My Apprenticeship

I made hundreds of trips into what was called DC’s “riot corridor” in my high school years. The burned-out, desperate section of the city (near 14th and U, NW) still smelled of smoke some days. After school and through one summer, I did research at the old Children’s Hospital.

In exchange for odd jobs around the microbiology lab, I was guided first through my investigation of skin bacteria and later through rigorous tests of antibiotics. I got equipment and training and a life-long love of res...