Connecting with a Mentor/Ncuire

 Hello All-

What a busy/productive semester this has been! I think this is probably the most studying I've had to do for any of my classes thus far. This past week I attended/presented a project at NCUIRE. It was great seeing other STEM-TRAIN students presenting their work as well!

We've been challenged to think about networking and the skills we've learned this semester. I will say, I did not have luck with LinkedIn (I'm probably not supposed to say that but I found that I was only able to follow many of the people I tried linking up with through various employers, and was unable to message them). So here's my take on networking that has worked for me: I get involved as much as I can with professors, I volunteer to help with events when I can, and I put myself out there for any potential opportunities. When I started at ASU in Spring of 2022, I didn't know any professors and only knew 1-3 students. I took volunteer opportunities in classes. For example, my ecology professor asked if any students were interested in helping to set up burrowing owl sanctuaries on campus so I volunteered. I later asked if I could do NCUIRE in his lab which he agreed to. This has given me the opportunity to present at several symposiums and network with people at and outside of ASU. Other NCUIRE students have had a similar experience and have presented their work at symposiums in other states.

So what has worked for me is asking how I can get involved. Can I volunteer? Can I join a lab? Can I assist with a project? How can I get involved? This has been useful in networking. If you're interested in research or working in a lab, please reach out, I would be happy to give a tour of the Black Widow lab! 

Cultural Intelligence

This week, we had the opportunity to learn about Cultural Intelligence. My understanding of cultural intelligence centers around using compassion, empathy and understanding when interacting with people as we all have diverse backgrounds and upbringings. It's important for me to be a better listener to the struggle of others and be aware of how I can affect positive change. Cultural Intelligence can range from ethnicity to gender, age, abilities and/or background. For the purpose of this post and to raise awareness around the LGBTQ+ community, I'd like to focus on awareness of gender.

I think one of the most important pieces of Cultural Intelligence is Cultural Responsiveness. It challenges us to suspend our own beliefs and perspectives to give space to another (by give space meaning, allow someone to be their true, authentic self, without pushing our own thoughts and feelings upon them). I think this becomes increasingly useful as we begin to see more diversity and inclusion in companies and businesses. We will have the opportunity to work with a variety of people and one of the first things that come to mind are pronouns. Using someones pronouns validates that we respect them and who they are. A great resource in learning about pronouns is the GLSEN. GLSEN encourages us not to use verbiage like "preferred pronouns" as a persons pronouns are not preferred, it's the pronouns that must be used. One of the key points of Cultural Responsiveness is "I adjust my behavior to be most inclusive of another person" and I find that very fitting in correct pronoun usage. 

I also believe it's really important to draw attention to transgender folks. Correct pronoun usage is important when interacting with transgender members of our communities. One way we can help is by familiarizing ourselves with the struggles that transgender folks face and being kind/compassionate in how we speak. While we're on the subject, I want to point out a few statistics reported by Minnesota Department of Health:

-42% of LGBTQIA+/2S youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

-Transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having pronouns respected by all the people they lived with attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected by anyone with whom they lived.

-LGBTQIA+/2S youth who had access to spaces that affirmed their sexual orientation and gender identity reported lower of attempting suicide. (Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health)

These are very small changes we as a collective society can make to positively affect change for another person. Below are some amazing resources that provide data/statistics in why we should support pronoun usage.

Gender Identity Archives. The Trevor Project. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/category/gender-identity/

Pronouns: A guide from GLSEN. GLSEN. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.glsen.org/activity/pronouns-guide-glsen#:~:text=What%20Are%20Pronouns%3F,pronouns%2C%20or%20none%20at%20all.

Using a person’s correct pronouns saves lives - health.state.mn.us. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/suicide/documents/pronounssuicideprev.pdf

Professional Identity

 Hi All!

This week we had Dakota from Career and Professional Services come in to talk about networking and building a professional identity. I have to admit, I have not put much work into my LinkedIn profile and updating it has seemed like quite the chore. BUT...building a professional identity using LinkedIn is a great way to create a community of connections that may help in finding a career. One of the things that stood out to me that Dakota mentioned was having a well rounded profile. We want to use LinkedIn as much as we would any other social media. If I'm going to dedicate time and energy to a social media app, it may as well be something that has a positive end goal. I created a short bio about myself, updated my headline, and followed a bunch of LinkedIn pages of potential companies that I would want to work for. The next step for me will be reaching out to people that work for some of those businesses and attempting to make connections. I have one semester left after the current semester and I'd like to start connecting with people and opportunities within the science field to increase my odds of finding a career after graduation. I think getting a jumpstart on LinkedIn and networking during your last year at University is a great idea and will set all of us up for success.

TRAIN Mixers and transfer advice!

Hello All-

I was unable to attend the TRAIN mixer this year as I have a class during that time! I hope everyone got something out of it and was able to get a good idea of what TRAIN looks like at ASU! I remember when I was transferring from Phoenix College to ASU West, I felt nervous about "bigger" classes and how it might be difficult getting help with those classes (based on what I heard from other students). What I've found is that for the most part class sizes are not all that much bigger than a community college and professors are very willing to help students. Most professors hold review sessions for tests and some classes even have SA's (Student Assistants?) that hold review sessions so my fears were instantly alleviated! The tutor lab at West is great and an incredibly helpful resource when I'm stuck on an assignment and working with other students has been another great way to get help. Having access to these resources and other students really helped me during some stressful times!

One thing I enjoyed as part of the TRAIN scholarship at Phoenix College (that I thought I wouldn't be able to do at ASU West) was the ability to do research. When I transferred, I wanted to continue doing this but didn't know where to start. Early on, I found out about NCUIRE and approached a few professors about joining their lab. I did some research on the faculty website to see what professors were studying in their labs which helped inform my decision. I jumped at the opportunity to work in the Behavioral Ecology lab with Black Widow spiders and have been doing mentored research since Fall 2022. If you are interested, in research, I would reach out to NCUIRE or to an ASU faculty member and ask how you can join their lab. These TRAIN mixers are a great way to meet faculty, as well as others students, that may be able to answer questions or provide insight on how to join a lab.

Link to NCUIRE: https://newcollege.asu.edu/ncuire

A little about me...

My name is Brian Ballantyne and I am attending school full-time at Arizona State University West Campus, majoring in Biology. This is my final year in the STEM/TRAIN program at ASU with a projected graduation date of December 2023. I currently study the behavior of Black Widow Spiders under the mentorship of Dr. Chad Johnson and plan to continue lab research through the end of my senior year.

I moved to Phoenix my sophomore year of high school from a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I enjoy biking, rock climbing, road trips and eating. One of my favorite places to eat is Welcome Diner. The fried chicken biscuit with gravy is easily the best dish they serve.

Spring 2023 Semester

 Hi All!

I'm heading into the Senior year of my Bachelors degree and things feel pretty great. School has been challenging (in a good way) and I'm still learning something new with every class. I still feel like I have a number of different interests career wise and am not quite sure which direction I'd like to go. I'm also contemplating a Masters program but again am unsure which one to choose.

This semester, I'm taking Cell Biology, Invertebrate Zoology, Daoism, and an Independent Study with Dr. Johnson in the Black Widow Spider lab. I'm excited to spend a little more time doing research in the lab and the fact that it counts as an upper division 3 credit class is a bonus. I'm also really looking forward to taking the Daoism class during session B. I think it'll be a great opportunity to learn a different perspective of spirituality.

My goals for this semester are to work on a better school/life balance. I'm not great at balancing these two things and often get that "burnt out" feeling from doing too much of one thing. I'd like to be better at practicing set times and intervals of study, then giving myself a break to change gears, but we'll see how well I can practice that this semester! 

Fall 2022-Database Project

1. Describe your understanding of relational databases versus spreadsheets

    For our Fall 2022 STEM class, we focused on building a relational database from data gathered online. When we started the semester, I wasn’t sure what to expect and quickly found that building a database would require learning how to write prompts in order to build the database. Databases and spreadsheets work with each other, like a team. Spreadsheets are a great way to house large amounts of data that are categorized into columns and rows. Databases help to sort that data. When we want to order the data in a specific way, we use a database and build prompts that allow us to gather said data. This speeds up the process of locating very specific data and doing so with accuracy. 

2. Provide an overview of the database class project

    Our project started out by locating data through a website that houses large sets of data in the form of CSV files. We chose a topic of interest and started by creating a diagram of how the data would be organized. For our project, we used health data which compiled diseases by name, state, year, population, number of cases, and the increase in cases from the prior year. We used DB Browser for SQLite to create our database which housed the health data from the CSV file. In order for the database to house data, we had to create prompts, or SQL commands, that culled data into specific categories that can be searched. We created 3 tables that housed this data which allowed us to query specific questions like “Increase in measles cases for the state of Arizona in 1940”. A number of different queries can be carried out as long as the wording of the command is correct!

3. What did you learn about databases through the application of the concepts on the project?

    The most important thing I learned was with writing commands for our database, wording has to be specific. The system can only do what we tell it to do which requires a basic understanding of how to pull the data. For example, some of our data was in all CAPS so when writing commands for the state of Arizona, the state has to be typed as ARIZONA. Everything has to be precise and in accordance with how the CSV file held the data. Almost like a baking recipe, the ingredients have to be correct and with the correct measurements, otherwise the product won’t come out right. 

4. Has learning about databases influenced your future plans? 

    Prior to this semester, I had contemplated doing the Biological Data Science master’s program with ASU. I was told it was a combination of science, statistics and databases/computing. I was a little hesitant with the database/computing portion as I didn’t have any experience prior to this class. I struggled with the commands and building the database, but I think with more practice and learning, I could become more experienced. It’s given me peace of mind knowing that I am capable of creating a database regardless of my level of proficiency. I am still interested in the Bio Data Science program but this class has boosted my confidence. 

Wellness & Self-Care

Hello!

We're nearing the end of the semester! It's been an incredible first semester at ASU West and I'm so excited to continue my educational journey! Over the course of the spring semester, we've had discussions around wellness and ways in which we self-care. Mental wellness is big for me and I've learned the best way to take care of that is by taking breaks while studying. As much as I want to believe I can study and do homework for hours at a time, the information doesn't really stick with me. Studying in smaller increments and with other people typically helps me learn the material. When studying with others, I quickly learn what topics I'm not well-versed in as I have a difficult time explaining it.

The second piece of self-care that has been important to me has been a healthy diet and exercise. I've gotten better this semester about consistently squeezing in gym time between classes or before classes and it's helped me feel better about my health. I also started eating better and bringing snacks with me to school to help me get through the day without getting snack foods at Starbucks or eating at the cafeteria. 

Good luck to everyone on their finals!

Vulnerability in STEM

 Hey All-

We've been reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown over the past few weeks and it's really provided some great insight in navigating a STEM major. One of the more important topics for me has been around the vulnerability to share openly about my educational pursuits. I am a returning college student that has changed majors several times and the fear and shame around not knowing the exact career I want after graduation stalled me from progressing forward. In my 20's, I felt like the people I was in school with had their whole life planned out and I was struggling to identify a major/career so I quit. After a short hiatus from education, I decided to go back to school and try taking a few classes at a time. In my time back at school, I've had to learn to take risks, try new things, and get involved. All of this took vulnerability. I had to become vulnerable and ask for help, ask for research opportunities and be willing to hear "no" sometimes. Learning to overcome shame and fear is a daily effort for me. It doesn't come naturally and sometimes I have to convince myself to do it. But it's worked. I get the opportunity to study Black Widow spiders over the Fall 2022 semester and a Summer Internship at ASU and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity.

Representation in the STEM field

After reading the article "Factors influencing participation of underrepresented students in STEM fields: matched mentors and mindsets" by Kricorian et al., 2020, I had some thoughts around what representation looks like for me. Growing up LGBTQ+ in the 90's, it wasn't often I'd see myself represented in the media. If there were gay characters, they were played by heterosexual men. You're represented by a man pretending to me gay. The article stated that about half of the individuals surveyed saw their gender represented and 43% saw their ethnicity represented in STEM careers (Kricorian et al., 2020). I think when I was younger, it was difficult to imagine being in any type of STEM or job role unless I could be like other cisgender men. As I continue to pursue a degree in the STEM field, I'm meeting more people like me and it's encouraging. It's encouraging to see the STEM field making a concerted effort to diversify and step away from the typical gender roles of the past. Just recently we've seen the first transgendered person, Rachel Levine, assuming a high-ranking role for the United States Government. This is huge! She is representing the LGBTQ+ community and giving hope to many people still searching for themselves. I only hope I can provide the same by sharing my journey through a blog, on campus and/or within the industry.

The Power of Not Yet

I'll start by prefacing that I'm a returning student. Until 2 years ago, I was doing college very part time with no specific goal in mind except to complete a degree. Any degree. I had to take BIO 100 as a prerequisite (begrudgingly) and went into it with a mindset of "just get it over with". As the semester continued, I found that I enjoyed Biology and had an amazing professor (Doug Hester) that encouraged me to think about a career in science. I decided to change my major and began taking classes that I believed were far above my comprehension. I learned early on in those "difficult" classes that I didn't have to score perfectly to learn the material. I realized I was so focused on grades and how well I do, that I stayed in what felt like my "comfort zone" and made some decisions out of a fear of failing. As my educational journey has continued, I find that I align more with a "Growth Mindset". 

I try not to identify with words like "smart" but instead remind myself that I'm capable of hard work. I'm capable of putting time into studying. I'm capable of learning new concepts. The shift in focusing on what I'm capable of learning, rather than achieving an A+ in every class, promotes positive thoughts around the learning process. I spend less time trying to memorize concepts and more time trying to comprehend them. So far, this shift in thinking has given me grace in difficult classes and I'm learning to enjoy my educational journey. I really like the power of "Not Yet". It allows me to learn and be ok with the prospect of not being perfect. I can continue to study and put forth effort until I begin to understand what I'm studying.