We party less because of quarantine -iGEM Calgary
Meet iGEM Calgary 2020, a team that embodies the anthem — work hard, play hard. Their university has a rich iGEM culture, and there's an actual class where returning members teach the new team how to go about doing all the things necessary for this multifaceted competition.
“But every year’s team is still unique!” -Sravya.
When asked to pick something that characterizes this year’s team everyone agrees that it would be the synbio Olympics. This is a series of weekly events with everyone competing for points to top the leaderboard. There are debates, storytelling contests, scavenger hunts, and even a contest to see who grows the biggest tomatoes!
“I’ll never take for granted the ability to hug my friends.” -Allison.
The pandemic has affected everyone. Although they are sad that some of them live in different cities and can’t hang out as much, iGEM Calgary is making the most of this time.
“Last year our collaborations were sparse. We exchanged postcards (and socks!) and went to a few meetups but now with online meetups that you can join wearing your pajamas, we’re doing a lot more collabs. They may not be as meaningful but it still adds to the experience.” -Michaella.
Another silver lining for them is being able to have more diverse human practices contacts from all over the world, now that everyone is so used to meeting online. They are also surprised by how much can be achieved without working in the lab and just staying at home. With morning check-ins and their system of accountability buddies that keep each other on track throughout the day, everyone stays organized and motivated.
“Now when we brainstorm, we have really long zoom calls that hurt everyone.” -Anika.
It’s so easy to get distracted and talking to people online is exhausting more than in-person interactions. You can't talk over each other or interrupt so there are no subconversations that could've been informative.
With this disconnect, the need to communicate, interact, and reconnect is more apparent than ever. iGEM Calgary makes it a point to learn more about their teammates and talk to each other every day. It could be as simple as someone asking a question and everyone else having to answer that question.
One of the questions asked was, “What's the coolest thing you've built?” and everyone on the team had built something really interesting at some point- like flamethrowers and some really cool genetic parts.
“I was just like — this is a really cool and unique group of people! I felt like I appreciated them more that day.” -Allison
The team organizes fun activities for birthdays which they celebrate online through zoom. Everyone makes sure to pop by even if they can't stay long.
One thing everyone on this team has in common is the sense of clarity that iGEM has given them. For some, putting in this much time and effort on a project has made them so invested and interested that they’ve found their passion for synthetic biology. For others, spending this much time in the lab has made them realize they didn’t want to go further in academia in this field.
Either way, there is is a common feeling of appreciation for this certainty and togetherness that the competition has provided us all.
