November.... 

...the month when all prospective graduate students wince from the realization that application due dates are around the corner.

As the first in my family to be applying for a doctorate, I was stoked to be in the PREP Program at UC Davis. However, I knew little about the universities that housed PhD programs I was applying to, including the University of California, Santa Cruz. I found three-sentence summaries of potential mentors’ labs, and essential information about the university, department, and research. But as an incoming grad student I need MORE than that! What’s the weather like? What's the food scene??? I needed honest opinions about the place that I may call home and work for five to six years.

In relief and gratitude both the PREP@UCD and UCSC program leaders understood such worries. They organized an opportunity for us to visit the Santa Cruz campus for a day to build a personal opinion as to whether our research and personal needs aligned with the campus and community.

The visit included the combination of my PREP@UCD cohort (+3 fantastic UC Davis undergraduates) and the UCSC PREP cohort. From the start, their hospitality was gracious and inviting. We enjoyed lunch together from local favorite Italian restaurant, Zoccalo’s, on the roof of the UCSC Arboretum. As we ate and digested, we equally began reflecting on our similarities and interests in life, research, and the PREP experience, and nerves about presenting to each other later in the day.

After lunch, the next 3 hours were an adrenaline rush. We had the opportunity to interview separately with faculty of our choosing. This experience was super valuable for me. It gave me a sense on what to expect in terms of questions, and the scope of my current knowledge. The interview went well, and I was able to assess myself and better prepare for official interviews. Following the one-on-one mock interviews, all of us presented a 5-minute talk and poster of our research. Given how nervous and anxious we all were (for example, some of us practiced the night before...in our sleep...), we all did a fantastic job. I understood each and every project down to significance and overarching questions.

After the whirlwind talks, we got a cool down in the form of a facilities tour. We began by visiting the Chemical Screening Center, where Dr. Beverly Rabbitts, Director of Operations, explained the capacity of the facility in assisting researchers. Next, Dr. Jack Lee walked us through the NMR Facility (hint: it's not like what you used in OChem lab). Professor Melissa Jurica showed us the not-quite-year-old UCSC cryo-em microscopy facility.

Finally, we all got to try out virtual reality viewing of a spliceosome, courtesy of grad student Jessie MNG Lopez. PREP@UCD scholar José commented about his VR experience, "I could be hours doing this."

I could be hours doing this.

 

Jessie replied, "I do spend hours doing this" and added that the technology gives her insights and ideas for questions to pursue.

It was new and eye-opening to witness the advancement of technology and the tools available at UC Santa Cruz. You’d be mind-blown to know that there exist acoustic droplet ejection machines, and that graduate students are currently using VR to observe and study protein structures. We certainly were!

The day ended with a wonderful dinner at the West End Tap and Kitchen. Aside from the delicious burger I ate, the night went by with laughs, unexpected connections, and overall gratitude for the community and support that PREP offers its scholars.

This coming Spring we’ll give back and introduce our Banana Slug friends to the Aggies and cows of Davis.

Big thank you to hosts Bill Sullivan, Yuli Ortega, Xingci Situ and Dani Bolanos.