my eyes to the world of research and gave me an on-hands experience into the world of research and drug development. Although I may not pursue a career in the scientific world, I really enjoyed my time with Leonore, Tonya, and the other MSI scientists. This summer was a unique experience where I was not only paid to learn but I had fun with the material and with the other interns. I learned a lot this summer; I learned about myself, how I work with others, and how to use a pipet! Now, leaving this internship, I feel like I had the time to grow up just a little bit more, and now I'm ready for the awe-inspiring experience of college.

Hi! I am Jessica Bersonda of Vallejo, California. I will be a returning senior this coming fall 2007 at Jesse Bethel High School, and will be serving as the class treasurer of 2008. Go Jaguars! I enjoy playing the piano, watching movies, spending time with family and friends, joining our church youth group, volunteering at Vacation Bible School, playing tennis, and without a doubt- shopping!

I have always dreamt of becoming a famous research pharmacologist and discovering the ultimate cure for cancer. However, I have never experienced working in a lab; this was the initial reason why I applied for the MSI internship. But little did I know that I would get much more out of this internship than just familiarization of laboratory skills.

My internship at MSI was truly a life-changing experience. I learned a plethora of new things not only pertaining to science, but also in life. I began the internship totally clueless; I did not know what Petri dishes, autoclaving, or pipettes were. But by the end of this remarkable eight weeks, I have seen myself grow and mature into a totally new person. The fun and exciting field trips to various laboratories such as the Joint Genome Institute and Amyris, and college tours to UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley has made me cognizant of the dedication and hard work scientists applies to their work.

The realities of working in a laboratory, the stress, pressure, and the fast pace scientists deal with everyday, is very difficult to convey in school, which is why I can not stress hard enough how I am forever grateful to the Molecular Sciences Institute and truly privileged to have had this incomparable, eye-opening opportunity at such a young age.

This unforgettable eight weeks has taught me one important lesson- to keep an open mind. We should always be open to the millions of possibilities life has to offer, never closing the doors on anyone or anything. One of the wisest and coolest scientist I have met here at MSI once said, “You can never accept with certainty, but rather reject with certainty.” This, I believe is absolutely true not only in science, but also in life.

To future MSI interns: Good luck and be open for new experiences.

To everyone at the Molecular Sciences Institute: Thank you so much for your unending help, support, patience, and advice.

To Leonore and Tonya: Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to learn from you and letting me become a part of the MSI Internship Program of 2007. You cared enough to make a difference in my life. I am truly blessed!

My name is Rachelle Hampton and I recently graduated as the class of 2007 from Berkeley High School. This summer I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity of interning at the Molecular Science Institute. Every day I was faced with a new challenge, whether it was digesting information during lectures or doing experiments in the lab. At MSI, I was exposed to many people from different educational backgrounds who all possessed knowledge to contribute. There was never a day that passed that I didn’t learn something new. The most difficult challenge of all though, was learning how to ask for clarification when there was a term or concept that I didn’t understand. At the beginning of the program we were introduced to the Yeast Alpha Pheromone Mating Response Pathway and the important characteristics within it. Our ultimate goal was to focus on one protein in particular ( Sterile5) and cause mutations in it to better understand its role in the quantitative output of the pathway. We used various techniques to achieve this goal including Pheromone Responsive Assays, Mutagenic PCR, and Transformations. Many of the experiments we performed were new and difficult for me, however, Leonore, Tonya, and the rest of the MSI staff were more than willing to answer any questions I had. Now that our internship is coming to an end I can say, in all honesty, that I am sad to leave my fellow interns and the many scientists that I met this summer. Interning at the Molecular Science Institute has been a life changing experience for me. It has reaffirmed my confidence in taking the initiative towards pursuing my own personal goals. I will be attending California State University, Northridge in the fall, where I will major in Biochemistry and go on to Veterinary Medicine School. I am aware that my path to success will be full of obstacles, but I am also confident that the knowledge I gained at MSI will benefit me no matter where I decide to go or what path I choose.

My name is Camille Stanton. In the fall I will be a senior at Holy Names High School in Oakland. In my spare time I like listening to music, baking, running, watching the food network, and taking things apart so I can see how they work. At school I am in Model U.N., LINK, Campus Ministry, and I am a Student Ambassador. My favorite classes in school have been Chemistry and Biology. I guess that makes sense because I have always loved science. Biology has been interesting ever since I dissected a cow’s eye in the 4th grade! Last summer I went to space camp (I know, a little nerdy, but nerds are cool!) and in one of my missions I had to conduct experiments in a space lab, in that moment I knew I wanted to spend more time in a lab. My friend Kenny (an intern from 2006) told me about the internship and I immediately applied. This internship has been an amazing experience for numerous reasons. At the beginning of the summer I had a little lab experience, but now as my internship comes to an end I can proudly say that I am comfortable in a lab AND I can explain the yeast pheromone mating pathway! During the internship the most valuable lesson that I have learned is that I am only human, therefore mistakes are inevitable. Not only are mistakes common but so are unexpected results and that is what makes research so exciting. If Jessica, Rachelle and I were paid a $1 for each bizarre result we got we could have a gelato party! Also this internship has shown me to ask questions, because a closed mouth can’t get fed. I couldn’t have survived this internship without Tonya’s encouragement and bubbly personality that kept me company the numerous times that I was the last in the lab because I had to redo experiments! I am so glad I was able to have this experience and I am also glad that I got to share it with Tori, Jessica, Rachelle, and Yang, this would not have been the same without them. Although these past 8 weeks have been exhausting I would do it all over again.

My name is Yang Yang. I am entering my senior year at International Studies Academy in San Francisco. I am the president of the science club, as well as vice presidents for two other clubs. I am also the number single player and team captain on my tennis team. My favorite book is The Lord of the Rings; favorite movie is Star Wars. I like to play tennis and instant strategy games like WarCraft.

I wouldn’t have heard about the Molecular Science Institute if my chemistry teacher didn’t tell me about it. It was pretty hectic during my junior year and everyone at my school was applying for summer internship. I felt very lucky to be in this program because out of hundreds of other students including some of my friends, I was chosen. And this internship has truly been life-changing experience for me. I had another internship last year, it was fun but I didn’t feel like I learned much from it. But this MolSci internship not only opened a new world of biotechnology research, but also gave me the tools necessary to explore it. We also went to a lot of field trips. My favorite one was visiting the Joint Genome Institute (JGI). I was impressed by the fact that the JGI is number one in DNA sequencing in the world.

The lab work was also fun. This year we worked on Ste5 gene of the yeast pheromone responsive pathway. By randomly mutating the Ste5 gene in various segments, we hoped to find mutants with altered response to pheromone. When we had our interesting mutants, we did assays like measuring Yellow Fluorescent Protein (YFP) that shows the differences in the pheromone response pathway output.

I daresay this internship was one of the best things that happened to me in my life. It really changed the way I think and helped me be more confident in laboratory work. This program truly inspired me, and made me more determined to pursue my dreams.