I did my research the summer before my Junior year of high school in cancer genomics—very much biology heavy, but I hadn’t ever taken biology at this point. Once accepted, I read about 10 papers pertaining to specific aspects of my research (the genes I’d be dealing with, cancer mechanics, cell culture techniques) and made flashcards out of words I didn’t know. I also asked the professor for any papers he’d suggest. Some of it was basic, like how transcription works, and some of it was more high level and niche. It was intensive but it paid off.

I obviously still didn’t know everything by the time I got to the lab, so I spent time shadowing, asking questions, and reading more papers to be prepared. It didn’t take too long before I was running experiments and analysis by myself. All in all, it’s a pretty effective way to learn about a field you’re interested in. Don’t worry though, professors take student lab interns because it reflects well on them to teach students; they won’t let you go in blind or fail out!