The document discusses a student's experience in a laboratory course that involved isolating and characterizing bacteria from tropical soils. The student conducted multiple isolation experiments with the help of a lab technician and obtained results. The student also attended workshops on microscopy, epidemiology models, and solid state synthesis. At the end, the student thanked their colleagues, professors, and mentors for their support and guidance during the course, which helped the RISE program family for 2014-2015.