Summer 2022 - Earlier in the Spring I had been contacted by a new undergraduate student, Anay Amaro, who checked out the Langlais Lab website and somehow convinced herself to contact me. Anay had been accepted into the McNair Scholars Program, and she needed to choose a lab to conduct an 8-week lab boot camp of sorts. After a bit of flomping, Anay ended up going for it with us. Anay, a junior transitioning to her senior year, hails from Ciudad Obregon, Sonora in Mexico, and loves herself some singer i've never heard of, Alejandro Fernandez. Turns out ol' Al charges $450 a ticket to see him live, so, whoever this fella is, he must be pretty damn impressive CAUSE I DON'T KNOW A SINGLE PERSON THAT WOULD EVER PAY $450 FOR A TICKET TO SEE A SHOW IN TUCSON. Anyway, even though her weeks with us were the equivalent of science prison, her excellent work ethic and drive to succeed got her through the gauntlet. Anay has asked to stay on with us here in the lab for her senior year to fill out her committment to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium. We're all crossing our fingers that we'll hit paydirt and discover something in the short time Anay will be with the lab. We'd better, this failing is getting old.
UPDATE - Spring 2023 - And just like that, she's gone. On to bigger and better things. Anay had one hell of a 6-week immersion with the Langlais Lab as part of her McNair Scholars Program experience. She showed up knowing nothing but six weeks later she presented at her Los Angeles McNair Meeting and crushed it. Anay ended up requesting to stay on in the Langlais Lab after her McNair fellowship ended and it was nice to have her contribute. Alas, it was not long lasting, she graduated and got accepted to the UA School of Pharmacy. That's right, another Langlais Lab success story haha! WHO NEEDS FUNDING WHEN YOU'RE PUMPING OUT AWESOME TRAINEES! Anay, you are officially a Langlais Lab graduate, an esteemed group indeed.