Our in-class tutorials for DNA sequence analysis and chimera detection were my very first exposures to command line and this type of analysis. Despite relying on technology on a daily basis, I have no knowledge about how these devices work and I am not technologically inclined. My ignorance is humbling to say the least. This is all very new to me and going through these tutorials on some level really felt like I was reading a mysterious language in a different alphabet. With that being said, I can admit that none of this process felt intuitive. At many points in these tutorials, my brain feels like it’s starting to melt. Fortunately, I am good at reading directions and the theoretical hand-holding provided by our incredibly patient instructors and TA’s is very much appreciated and is probably the only reason I’ve made it this far in the process. It’s been interesting to see how just through repetition over a few class periods the command line seems less like a foreign language at this point and has become slightly more familiar. I don’t know if I can say that I’ve had any eureka moments, but because everything is so new to me, any time I finish a tutorial -or really just enter a command and not get a negative response back – that in itself is a moment of overwhelming joy and absolute glory and instills a feeling of confidence in me that is probably blown way out of proportion relative to the task itself. In theory I kind of understand what is going on, but my grasp is limited and I take the small wins when I can get them. I am so grateful that I am going through this learning process with my peers, and it has been inexplicably helpful to read their questions and concerns relative to my own mental hurdles I seem to be facing through these activities. Because my understanding is still fairly restricted, I often restart and rework through sections of these tutorials as a method of figuring out where I went wrong. The repetition of the commands themselves and moving through the tutorials has been helpful, but I did begin to worry that maybe I alone was responsible for using up all the space for our class by accidentally downloading multiple files repeatedly and not understanding what I was actually doing. Deep down inside, I knew the day would come that I would have to face my fears of my computer and actually learn how to use it. I am glad that I have the support system from this class to take these first steps and that I am not drowning alone in a big cold empty laboratory, where no one wants to answer my constant line of questioning. The more recent chimera detection exercise was very informative and it was interesting to see the command line “in action”. Despite my initial doubts and deep-seated fear, I am really enjoying these tutorials and look forward to becoming more comfortable and knowledgeable of command line and how to use it to effectively process genetic data.
