The moment I set foot on the Biology floor of Mahidol-Faculty of Science I felt at home. I was still in the throughs of apartment searching and living out of suitcases, but the familiarity of the labs, research posters, and people served to re-assure me that I was going to be just fine. This sort of comfort is a hard sensation to describe. It is not the sort of emotional comfort that comes with being in the presence of family or friends. Nor is it any varietal of physical or sensory comfort associated with settling in to a beloved piece of furniture or eating a much-loved meal. It is a comfort that arises from identifying and finding your niche in this world. Maybe I have made is a bit too existential, but if you have ever felt as though you had found you ‘calling’ then you know exactly what I am talking about.
The campus of Mahidol-Faculty of Science is, technically, a satellite campus of the main undergraduate institution. Therefore, only the hard science departments are represented. SInce I am coming from a university where such departments are limited to a single, 3.5 story building, the notion of an entire campus dedicated to only biology, chemistry, environmental studies, tropical disease and physics is quite novel. The biology department is relegated to the fourth floor of the sprawling main building complex. Open-air skywalks connect the buildings and the views they afford of the surrounding neighborhoods are pretty magnificent. The department has, at minimum, about 15 independent lab spaces and the professor I am working with shares one of those rooms with another faculty member.
The labs themselves are not quite what I expected but wholly adequate for what is being done. All of the lab equipment, while meticulously well taken care of, is a few years older then would be acceptable stateside. Various freezers and large centrifuges line the hallways and there is an obvious lack of storage space. I was surprised to see undergraduates, Master’s students, and PhD. candidates working side by side at the bench. I suspect my experience at a primarily undergraduate institution jaded me against this sort of arrangement. Oddly, It is easy to distinguish the undergraduates since they are required to wear a strict uniform anytime they are on campus.
The lab I am working in is primary graduate level. Since my faculty mentor is one of the junior-most in the department she has only one Masters and one Ph.D student working on the tick and tick-borne pathogen ecology project. Both students are extraordinarily kind, as is my mentor, Ajun Arunee. ‘Ajun’ is a thai term of endearment/respect for a teacher/mentor figure. I attempted to call her Dr. _____ upon our first meeting and was quickly invited to use Ajun instead. Normally I would hesitate to drop the ‘Dr.’ but adopting ‘Ajun’ greatly simplifies the pronunciation procedure and lessens the chance that I make a fool of myself or offend her. All things considered, ‘Ajun Arunee’ it is.
I have completely lucked out with her as my mentor. Her research interests parallel mine, our personalities compliment one another, and she is by far the kindest, most empathetic and easiest to talk to person I have met so far. I don’t know what I predicted, but the person in my mind was not nearly as awesome as her. Dually so, I think she expected me to march into Mahidol, commandeer her bench and take over her project. (When, in fact, that is precisely the opposite of what I came here to do.) Its nice to be in a situation where mutual assumptions have been improved upon. I think we are both quite relieved.
A bit more about my first interactions with her: We had ‘the talk’ about expectations and goals during which she seemed a bit taken aback when I explained that I wanted to play a supportive role in the current work of her Ph.D student and that I didn’t want to concoct some naive, self-centered research project. (I mean, honestly, where would I even begin?) The project that Chaloa, her Ph.D student, has been working on is precisely what I outlined in my grant application as to what I wanted to participate in. Besides, this man has been working on this for 2.5 YEARS. Who am I to march in and take the lead? The very nature of a Fulbright is international and cultural collaboration, not hijacking. I feel honored enough just being considered worthy enough to butt-in on her project. When she prodded further she realized that I have no ulterior motive to use her data back in the states for my own dissertation or a desire to crank out publications while I am here. In fact, I want them to utilize me however they see fit. I am no expert and both these folks know vastly more about this topic than I ever will. I am quite content to bask in the glow of their knowledge and soak up whatever comes my way. That’s not to say I won’t be doing some serious lab work, just that I have no interest in flaunting my Fulbright status to obtain undue accolades. The project scope is immense and I have no delusions as to what can be accomplished in my 10 months here. My contribution will be a drop in the bucket compared to the many years that have been dedicated to the cause. I only hope that I can introduce some lab techniques or testing protocols that simplify or hasten what they are already doing. I can already tell that I am going to be helping design a tick-assay protocol... something I am comfortable with and uber excited about. All in all, I think humility and support build better international bridges than self-service. Just a hunch.
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