I can still clearly remember early of the year reading essays about the previous interns’experiences at NIG. That very moment I was extremely excited and I knew I had to grab for this wonderful opportunity as NIGINTERN2013. When I arrived at NIG and started my internship, I had never wished for anything better than this. I, then, realized the experience here was more than what words could capture.

Coming from a multi-disciplinary major, Public Health, I was pretty nervous about my journey as a “researcher”. However, the people here in my lab were all very patient in teaching me. I was first introduced to various research projects going on in the lab. I had the opportunities to learn many new things from great scientists/ graduate students in my hosted lab as well as the labs I visited. Then, I started training in whole-exome sequence analysis of ovarian cancers patients using Linux command lines. Simultaneously, I also did wet lab experiments using Western blot to check the protein expression of PTEN gene. PTEN is a tumor-suppressor gene, which can reverse the PI3K pathway keeping cell proliferation under control. Even though, I could not obtain good results, I found the experience rewarding. I was also involved in another research project going on in the lab which is to check for causal genes of Cowden syndrome in a Japanese family. By using Sanger sequencing, I sequenced the promoter region of PTEN gene in order to look for mutations. The experiences I have received through my lab work have well taught me to understand and appreciate the core value of research despite the great amount of patience and perseverance it requires.

Throughout my internship, I have also learnt to develop a sense of independence in my work, which I do not have much as an undergrad student. Whenever I encountered problems at work, even though I could always seek for help, I usually was given a chance to explore how to tackle problems on my own. I am sure the characteristic and manner I have accumulated interning here will best prepare me for my independent research work as a graduate student in the future.

Besides getting to experience life as a “researcher”, I also enjoyed my summer here immersing myself into the colorful culture of Japan and making lots of friends. I tried various Japanese foods and loved most of them dearly. Through my Japanese class, I was also introduced to Japanese ways of living. Climbing to the top of Mt. Fuji, which was my childhood dream, with my hosted lab family has become an unforgettable memory for a life time. Going to the Disney Sea, Hakone, visiting Tokyo and watching Hanabi with my co-interns were all contributing to making my experiences in Japan an AMAZING one!

Last but not the least, I would like to thank NIGINTERN Committee for arranging this wonderful program. I would strongly recommend this opportunity to anybody out there who is wishing to experience working in a world-class research, to explore the rich culture of Japan, to make friends and to appreciate the diverse cultures of other international interns. I am sure this 70-day journey will make a great impact on the upcoming NIGINTERN’s life as it did on me!