Bend+Research-+Anna

=Bend Research Field Trip :)=

When we visited Bend Research a couple weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised by what we found. The building, that looks like all the ranch houses around it, was inviting and not clinical looking at all from the outside. I was not expecting that. When I previously thought of pharmaceutical research, or chemistry for that matter, I envisioned a very cold feeling, sterile, white-walled, and immaculately clean environment. This idea was intimidating to me and somewhat foreign. Coming to Bend Research gave me a very different vision of what real chemists do and its not all mad scientist stuff. I felt relaxed, though admittedly in the way sometimes. The people were very friendly, the environment in general was not anal retentively clean and organized and the machines all had names from Star Wars or some other nerd-worthy source. I loved it. Our poor tour guide seemed very nervous and overwhelmed by us which was super adorable. I felt like I was at home with my socially awkward nerd folk.

It would be hard for me to pick out a favorite part of the tour, so I will list a couple. Of course the NMR was awesome! So much power and such complexity makes me a little afraid of it, but in a good way. Also, the biology lab was pretty cool, where they work with the live cells and cultures and the bio-reactor was really fascinating. The guy talking about it (his name now escapes me) knew so much about it and had a hard time even putting into words exactly what it did. There are some real smarty pants around there, but not in an annoying way. I honestly have never felt of such average intelligence before. That was a weird feeling, but good. Being challenged is important for me, so I think I will end up pursuing an entry level position there upon graduation.

Overall, I had an amazing experience at Bend Research. I got a renewed fire for chemistry and science in general, and left there feeling re-energized a bit. I get so bogged down in the day to day school stuff that I lose focus of why I chose to pursue science in the first place. I love it, and I don't think there is any other professional arena for me. I get super excited about the various machines too and how they work and what they do and what they can tell us. I am just getting really antsy to graduate and move into something cool and I think perhaps Bend Research would be a good fit for me, if they'll have me of course. We shall see!

It's good to hear that the trip was so motivating for you! I understand COMPLETELY how school work can leave a person feeling out of touch with what they really love about a subject. That's one big reason I get people out there. Another one is for them to have that "aha" moment, where they realize deep down that these things we talk about in class are talked about by other people, too. The company is very generous in helping us give that experience to students. I am always left feeling very grateful for their willingness to let us in. Thanks for the thoughtful reflections...and hang in there, we're almost to the end of the term.