2021-04-17 【Aiden in English】 〖We hear a lot about effective leadership, but typically, leadership implies that there are followers. What is effective followership? (800 Words) 〗
I patted my perspiring palms against the cool lab bench. "Five minutes 'til we start!" Debuting in Experimental Design, a team-based event focused on creating an experiment from scratch. I breathed heavily to calm my pounding chest. Due to our inexperience under pressure, our squad leader divided the experiment into portions based on each person's comfort zone, tailoring the tasks to suit each individual while maintaining strict focus on efficiency. Our efforts earned us a third-place medal. Experimental Design showed me that machine-like followership resulted in success; however, when I stood on the stage two spots below our school's A-team, I realized I was still missing something. Then, a few summers ago, I interned at a biochemistry lab. My mentor, who almost commanded me to call him "Lou," showed me around the lab for the first day, labeling strange machines and bottles with seemingly fictitious titles like "cell disruptors" and "ethidium bromide." Nervous, I swallowed most of my questions and just nodded as he spoke. Lou left the lab for a few hours, a few days into my internship. Another labmate informed me that he had left behind some tasks for me to do. With my hands feverishly shaking in my gloves, I followed the instructions for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A few hours later, Lou returned, and we examined the results. To my utmost despair, the gels returned colorless, meaning that I screwed something up. Badly. "Eh, that's unfortunate." Splat. Lou tossed the gels into the trash. "Hey, let's get some food." I was stunned. I had just ruined a hundred-dollar kit and wasted half a day, yet Lou was treating me to lunch. While munching on a meat lover's pizza and watching the World Cup, I confessed to Lou that I needed some help with the PCR. He laughed and nodded, telling me I should ask more questions if I was confused. Followership used to mean playing a specified role to perfection; yet, during my internship, I became a gear that didn't fit into the machine. By the time I accepted Lou's request to manage a PCR on the final day of my internship, my idea of effective followership had changed entirely. "Lou, should I centrifuge the sample now or after adding the enzymes?" "Do it now. We want to separate that liquid stuff." "What about my other unused tissue?" Lou nudged a trash bin towards me. "Toss it." Now comfortable to ask questions, express discomfort, and offer solutions, I felt my role as a follower expand beyond the cog in the machine… and when I placed the gel on the imager, the bands of the electrophoresis shone as brightly as my confidence. 【紅霞譯】
〖我們聽到很多關於領導力的說法，但通常領導才能意指追隨者，那什麼是追隨力？(800字)〗 坐在涼爽的實驗室長凳上，我拍了拍冒汗的巴掌。 “五分鐘後開始！”
一個以小組為單位從構思到設計實驗的活動拉開了序幕，我大口大口喘着氣試圖克服內心恐慌。鑑於大家經驗少壓力大，組長根據組員駕馭能力把實驗分成幾個部分，讓每個人都能在保障效率的基礎上發揮最佳狀態。
經過努力，我們奪得第三名，實驗設計結果表明機械性追隨力贏得彩頭。但是，當我站全校冠亞軍之下的獎台上，心裡總覺得缺點什麼。
記得前年暑假，我到一個生物化學實驗室見習，讓我直呼“婁”的導師第一天帶我參觀實驗室，只見天花亂墜的標籤（諸如 “細胞破碎器”和“溴化乙錠”）貼在形形色色儀器和玻璃瓶上，我提心弔膽，問題剛到嘴邊又咽了回去，由他自個說，我只顧得點頭。
見習了幾天后，婁大半晌不在實驗室，同實驗室另一個夥伴說婁要我自己動手做實驗。我戰戰兢兢帶上手套，按照說明進行聚合酶鏈式反應。
過了個把鐘頭，婁回來了，我倆核對結果，凝膠無色，意味着我操作不當，令人大失所望，太現眼了。 “嗯，見鬼去吧。” 啪嗒一聲，婁把凝膠扔進垃圾桶。“嘿，咱吃點東西。”
我惶恐萬狀，沒想到一下子竟造掉一百美元試劑盒，而且還白費半天功夫，可婁依舊請我吃午飯。當一邊大快朵頤好肉者比薩、一邊觀看世界盃足球賽時，我坦白對婁交代在PCR上需要幫忙，他笑着點點頭，告訴我如果有不懂的地方應該多提問題。
追隨力常用來表示要把特長發揮到極致，而我在見習期間卻成了無法協調儀器轉動的齒輪，離別前最後一天當答應婁再做PCR時，我徹底改變了對追隨力的認識。 “婁，我應該現在離心樣品還是加酶之後再做？” “現在就做，我們要分離出液狀物質。” “我該怎麼處理其它尚未動用的組織呢？” 婁把垃圾桶輕推給我：“扔掉它。” 如今我愛提問題，愛講不同意見，愛擺解決辦法。身為追隨者，我覺得自己扮演的角色已經遠遠超出儀器中齒輪所起到的作用……當我將凝膠放在顯影儀上，電泳色帶如我堅信的那樣清晰明亮。
Today in History(歷史上的今天):
2017: Flash Story─Sleep is Bliss(小小說─能睡是福) 2016 Yo-Yo @ Lansdale Intl Fest(2016年蘭斯代爾國際節抖空竹)
 Weed Control by TruGreen (真綠公司·雜草防除上門服務)
Crosslink(相關博文):
12th Grade(高中四年級) |
