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Phuong Trang Nguyen

Professor Carlisi

ESL 33B

12 June 2018

The Passion For Lab Science and Lab Scientific Discourse Community

Section 1: How Did Lab Science Come To My Mind?

Being a person who really cares about human health, what did I choose for my future

career? To answer that question, I experienced a long process to decide what I want to be in the

future. I used to dream of being a doctor, but I studied accounting in the university, and now, the

major that I have been studying is lab science. In fact, lab science gives me opportunities to work

with human body specimens and discover treatment of diseases, which interested me and

inspired me to persue this career.

When I was a little child, I used to think that I wanted to become a doctor because I liked

to take care of patients, and a doctor can get a good salary. However, what I wanted was not

enough for me to become a doctor because I did not get a good grade to enroll in medical schools

after finishing my high school in my country, which depressed me. Then, whether I wanted or

not, I had to choose another major to study in the university. At that time, accounting was

considered as a good major because it was easy to learn and get a job despite of the average

salary. Not only companies but also any schools or hospitals also needed at least one accountant

to work with their finance, which explains why accounting became more and more popular.

Without any feelings about this job, I decided to study accounting because of its popularity.

During the time that I was learning in the university, I realized that what I had been taught about

accounting were concepts of numbers, which did not interest me.

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Leaving boring accounting lessons, I moved to America with my family two years ago

eventhough I had not graduated yet. Living in the U.S., I wondered if I should continue learning

accounting or change my major. Luckily, my uncle who has been a chemist for ten years gave

me a lot of advice and many valuable instructions. He inspired me to get involved in scientific

field, specially lab science. My passion for lab science has gradually raised from here.

It was not random that I was impressed by lab science. I found the information about this

major on the internet and realized that a lab scientist seems to have similar properties to a doctor.

Although a doctor directly works with patients, and a lab scientist receives and tests body

specimens to give the treatment of diseases, both of them care about human health, which is my

internal motivation. If a doctor needs almost ten years to accomplish the curriculum, a lab

scientist only needs four years to get a bachelor degree. That is why I prefer being a lab scientist

more than a doctor. In addition, America is considered as a country of the opportunity; it gives

me a lot of opportunities to go to school without paying anything due to the financial aid.

Therefore, I was motivated to go back to school to persue the major that I like. Another reason

that made my decision about lab science was the chemistry experiments that I has been taught in

college so far. Whenever I did lab experiments, I was curious and excited about reactions

between substances that exist in our life when they were mixed together, which made me

imagine my future career. I would test the samples and observe their reactions in order to find

out and cure patients’diseases; my dream job was there!

Through my history of decision-making about my major and my future career, I realized

that it is not easy to achieve what I want. I experienced a long process that led me to my future

career which is a lab scientist. Not boring like accounting, not too difficult like being a doctor,

lab science gives me the motivation to learn and understand thoroughly about human health by
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testing and analyzing the specimens to find treatment of diseases, or it means that lab scientists

indirectly take care of people.

Having a passion in lab science might not be enough for me to succeed in this career. I

not only need to learn the knowledge of human health but also need to improve essential skills

such as English language skills, cultural adaption, and critical thinking skills, which will help me

become a good candidate for this career.

Section 2: Lab Scientific Discourse Community

“A discourse community is a group of people who share a set of discourses, understood

as basic values and assumptions, and ways of communicating about those goals” (wikipedia.org).

Specially speaking about Lab Scientific Discourse Community, people see it as a group of

scientists who have the knowledge of the human body to analyze urine, blood or body

specimens. The results of the analyzing will become efficient tools for the detection, diagnosis

and treatment of diseases. Based on the concept of the Lab Scientific Discourse Community,

what we need to know about this community are essential skills about the language, the culture,

and the critical thinking lab scientists need to have to become good candidates for this career.

To answer the above question, I planned to interview a person who is knowledgeable

about this field. Thinking about the interviewee, I immediately decided to mention about my

uncle whose name is Thomas Dinh. He has been working as a chemist at Joseph Jensen Water

Treatment in California for almost ten years, which means that he has had a lot of experience

about the scientific community. Because he is my relative, I did not encounter any difficulties to

contact with him. Respectfully, I sent him an email to ask him for an interview on 21 March,

2018. On the next day, he responed to my email and said that he would be available to meet me

at 3p.m. on 23 March, 2018 at his house. On the interview day, I came to his house at 3p.m. and
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we talked together in an intimate space in two hours. Unlike some formal conversations, our

talking was so funny and interesting. Due to his ten-year experience in the scientific field, he

gave me a lot of useful information which connects to my research.

Based on the information I got from my interviewee, I clearly imagine the discourse

community that a lab scientist gets involved in. First of all, there are many job opportunities as

well as workplaces that lab scientists can work. It is easy to understand that private labs and

hospitals are two places that lab scientists can apply for a job. Lab scientists in labs and hospitals

do the similar tasks; for example, they take human body specimens from patients, analyze them,

and give the results. However, lab scientists working in hospitals are repuired to obtain higher

techniques than those working in labs. In some cases of emergency, patients need to have the

results as soon as possible in order for doctors to give them the treatment of their diseases, which

requires lab scientists working in hospitals to analyze quickly and effectively. In addition, Dinh

said that some lab scientists could also work for the government. For example, they can be

recalled suddenly to investigate the scene where an accident or a murder happened. Then, they

have to analyze accurately and quickly to give the results about that. Working for the

government is challenging and sometimes dangerous, but it is worthy that lab scientists will get a

high salary.

All English language skills including reading, writing, listening, and speaking are

necessary for lab scientists. However, the two important skills that will help lab scientists work

efficiently are listening and speaking. Before analyzing any samples, they need to listen carefully

to the doctors’ requirements about those samples and understand what they need to do with

samples they recieved. Otherwise, the results that they give to the doctors will not be useful for

the patients. Besides, they have to have a good skill in speaking to fluently convey and clearly
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explain the testing results to doctors and patients. Hart Research Associates claim that effective

oral communication skills are the most important. Sometimes we have a good idea, but we speak

and express wordily, which means that others cannot understand us. Similarly, the effective

speaking skill will help lab scientists communicate well not only with their co-workers but also

with their customers.

Having language skills is not the only thing lab scientists should have. To succeed in this

career, they also need to improve critical thinking skills which play an important role in scientific

community. This job requires lab scientists to work independently and know how to use and deal

with the specimens in the best way. For instance, lab scientists have to classify and decide

whether the samples are envalid or contaminated in order to carefully use and settle them.

Sometimes, lab scientists recieve some limited specimens that are not enough to test more than

once. In that situation, lab scientists must think critically how to take the full advantage of those

samples; otherwise, they cannot get the results, which can lose their prestige.

Another information that lab scientists should know about their discourse community is

cultural differences. In college environment, students work with their books and have fun with

the lessons in their class; while lab scientists have to deal with contaminated samples and dirty

machines. Talking about the scientific culture, Dinh said that “It does not matter what you know,

but it matters who you know”. Although you have a very good analyzing technique, you may

not be treated better than those who have a relationship with the manager. It means that lab

scientists usually face to the conflict of interest. Sometimes, people try to fight against others to

get the promotion in their career, and some lab scientists are not the exception.

Finally, lab scientists should have a positive attitude and treat people respectfully at their

workplaces to get a long well with other people. Working in the scientific field means that they
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are working in the challenging environment, so thinking positively will make them feel more

comfortable and help them work more effectively. Furthermore, unlike certain formulas people

encounter in maths, the specimens that lab scientists recieve are not the same at all the time, so

lab scientists must work flexibly to deal with any situations. In the same manner, some machines

that lab scientists use are designed to test specific samples; therefore, lab scientists must work

flexibly to use appropriate machines to test corresponding samples to get the best results.

Section 3: What Should I Do To Become An Insider In Lab Scientific Discourse Community?

Knowing about lab scientific discourse community, I still hold firm to my decision-

making about becoming a lab scientist. The more challenging the career is, the more effort I

make to persue it. Especially, being a lab scientist means that I can work with human health,

which is my happiness and motivation.

To prepare for my future career, I’m improving my English language skills by taking

ESL 33B class, which helps me know how to think critically about reading and writing. I also

practice listening and speaking English whenever I have time to improve those skills which will

be useful for me in my future career. In the article “Teach Knowledge, Not “Mental Skills””,

Hirsch claims that “problem-solving skills are necessary. But they depend on a wealth of

relevant knowledge”. Although I try to improve my skills, I still need to study the knowledge

from school. Therefore, learning the core knowledge about chemistry and biology in order to get

the bachelor of science is my near goal, which will help me prepare a good foundation to be an

insider in this discourse community.

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Works Cited

Dinh, Thomas. Personal interview. 23 Mar. 2018.

Hart Research Associates, “Falling Short? College Learning and Career Success,” Jan. 20, 2015,

(4) http://tinyurl.com/nz6txph.