Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy 2013!

It's really just an arbitrary date to reset the calendar, yet why does the first of the year give us such feelings of hope and refreshment?  If it's the feeling of putting the past behind and having a clean slate, then why do we not celebrate the beginning of each month, or every Monday for that matter?  I guess it would be kind of ridiculous if there was a party the size of NYE in NYC every month...

Though I recognize that it's an arbitrary date change and that it's just another day, I welcome the feelings of hope and change that today brings for 2013.  Normally with the first of the year comes resolutions for the rest of the year.  For 2013, however, I will not make any, as it is high time that I accept who I am realize that I will abandon them come February.  Seriously, if I can't be honest with myself, then with whom can I be honest?  No resolutions for 2013, but reflections for is in order 2012.

Regarding my academic progress, I am now half way into my 2nd graduate year, and so far things have  been much less stressful compared to last year.  Around this time last winter, I was drowning in worry and fear over whether or not I passed my classes.  I had a repeat of those feelings in the spring of 2012 when I barely passed my Cell Signaling and Pathways class with a B-, the lowest you can go without failing... not my best moments.  In the spring of 2012, I also had Advanced Topics in Human Genetics, a class solely devoted to diving deeper into all that is genetics... a class that I should've passed with flying colors.  Yet, I also managed to score a pathetic 76% on the midterm, which landed me in the bottom 4 out of 10 people in my class... I'd say that was one of the lowest lows of 2012, when the lead professor asked us four to stay back after class to discuss our low grades... the disappointment could not be compared.  I redeemed myself with the final and did well in the class overall, but it was tougher than I expected.

After that class ended in April, we first years were pretty much home-free.  I settled into my thesis lab and worked on my project full time.  In the lab, I managed to follow a new manufactured protocol for Next Generation Sequencing with 24 indexes which no one in the lab has done before.  To be honest, I still don't know how I pulled it off, and I still worry that my sequences are contaminated... even though we have gotten our sequence reads back and the depth/coverage of them is pretty spectacular.  That was one much needed victory after the ATHG fiasco.

I had to do a MAJOR amount of PCR and gels for my project.  Even my boss was impressed with these beauties!
June brought oral comprehensive/qualifying exams for the second year, and I got stressed out watching them study and go through it.  It motivated me to start gathering study materials for my upcoming exam, and I even entertained the thought of studying as early as last summer for mine.... it didn't happen, of course.  June also brought the start of summer internships, where extreme academic overachievers sign on to work in the lab during their summer vacation in order to extend their CVs and better their chances  to get into Ivy Leagues and whatnot.  I mock them, but I was one of them, so it's okay.  This year our lab had 2 interns, one who just finished her freshman year of college, and one who was getting ready for her senior year of high-school.  It seems like they're getting smarter younger every year!  I was in charge of the high-schooler, maybe because she's so young she could better withstand my corruption?  In all seriousness, she was really impressive and knew and learned how to do things that I wouldn't have imagined my high-school self to be even interested in.  She successfully finished her project in the course of 8 weeks and went on to give a poster presentation about it for her program.  I recently heard from her early in December that she had gotten in to Harvard, so I must not have corrupted her that badly.

The summer of 2012 brought a trip to Bar Harbor, Maine sponsored by our program for the 53rd Annual Short Course on Medical and Experimental Mammalian Genetics.  My 9 classmates and I were to stay in one house and attend this intensive enrichment course in the mornings, afternoons, and evening lectures.  In reality, we made every effort to attend the morning lectures from 8:30-12:30, then skipped out during the afternoon lectures for excursions on the island, and then came back sleepy for the evening lecture from 7:30-9:00.  It was great to be immersed in genetics and in that environment, though I most thoroughly enjoyed our excursions so much more.

Chilling on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Bar Harbor, Maine.


August and September came and went without a hitch.  No classes, no exams, just lab and home.  I had a chance to experiment with a lot of recipes, which H, for better or for worse, got to experience with me.

October brought new changes for both of us as we moved in together into a more spacious apartment, and he changed jobs and states of residency.  I used to be against living together before marriage, but my notions have changed over time.  I sometimes miss sleeping in a big bed all by myself, but in truth it's a small cost of always having my best friend with me.

All I remember for November is the trip to San Francisco and the election.  Everything else is a blur - I have no idea where November went, even now.


December brought merriments and a lot of writing.  I really wanted to write all the things that I had put on the back burner during 2012 before the new year hits.  Out of the 15 posts that I planned to write, 13 were written and published before today.... not bad with my record.  A few things I learned as I rushed to write these posts:
  1. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy having a record of my "moments" in words and pictures.
  2. Most of the things I wrote about are related to food or beauty/makeup.  Perhaps I should consider changing the aim of my blog to just these 2 themes, because they are the things I enjoy writing about most.  I also realized that constant writing of beauty and food topics might make me out to have exceptional beauty or exceptional weight issues... I have neither of these things (for now...)
  3. I want to write more.  Even if my posts are imperfect in articulation or imagery, they are better than not having any to read back on, so I should not be afraid of imperfections.
Indeed 2012 was a beautiful year, and I have great hopes for 2013.
Cheers!

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