Jake Wang ’24, Biology major, shares about their internship via a story titled “Potential Human Stomach En Route”
“Hi Team, Male, 64, head trauma, in OR tonight by 3:00 AM, expect stomach by Friday.” -Lab PI
“Ever so often, I get an email in my inbox just like that in my inbox and it is the source of everything for my internship in Bozeman, MT. Have you ever given a thought on the magic that goes on in your stomach? How is it possible to digest whatever you put in? What about the crazy acidity that its pH is just barely higher than a car battery? Turns out, the human stomach is such a fascinating and mysterious organ that we know very little about. My internship at the lab focuses on organoids—tiny mass of tissues that somewhat resembles the functions of an organ. In order to create that model, we need real stomaches to compare our organoids with. That’s For the first half of the summer, I have been learning and mastering the skillsets needed to maintain these stomachs models, overcoming various challenges from pipetting to getting samples from liquid nitrogen. Now, halfway through the internship, I am ready to embark on my very own project to test the organoid model under various concentrations of a protein. That includes designing my own timeline, managing my schedule, and asking help when I see appropriate. Even as I progress in improving my skills, there has always something that’s shadowing me. That circles back to the email at the top of this blogpost. I am still grappling with how I ought to feel about receiving a stomach from a man who could’ve been gone as we 
speak. Maybe my feelings do not matter at the crossroad of life and death. But I do know that I have been gifted with an enormous amount of generosity from someone at their most vulnerable moment. I know I won’t take that gift lightly. I was going to finish my blogpost there, but there is more! My life here in Bozeman isn’t just about the internship. The grant made it possible for me to live in the beautiful Bozeman, Montana where the community has opened their arms welcoming me. I have joined the Bozeman Run Club, learned a things or two at their Wednesday trivial night, finished 36th in the Teton Mountain 30k, and woke up early for 6:30 Friday fun runs!! I am looking forward to making the best of my days left in Bozeee!”