From November 11th - November 16th, I had the great pleasure of attending the Society for Neuroscience Conference. This international conference had over 27,000 individuals in attendance at the San Diego Convention Center in conjunction with over attending 10,000 virtually, and as any undergraduate student would be, I was overwhelmed with excitement, anxiety, fear and happiness all at the same time. However, I
did it. I went to this conference and I not only succeeded, I conquered the conference! I hope that any other undergraduate researcher who reads this blog will be inspired by my experience to reach for their dreams and succeed.
The Calm Before the Storm
Travel day was very eventful in the sense that I was stressed beyond capacity. I hadn’t packed a single article of clothing for the trip, but at the same time knew exactly what I wanted to wear. My room was a mess and I still needed to turn in homework assignments, redye my roots (to look like a natural ginger) and print my CVs for the conference, but I managed to do it all and more. I packed everything I needed and even scented my CVs to replicate the effect Elle Woods had on the admissions committee in Legally Blonde. I was ready to be picked up by two of the graduate students in my lab, Prakruthi and Valerie, so that we could all drive to the airport together and catch our flight. Unfortunately, it had just rained in College Station and the temperature dropped to 48 degrees, so I was outside in a t-shirt and shorts. I was freezing, but the excitement of traveling to this outstanding conference kept me warm. By the time we got to the airport and I saw other scientists with their posters and briefcases ready to board, I went to the bathroom to tell myself, “It’s time.”
Into the Thick of It
The morning of the first day of the conference, my nerves woke me up before my alarm and I could not fall back asleep. I felt as if I were a little kid again going to school for the first time. I put on my best outfit packed and was ready to go hours before my first event of the day. Once we finally arrived to the convention center from our Airbnb, a cloud of uncertainty hovered over me. I felt as if I did not belong. Being a black male with neuroscience ambitions can be very challenging. Not many individuals look like me and I began to ask myself, “Am I supposed to be here?” Although I have been doing well in my research and learning as much as I can in my lab, I couldn't help but to ask myself, “Am I smart enough to be here?” I excused myself from the group to “go to the restroom” but I really went to call my mom. She was able to talk me down and remind me exactly who I am and what I have done. From that point on I was ready to face the challenges head on. Once my perspective switched I noticed how beautiful all of these people were and how diverse of a crowd it was. It was almost as if I could see color for the first time.
My first event of the day was the graduate school fair, and I wanted to use this
time to practice talking with graduate school recruiters as I will be interviewing with them very soon after applying. Honestly, I had a great time talking with these people whom I had never met before. I was able to converse with other neuroscientists outside of my niche field of stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury. Everyone was very nice and welcoming and I started to remember what everyone says, “The grad schools are trying to advertise themselves to you as much as you are to them.” Which, in my opinion, is a very good thing to keep in mind because it reminds me to ask them questions and get them talking about their current projects and Principal Investigators (PIs) in your field of interest. I also made a couple of friends along the way. With this being my introduction to the conference, I was now ready to take on the scientific part of the meeting.
The Science
My view of neuroscience has broadened tremendously! I went to many different
lectures, symposiums and poster presentations, but there are a few that really stand out to me as exceptional. One was the presidential lecture that was given by the Nobel prize recipient, Dr. Ardem Patapoutian, about the molecules that give us the sensation of touch. Dr. Patapoutian lectured about his lab's discovery of PIEZO1 and -2. These are cation channels that are activated by pressure to allow the flow of positively charged ions into a cell. In this case it was calcium, which has an overall charge of 2+. This is very interesting because as Dr. Patapoutian explained, many of our channels are activated by chemical signals rather than pressure. Dr. Patapoutian’s talk was also interesting because of what Prakruthi, a graduate student in our lab, is studying. Prakruthi’s project focuses on the inhibition of pain by using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDS).
Another presentation I thoroughly enjoyed was the clinical neuroscience lecture that discussed the development of technology that can speak for individuals who have lost their speech due to traumatic brain injury. This presentation focused on the mapping of the brain as individuals activated certain muscles in the tongue to say different letters, words and sounds. Although this presentation was phenomenal, it led me to my own questions. English has a very wide range of how it is spoken amongst groups of people. The example they gave were highly educated white women speaking into their program to map the brain, but what about other groups of people? What about different languages? This question came to me as he was giving examples to tongue placements of certain words and for a lot of them, I could confidently say I move my tongue differently than the individuals they are using to develop their program. I would also like to raise the question of what this would look like for individuals with speech impediments? With all of this running through my head, I was happy that I had enough knowledge to formulate these questions. I gave myself a pat on the back for my curiosity and it encouraged me to continue to look at science not only in amazement, but also toward the next step.
My Biggest Takeaway
My biggest takeaway from this experience was that I am worthy. I am deserving of being in the spaces I am in, and I apologize to myself for ever doubting my abilities. By the end of the conference, I was on a first name basis with many other PIs and they encouraged me to apply to their programs. I made my PI, Dr. Dulin, proud and I know I have probably said this to her a million times already, but am very thankful to be a part of this experience. I made my family and friends proud. However, the biggest accomplishment for me was making myself proud. One thing I have learned in life is that we are our own biggest critics, and to be able to turn around and tell myself good job, I’ve won and conquered the conference.
