It’s weird to think that it is no longer summer. I feel like I should be in school soon, but I’m not. I keep thinking it’s August, but it’s not. I want to be preparing for the next swim season, but it’s not my job anymore.
Every morning I’m surprised to see the leaves starting to change color and feel the chilly air. It’s no longer summer. It’s October, and I can scarcely believe it. Summer is over, and I am no longer a student. I tell myself, “welcome to real life” and “this is life with a career.” I’ll eventually get used to a life without school.
It just feels weird not going to school. I want to be buying textbooks and new clothes, running into friends on campus, coaching the swim team, working in Dr. Burton's research laboratory, and so much more. I miss the excitement of taking new courses, having new professors, making new friends, and seeing old friends. It makes me want to be back in school, even though I love my job. I will only be out of school for a year or two, and then I’ll be right back in school for basically the rest of my life, so I guess it’s not so bad.
In other news, I received another rejection from a medical school. I now have had 25% of the schools I applied to reject me. Oh well… There is nothing I can do about that now. Despite another rejection, I received an interview! YAY! It's at Boston University. It's a good school, but it's not MSTP so it's not as prestigious. It is also one of my back-up schools. I'm glad to know at least one of my back-up schools like me. I have an interview there Oct. 28-29 (Mollie, I expect to see you while I'm there). :)
My Life As of Late
Lately I've been up to a lot of hustling and bustling. It's been fun, tiring, and busy. Here is what I've been up to and what I plan to do this weekend.
A couple of weekends ago, I went to a beach on the Chesapeake Bay with some friends. It was a lot of fun! We attempted to fly my kite, but was unsuccessful because there wasn't enough wind. The sad part is that I still haven't been able to fly it even though I've almost had it for a year. Why can't there ever be enough wind to fly it? Ugh! Besides the lack of flying of the kite, it was still a good time. We ended up getting into a sand fight. We were chasing each other all over the beach and the water throwing sand at each other. It ended up hurting a lot, but it was a blast. Soon afterward, we were playing in the water. Then we decided to build sand castles. We ended up building a volcano, a pyramid, and a spiral jetty (like the one in the Great Salt Lake). I also built a wall to prevent the waves from destroying our masterpieces and a pretty awesome bay that caught the water. It even included a light house. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me so I don't have any pictures our work.
Then last week, I headed down to Virginia to a Glee party and met some great people there. One of the guys I met there was going to be in the Frederick area on Friday night so he stopped by. We went out to dinner and I showed him downtown Frederick. It was a lot of fun, and I discovered a new part of Frederick. There is a canal that runs through the downtown. It has a lot of artwork painted along the walls and bridges. Some of the art is painted as architecture, so the bridges looks like they are made from stone bricks and that there are porticoes with statues along the canal. I really enjoyed my time with my new friend David in Frederick.
On Saturday, I met up with a friend of a friend in DC whose name is also David. We pretty much had a lot of fun. We first went to the zoo and much hilarity ensued! Seriously! I've never had so much fun at the zoo. We were discovering all sorts of random facts about animals and the people were priceless. At the komodo dragon exhibit, there was a little girl that wouldn't stop talking. David eventually told her that komodo dragons breath fire. They got in a fight about it, and it was hilarious! This girl was so adamant about komodo dragons not breathing fire and then David was just as adamant that they in fact breathed fire. I think she eventually became frustrated and stopped talking to David. After which, we left the zoo.
We then walked to an Ethiopian restaurant. It was a great experience and completely delicious! Everything there was traditional Ethiopian. We sat in low-to-the-ground chairs, ate out of a basket, and other aspects that were uniquely Ethiopian. I guess in Ethiopia, they do not use utensils; they use their hands. They had these tortillas/bread that we tore into pieces to pick up the food. I had a lamb dish and David had a beef dish. I tried both. I definitely plan on going back there. I loved the environment and the food! Such a great cultural experience.
After gorging ourselves with food, we started our walk to the sight-seeing areas. We walked through Adams Morgan (a typical bar crawl area), Dupont Circle, Farragut, and then the Mall. The White House was great to see at night, but it was sad because there wasn't good people watching there. I guess all of the crazies and tourists don't stop by at night. We then headed towards the Jefferson Memorial because it was the only major memorial I haven't seen yet. We walked through the cherry blossom trees, minus the cherry blossoms and eventually ended up at the Jefferson Memorial. Here there was better people watching, but not as much during the day. David had me lie down on my back and look at Washington Monument/DC upside down. It was really cool. We then started a trend because everyone else was doing it too. It was funny. We also had tourists take pictures of us... I'm not entirely sure why. Haha! After the Jefferson, we headed home on the red line. We ended up walking 9 miles in total that day! It was such a good day and a fun time!
Then on Monday I was in Bethesda most of the day for meetings at the main campus. I met up with my friend April. We went out to dinner to catch up and plan our trip to Amish country in October for the harvest. While at dinner, I happened to spill my whole water glass on myself... Yeah, I'm cool and awesome like that! Haha! I was soaked for all of dinner and the whole way home. It was a good time though. I really enjoyed talking to April and catching up. Also, I cannot wait for our trip to Amish country! Can you say apples, squash, pumpkins, and everything delicious about Fall? I hope that they have spiced pumpkin cider there because I love it so!
David from Saturday also invited me to a musical called Chess. I went with him on Tuesday. The main reasons I went are because I wanted to hang out with him again and because they have my favorite 80's song in the musical, "One Night In Bangkok." The musical was ok. The performers were great and the lead female had an amazing voice, but we both agreed that we wouldn't have paid money to see this musical. It was interesting, but yeah... I don't know what to say about it.
Yesterday, I was finally able to start my HIV/AIDS project in full! We finally received approval from EHS. I spent most of the day yesterday deactivating the virus in monkey sera. I will start working on that project full-time coming very soon. I still have a few projects to finish up on before I can work full-time on the HIV/AIDS microarray. I'm excited to actually be working on the project I signed on to do! YAY!!! :D Yesterday, I also was pulled over by the Fort Detrick police officer. Ugh! :( The only problem was that one of my head lights was burned out. I have a fix-it citation and need to get it fixed ASAP; otherwise, I have to pay a $100 fee and possibly lose the registration to my car. I think that is a little much, but it is Maryland law. Oh well... I fixed it this evening and now I need to take it to the police department to show them it is fixed so that they can sign a stupid paper and then I'll be free from the citation.
Tomorrow, I'm going to a musical called Falsetto, and then on Saturday I'm going to the DC Rollergirls opening bout. It should be a good weekend of culture, roller derby, and friends! Life has been good as of late and I love how I'm making a lot of new friends!
A couple of weekends ago, I went to a beach on the Chesapeake Bay with some friends. It was a lot of fun! We attempted to fly my kite, but was unsuccessful because there wasn't enough wind. The sad part is that I still haven't been able to fly it even though I've almost had it for a year. Why can't there ever be enough wind to fly it? Ugh! Besides the lack of flying of the kite, it was still a good time. We ended up getting into a sand fight. We were chasing each other all over the beach and the water throwing sand at each other. It ended up hurting a lot, but it was a blast. Soon afterward, we were playing in the water. Then we decided to build sand castles. We ended up building a volcano, a pyramid, and a spiral jetty (like the one in the Great Salt Lake). I also built a wall to prevent the waves from destroying our masterpieces and a pretty awesome bay that caught the water. It even included a light house. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me so I don't have any pictures our work.
Then last week, I headed down to Virginia to a Glee party and met some great people there. One of the guys I met there was going to be in the Frederick area on Friday night so he stopped by. We went out to dinner and I showed him downtown Frederick. It was a lot of fun, and I discovered a new part of Frederick. There is a canal that runs through the downtown. It has a lot of artwork painted along the walls and bridges. Some of the art is painted as architecture, so the bridges looks like they are made from stone bricks and that there are porticoes with statues along the canal. I really enjoyed my time with my new friend David in Frederick.
On Saturday, I met up with a friend of a friend in DC whose name is also David. We pretty much had a lot of fun. We first went to the zoo and much hilarity ensued! Seriously! I've never had so much fun at the zoo. We were discovering all sorts of random facts about animals and the people were priceless. At the komodo dragon exhibit, there was a little girl that wouldn't stop talking. David eventually told her that komodo dragons breath fire. They got in a fight about it, and it was hilarious! This girl was so adamant about komodo dragons not breathing fire and then David was just as adamant that they in fact breathed fire. I think she eventually became frustrated and stopped talking to David. After which, we left the zoo.
We then walked to an Ethiopian restaurant. It was a great experience and completely delicious! Everything there was traditional Ethiopian. We sat in low-to-the-ground chairs, ate out of a basket, and other aspects that were uniquely Ethiopian. I guess in Ethiopia, they do not use utensils; they use their hands. They had these tortillas/bread that we tore into pieces to pick up the food. I had a lamb dish and David had a beef dish. I tried both. I definitely plan on going back there. I loved the environment and the food! Such a great cultural experience.
After gorging ourselves with food, we started our walk to the sight-seeing areas. We walked through Adams Morgan (a typical bar crawl area), Dupont Circle, Farragut, and then the Mall. The White House was great to see at night, but it was sad because there wasn't good people watching there. I guess all of the crazies and tourists don't stop by at night. We then headed towards the Jefferson Memorial because it was the only major memorial I haven't seen yet. We walked through the cherry blossom trees, minus the cherry blossoms and eventually ended up at the Jefferson Memorial. Here there was better people watching, but not as much during the day. David had me lie down on my back and look at Washington Monument/DC upside down. It was really cool. We then started a trend because everyone else was doing it too. It was funny. We also had tourists take pictures of us... I'm not entirely sure why. Haha! After the Jefferson, we headed home on the red line. We ended up walking 9 miles in total that day! It was such a good day and a fun time!
Then on Monday I was in Bethesda most of the day for meetings at the main campus. I met up with my friend April. We went out to dinner to catch up and plan our trip to Amish country in October for the harvest. While at dinner, I happened to spill my whole water glass on myself... Yeah, I'm cool and awesome like that! Haha! I was soaked for all of dinner and the whole way home. It was a good time though. I really enjoyed talking to April and catching up. Also, I cannot wait for our trip to Amish country! Can you say apples, squash, pumpkins, and everything delicious about Fall? I hope that they have spiced pumpkin cider there because I love it so!
David from Saturday also invited me to a musical called Chess. I went with him on Tuesday. The main reasons I went are because I wanted to hang out with him again and because they have my favorite 80's song in the musical, "One Night In Bangkok." The musical was ok. The performers were great and the lead female had an amazing voice, but we both agreed that we wouldn't have paid money to see this musical. It was interesting, but yeah... I don't know what to say about it.
Yesterday, I was finally able to start my HIV/AIDS project in full! We finally received approval from EHS. I spent most of the day yesterday deactivating the virus in monkey sera. I will start working on that project full-time coming very soon. I still have a few projects to finish up on before I can work full-time on the HIV/AIDS microarray. I'm excited to actually be working on the project I signed on to do! YAY!!! :D Yesterday, I also was pulled over by the Fort Detrick police officer. Ugh! :( The only problem was that one of my head lights was burned out. I have a fix-it citation and need to get it fixed ASAP; otherwise, I have to pay a $100 fee and possibly lose the registration to my car. I think that is a little much, but it is Maryland law. Oh well... I fixed it this evening and now I need to take it to the police department to show them it is fixed so that they can sign a stupid paper and then I'll be free from the citation.
Tomorrow, I'm going to a musical called Falsetto, and then on Saturday I'm going to the DC Rollergirls opening bout. It should be a good weekend of culture, roller derby, and friends! Life has been good as of late and I love how I'm making a lot of new friends!
Lectins Untangled?
I have formed a passionate hate for lectins. I am currently working with them in lab and the results I receive have been sub par. BUT I think that I have untangled the mess that are known as lectins. I recently discovered a problem in the experimental protocol that my mentor developed. Lectins have a dissociation constant below the molarity of the solution, meaning that the lectins will not bind to the glycans and prefer to be in the solution. I am doing a trial tomorrow at higher concentrations without Jeff's permission, and I hope that everything works out. If so, something very good can come from this.
I'm also working on 3 other projects right now that will result in publications. The work is pretty insane, but it will be good and fun. If all of these results work out, I will be on all of these papers, which I am stoked about.
I'm also working on 3 other projects right now that will result in publications. The work is pretty insane, but it will be good and fun. If all of these results work out, I will be on all of these papers, which I am stoked about.
Labor Day Weekend: New York
I woke up at the crack of dawn to leave Mollie's house on Monday. It was sad to say goodbye to her, but we had a jolly time together AND we will be getting together more often (or at least I want to). I started my drive to New York. It was the most uneventful drive of my life, but I still had a lot of fun. It was good to see scenery of New England since the last time was in utter darkness. I really love New England and the east coast.
I eventually made it to New York and I didn't have to pay any tolls to get in! I don't know how I managed that one, but Barbara was a great help. I stopped by my friend Michael's apartment on the upper west side. It was a very unique area. I think this area is the little Mexico of New York. He had a rocking apartment and I loved what he did with the little space he had. He still has work to do and I think it will turn out nicely. I also met his roommate who is also a great, genuine guy. It was good to get to know him and hang out with Michael. We hopped on the metro to go down to China Town for lunch. On the way, we ended up at a very cool lighting store, which Michael was dying over because he wanted to make some awesome light fixtures for his apartment. We finally arrived at a dumpling shop and met up with two of his friends. We had delicious dumplings for under $5. It was definitely one of the best lunches I've had for that cheap. I order boiled chicken and mushroom dumplings and they were delightful! I also had little Asian women trying to sell me cute baby turtles. I did not buy any turtles, but they were so cute and it is something I regret now.
After that, we headed about the town. We stopped in a few stores for shopping and then ended up at Central Park. I've only been to Central Park in the dead of winter. It was good to see it lively and full of people. The highlights of Central Park were the Bethesda Fountain, pigeons, and pond turtles. I loved the Bethesda Fountain! I wish I had my camera with me. It was so beautiful in summer. The water flowing out of the fountain with the lily pads and cattails was very peaceful despite the crowded area. If I lived in New York, I could definitely find myself studying there and just hanging around there. The pigeons... How I love pigeons! I have no idea why I love pigeons so much, but I enjoy chasing after them and trying to catch them. Plus big city pigeons tend to be bigger than normal pigeons so that adds to the fun. Finally, I loved the turtles in the pond. They were also cute, which caused me to regret not buying the turtles from the little Asian woman. It would be fun to have a little pet in my apartment. I think it would add a lot to it and make it less lonely to come home every night. I'd have someone to greet me every day! That is something that I truly miss about home. Someone to greet me and bother me, even though I hated it back home.
After staying in New York a lot longer than expected, I drove home. I didn't get stuck in any traffic, which surprised me. I guess I was lucky or something. Also, I was lucky I did not lock my keys in my car again. That would have been no good. My labor day weekend was most excellent! I loved every minute of it, except the hour and a half that my keys were locked in my car and while I was lost in New York. Thanks to everyone for making it such a great weekend!
I eventually made it to New York and I didn't have to pay any tolls to get in! I don't know how I managed that one, but Barbara was a great help. I stopped by my friend Michael's apartment on the upper west side. It was a very unique area. I think this area is the little Mexico of New York. He had a rocking apartment and I loved what he did with the little space he had. He still has work to do and I think it will turn out nicely. I also met his roommate who is also a great, genuine guy. It was good to get to know him and hang out with Michael. We hopped on the metro to go down to China Town for lunch. On the way, we ended up at a very cool lighting store, which Michael was dying over because he wanted to make some awesome light fixtures for his apartment. We finally arrived at a dumpling shop and met up with two of his friends. We had delicious dumplings for under $5. It was definitely one of the best lunches I've had for that cheap. I order boiled chicken and mushroom dumplings and they were delightful! I also had little Asian women trying to sell me cute baby turtles. I did not buy any turtles, but they were so cute and it is something I regret now.
After that, we headed about the town. We stopped in a few stores for shopping and then ended up at Central Park. I've only been to Central Park in the dead of winter. It was good to see it lively and full of people. The highlights of Central Park were the Bethesda Fountain, pigeons, and pond turtles. I loved the Bethesda Fountain! I wish I had my camera with me. It was so beautiful in summer. The water flowing out of the fountain with the lily pads and cattails was very peaceful despite the crowded area. If I lived in New York, I could definitely find myself studying there and just hanging around there. The pigeons... How I love pigeons! I have no idea why I love pigeons so much, but I enjoy chasing after them and trying to catch them. Plus big city pigeons tend to be bigger than normal pigeons so that adds to the fun. Finally, I loved the turtles in the pond. They were also cute, which caused me to regret not buying the turtles from the little Asian woman. It would be fun to have a little pet in my apartment. I think it would add a lot to it and make it less lonely to come home every night. I'd have someone to greet me every day! That is something that I truly miss about home. Someone to greet me and bother me, even though I hated it back home.
After staying in New York a lot longer than expected, I drove home. I didn't get stuck in any traffic, which surprised me. I guess I was lucky or something. Also, I was lucky I did not lock my keys in my car again. That would have been no good. My labor day weekend was most excellent! I loved every minute of it, except the hour and a half that my keys were locked in my car and while I was lost in New York. Thanks to everyone for making it such a great weekend!
Labor Day Weekend: Cambridge/Boston
After my adventurous drive, I woke up in Cromwell, Connecticut. It was a beautiful morning and Mollie made breakfast. We then ran some errands and she showed me around her old stomping grounds.
At the end of the tour, she took me to the Connecticut River as shown above. It was huge! I wonder why we never have rivers like this in the West. In there river there were boats with water skiers, rowing teams, and people fishing. After this stop, we headed up to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mollie showed me her house and I met her roommates. Then we headed towards Cambridge Commons and Harvard Commons for lunch. There were a lot of colonial style houses along the way and some of them were huge! They are probably worth millions of dollars right now. I can't even imagine how long they took to build and how much money they cost to build. Let's just say they were crazy big!
We went to Pinocchio's Pizza. It was delicious and we both ate for only $6! I had an artichoke pizza slice (delish) and Mollie had a tomato basil pizza slice (also delish). It was a great place to start off.
After a delicious lunch, we headed to Harvard. We walked around Harvard Commons and then went to the famous library. We explored the library and since it was both our first time we got lost. The library reminded me of a castle. It was the coolest library ever! I really wished I could study in there. It was that awesome. We then walked more around the commons and unsuccessfully tried to touch the founder of Harvard statue's feet (crazy Asian tourists were flocking there making their children touch his feet so that they could go to Harvard in the future). It was insane! Mollie and I were not forceful enough to get up there and have someone take a picture of us or let alone touch his feet. After that craziness, we headed back to Mollie's house and then went to see Inception. I loved the movie, but this is not the point of this blog.
The next day we went driving around Cambridge and Boston looking at Tufts, Boston, and Harvard medical schools, and then went to church. After church we headed home for lunch and went to Boston Commons. At Boston Commons, I jumped into the frog pond for a swim. I was sad there were no frogs to catch there. We saw a policeman on a horse, saw the Make Way for Ducklings statue, and started on the Freedom Trail.
The Freedom trail was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of the city and American Revolution history AND we ran into a gigantic noodle! I wanted to ride the noodle, but sadly they wouldn't let me climb on it. My guess was that a lot of people have fallen off it and got hurt.
At the end of the Freedom Trail, we were in Little Italy so we naturally ate in an Italian restaurant. It was some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten. We then waited for about 30 minutes in line at Mike's Pastry Shop. It is famous.
I have the life motto "Go big or go home," so Mollie and I went big! We bought 5 scrumptious desserts from Mike's. They included two canolis, a chocolate creme brulee, a strawberry lobstertail cream puff, and an eclair. They were all so yummy! We definitely went big and went home with full stomachs from dinner and dessert. In fact, I still have some dessert in my fridge. Mmmmm, tasty! After dessert, we had an invigorating discussion about a lot of topics and then went to bed. I said my goodbye in the morning and then started my trek home. I really loved Cambridge and Boston, and I wouldn't mind living there.
At the end of the tour, she took me to the Connecticut River as shown above. It was huge! I wonder why we never have rivers like this in the West. In there river there were boats with water skiers, rowing teams, and people fishing. After this stop, we headed up to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mollie showed me her house and I met her roommates. Then we headed towards Cambridge Commons and Harvard Commons for lunch. There were a lot of colonial style houses along the way and some of them were huge! They are probably worth millions of dollars right now. I can't even imagine how long they took to build and how much money they cost to build. Let's just say they were crazy big!
We went to Pinocchio's Pizza. It was delicious and we both ate for only $6! I had an artichoke pizza slice (delish) and Mollie had a tomato basil pizza slice (also delish). It was a great place to start off.
After a delicious lunch, we headed to Harvard. We walked around Harvard Commons and then went to the famous library. We explored the library and since it was both our first time we got lost. The library reminded me of a castle. It was the coolest library ever! I really wished I could study in there. It was that awesome. We then walked more around the commons and unsuccessfully tried to touch the founder of Harvard statue's feet (crazy Asian tourists were flocking there making their children touch his feet so that they could go to Harvard in the future). It was insane! Mollie and I were not forceful enough to get up there and have someone take a picture of us or let alone touch his feet. After that craziness, we headed back to Mollie's house and then went to see Inception. I loved the movie, but this is not the point of this blog.The next day we went driving around Cambridge and Boston looking at Tufts, Boston, and Harvard medical schools, and then went to church. After church we headed home for lunch and went to Boston Commons. At Boston Commons, I jumped into the frog pond for a swim. I was sad there were no frogs to catch there. We saw a policeman on a horse, saw the Make Way for Ducklings statue, and started on the Freedom Trail.
The Freedom trail was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of the city and American Revolution history AND we ran into a gigantic noodle! I wanted to ride the noodle, but sadly they wouldn't let me climb on it. My guess was that a lot of people have fallen off it and got hurt.
At the end of the Freedom Trail, we were in Little Italy so we naturally ate in an Italian restaurant. It was some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten. We then waited for about 30 minutes in line at Mike's Pastry Shop. It is famous.
I have the life motto "Go big or go home," so Mollie and I went big! We bought 5 scrumptious desserts from Mike's. They included two canolis, a chocolate creme brulee, a strawberry lobstertail cream puff, and an eclair. They were all so yummy! We definitely went big and went home with full stomachs from dinner and dessert. In fact, I still have some dessert in my fridge. Mmmmm, tasty! After dessert, we had an invigorating discussion about a lot of topics and then went to bed. I said my goodbye in the morning and then started my trek home. I really loved Cambridge and Boston, and I wouldn't mind living there.
Labor Day Weekend: Friday
This past weekend I made my way to New England for a grand old time! The drive was very uneventful for the most part. There were hilarious billboards in Pennsylvania. Some of my favorites included: "You'll find Jesus here! Take the next exit!" and then two billboards later (before the exit), "Porn is the road to hell! Take the next exit!" I had a good chuckle over this one because I think whoever created these billboards forget to add a little bit more information on the second billboard. If not, the town had two roads, one that leads to Jesus where you can meet him and one that leads to hell where you can meet Satan. I have to say that the little town in Pennsylvania must be mountaining!
I reached New York City about 10, which was sooner than I was expecting and was planning to get to Mollie's house in Connecticut early; however, the forces of nature had something else in mind. I stopped for gas. A gas attendant was filling up everyone's tank so I let him fill up mine, while I went to the bathroom. Well, as you can imagine, I turned off my car and ran into the bathroom. I came out to my car with the tank full, the doors shut, and my keys locked in the car. I have a habit of locking my doors whenever I get out of my car. I must have forgotten my keys in my car because I wasn't really planning on getting out until I decided to quickly run to the bathroom. I then had to call a locksmith. They were 30 minutes away so I had to wait for them. Then instead of sending a locksmith, the dispatch sent a tow truck. The tow truck then had to go back to dispatch to get the tools to open my car. In the meantime, I was sitting on the side of the road next to a gas station. It was awesome. Then the locksmith told me it would be $60 to unlock my car. I only had $38 on me because I had to pay tolls. The ATM in the gas station was out of money and they had a no cash back policy, which made me mad. I then had to walk a mile down the road to the next closest ATM. It was an awesome evening. After about an hour at the gas station, I finally got on the road again.
I only drove for about 5 minutes then I missed an exit and got lost near Columbia Medical School. Luckily I had explored the area thoroughly when I was there last year and knew my way around, but the exit I needed to get back onto the freeway was closed. Barbara (my GPS) was getting mad at me and kept telling me to turn around and take the ramp. I kept driving and somehow ended up in the Bronx without the help of Barbara. It was late (after 11) and people were out and about. I was nervous that they were going to come up to my car because I have Utah plates and could be an easy target so I locked all of the doors 5 times. I finally got on the freeway again and made my way to Cromwell. Mollie was waiting up for me and I finally arrived at 12:30. It was a long, yet fun drive. I was glad that it had ended. Mollie and I talked for a bit. Then we went to bed so we could be ready for our day of adventuring in Cromwell and Cambridge the next day.
I reached New York City about 10, which was sooner than I was expecting and was planning to get to Mollie's house in Connecticut early; however, the forces of nature had something else in mind. I stopped for gas. A gas attendant was filling up everyone's tank so I let him fill up mine, while I went to the bathroom. Well, as you can imagine, I turned off my car and ran into the bathroom. I came out to my car with the tank full, the doors shut, and my keys locked in the car. I have a habit of locking my doors whenever I get out of my car. I must have forgotten my keys in my car because I wasn't really planning on getting out until I decided to quickly run to the bathroom. I then had to call a locksmith. They were 30 minutes away so I had to wait for them. Then instead of sending a locksmith, the dispatch sent a tow truck. The tow truck then had to go back to dispatch to get the tools to open my car. In the meantime, I was sitting on the side of the road next to a gas station. It was awesome. Then the locksmith told me it would be $60 to unlock my car. I only had $38 on me because I had to pay tolls. The ATM in the gas station was out of money and they had a no cash back policy, which made me mad. I then had to walk a mile down the road to the next closest ATM. It was an awesome evening. After about an hour at the gas station, I finally got on the road again.
I only drove for about 5 minutes then I missed an exit and got lost near Columbia Medical School. Luckily I had explored the area thoroughly when I was there last year and knew my way around, but the exit I needed to get back onto the freeway was closed. Barbara (my GPS) was getting mad at me and kept telling me to turn around and take the ramp. I kept driving and somehow ended up in the Bronx without the help of Barbara. It was late (after 11) and people were out and about. I was nervous that they were going to come up to my car because I have Utah plates and could be an easy target so I locked all of the doors 5 times. I finally got on the freeway again and made my way to Cromwell. Mollie was waiting up for me and I finally arrived at 12:30. It was a long, yet fun drive. I was glad that it had ended. Mollie and I talked for a bit. Then we went to bed so we could be ready for our day of adventuring in Cromwell and Cambridge the next day.
What Happened Today?
What happened today?
Something special? No...
Something fun? No...
Something crazy? No...
Something lovely? No...
Something about research? No...
Something good? No...
What could it be?
Something bad? Yes...
Something about medical school? Yes...
Something about interviews? Yes...
Some bad news about interviews? Yes...
Some really bad news about interviews? Yes...
How bad?
Let's just say really bad. I received three denials in one day. Let's just say that I feel worthless right now. I feel like my dreams of being a medical scientist have been crushed. I moved out her to Maryland hoping that it would help progress my career. It looks like I have been wrong so far.
I guess I still have more schools to hear the news from. Hopefully it will be good because I don't know if I can handle anymore disappoint at this time.
PS I don't want to talk about it, unless I call you to talk about it.
Something special? No...
Something fun? No...
Something crazy? No...
Something lovely? No...
Something about research? No...
Something good? No...
What could it be?
Something bad? Yes...
Something about medical school? Yes...
Something about interviews? Yes...
Some bad news about interviews? Yes...
Some really bad news about interviews? Yes...
How bad?
Let's just say really bad. I received three denials in one day. Let's just say that I feel worthless right now. I feel like my dreams of being a medical scientist have been crushed. I moved out her to Maryland hoping that it would help progress my career. It looks like I have been wrong so far.
I guess I still have more schools to hear the news from. Hopefully it will be good because I don't know if I can handle anymore disappoint at this time.
PS I don't want to talk about it, unless I call you to talk about it.
Happy Madonna Day!
Today is Madonna's birthday! It is a celebration that should happen around the world. Her music has taught me to be strong, passionate, playful, driven, myself, non-judgmental, proud of myself, not to be afraid of others judgments, and many other great and amazing things. Here's to the Queen of Pop! And no, I'm not referring to Lady Gaga. I'm referring to the one who did it all before her and who still reigns supreme!
Happy birthday Madonna!
Happy birthday Madonna!Dilly Dally Shilly Shally
Mollie gave me this task a while ago and I'm FINALLY getting to it after 3 or 4 months... Oops!
Four shows I like to watch:
1. Alias
2. Gossip Girl
3. Glee
4. Lost
Four things I'm passionate about:
1. Research
2. Immunology
3. Medicine
4. Swimming
Four phrases I say a lot:
1. Just another joy from life.
2. Yep, yep, yep!
3. Oh, such is life sometimes...
4. I don't know what you're talking about.
(I also had a very hard time with this one. Feel free to say others in the comment section)
Four things I have learned from the past:
1. Sometimes life throws crap at you and you just have to get up and throw it back!
2. Small, nerdy things make me really excited and happy.
3. I love medicine, but I love research more so that makes a career in academic medicine the best career choice for me!
4. Swimming teaches you all of the important lessons in life such as hard work, patience, dedication, drive, passion, friendship, leadership, disappointment (specifically how to deal with it) and most importantly how to swim fast. (This list could seriously go on forever!)
Four places I want to go:
1. Italy
2. Greece
3. New Zealand
4. Medical school (specifically in an MD/PhD MSTP)
Four things I did yesterday:
1. Wrote essays for medical school applications (almost done with my 20 apps! YAY!)
2. Played Final Fantasy 13
3. Made breakfast, lunch, and dinner
4. Read The Alchemist
Four things I'm looking forward to:
1. Medical school applications to be over
2. Fall back east
3. Visiting Mollie at Harvard
4. Publishing a journal article
Four things I love about spring:
1. Rain and thunder storms
2. Having it be the perfect temperature all the time (unless you are in Utah where it can be perfect one day and snowing the next)
3. School almost ending for the year
4. Being able to do more outdoorsy activities
Four things on my wish list:
1. Meet Madonna and become best friends with her
2. Matriculate into an MSTP
3. Make friends in Maryland
4. Publish a journal article in Nature, Science or PNAS
Four people to tag:
The four people who read my blog, which might not even be four...
Four shows I like to watch:
1. Alias
2. Gossip Girl
3. Glee
4. Lost
Four things I'm passionate about:
1. Research
2. Immunology
3. Medicine
4. Swimming
Four phrases I say a lot:
1. Just another joy from life.
2. Yep, yep, yep!
3. Oh, such is life sometimes...
4. I don't know what you're talking about.
(I also had a very hard time with this one. Feel free to say others in the comment section)
Four things I have learned from the past:
1. Sometimes life throws crap at you and you just have to get up and throw it back!
2. Small, nerdy things make me really excited and happy.
3. I love medicine, but I love research more so that makes a career in academic medicine the best career choice for me!
4. Swimming teaches you all of the important lessons in life such as hard work, patience, dedication, drive, passion, friendship, leadership, disappointment (specifically how to deal with it) and most importantly how to swim fast. (This list could seriously go on forever!)
Four places I want to go:
1. Italy
2. Greece
3. New Zealand
4. Medical school (specifically in an MD/PhD MSTP)
Four things I did yesterday:
1. Wrote essays for medical school applications (almost done with my 20 apps! YAY!)
2. Played Final Fantasy 13
3. Made breakfast, lunch, and dinner
4. Read The Alchemist
Four things I'm looking forward to:
1. Medical school applications to be over
2. Fall back east
3. Visiting Mollie at Harvard
4. Publishing a journal article
Four things I love about spring:
1. Rain and thunder storms
2. Having it be the perfect temperature all the time (unless you are in Utah where it can be perfect one day and snowing the next)
3. School almost ending for the year
4. Being able to do more outdoorsy activities
Four things on my wish list:
1. Meet Madonna and become best friends with her
2. Matriculate into an MSTP
3. Make friends in Maryland
4. Publish a journal article in Nature, Science or PNAS
Four people to tag:
The four people who read my blog, which might not even be four...
Dela-Where?
I went to Delaware with April and a couple of her friends today. It was a lot of fun in the car. Dover was boring because it was just buildings, but the beach was tons of fun! I'm so glad I called her earlier this week and we started out planning more adventures! It's nice to have a friend that is sort of in the area now. Here are some pictures that I took on the beach. I didn't take pictures anywhere else because everywhere else was boring!
Delaware Bay in all of it's beauty and glory!
These horseshoe crabs were doing some crazy things...
A poor gigantic jellyfish washed up on the shore and died. Luckily I got a picture of it! It was really cool too because it's tentacles were still emitting fluorescence. It still had active GFP in it! I just about nerded out here. I couldn't get a good picture of it's tentacles glowing green.
This was a cute, dead crab. I ended up picking it up and playing with it. Then all of it's insides fell out so I couldn't get a good picture of me with it. Oh well...
I found a live horseshoe crab so I had to pick it up and play with it. I think it got mad at me because when I set it down, it went running away.
Then I fell through a sink hole of sand up to my knee. This was the result... :(
PS Dela-Where? was on a T-shirt we saw in a shop. It was hilarious.
Delaware Bay in all of it's beauty and glory!
These horseshoe crabs were doing some crazy things...
A poor gigantic jellyfish washed up on the shore and died. Luckily I got a picture of it! It was really cool too because it's tentacles were still emitting fluorescence. It still had active GFP in it! I just about nerded out here. I couldn't get a good picture of it's tentacles glowing green.
This was a cute, dead crab. I ended up picking it up and playing with it. Then all of it's insides fell out so I couldn't get a good picture of me with it. Oh well...
I found a live horseshoe crab so I had to pick it up and play with it. I think it got mad at me because when I set it down, it went running away.
Then I fell through a sink hole of sand up to my knee. This was the result... :(PS Dela-Where? was on a T-shirt we saw in a shop. It was hilarious.
The Fam in Town
Here are some pictures of what I did with my family and some of the cool things I saw. I went to the National Art Gallery, all of the monuments, Annapolis, and Baltimore with them. They had fun without me while I was at work.
Headless girls in the park... Awesome! It was my favorite sculpture I've ever seen!
Look, it's me! I'm Hermes!
The world's first tranny? Possibly...
I went traveling to the future on this moving sidewalk.
I loved this hand exhibit! I believe that there were fifteen different hands in different poses.
For some reason, I just really loved this painting. I think it's beautiful!
The Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial.
The Lincoln Memorial.
Headless girls in the park... Awesome! It was my favorite sculpture I've ever seen!
Look, it's me! I'm Hermes!
The world's first tranny? Possibly...
I went traveling to the future on this moving sidewalk.
I loved this hand exhibit! I believe that there were fifteen different hands in different poses.
For some reason, I just really loved this painting. I think it's beautiful!
The Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial.
The Lincoln Memorial.
The Blair Witch Project
The day after I hung out with Brandon and Sarah, I went on a hunt for the Blair Witch. I found a lot of cool things to do around Burkittsville. I walked around the whole town, went to the cemetery, went for a hike, found an abandoned house, tried out haunted hill, and found a Civil War site. All in all, it was a good adventurous day!
This is the sign to Burkittsville... not the same as the one in the movie because people kept stealing the old one.
This is just one of my many pictures of the cemetery.
This is a picture of the small church in Burkittsville. It was very quaint. I liked it a lot and wanted to go in, but they were holding Sunday Mass.
This is what the trail that I hike on. It was like this the whole way until I got to the clearing where the abandoned house was. It really scared me because the whole time I was hiking, there were birds and insects making noise. BUT as soon as I got to the clearing with the house, everything was dead silent. I was so scared...
This was the first look of the house as I came into the clearing.
Here is the front of the house.
Here is the other side of the house.
After I ran away from the house, I ran into this just a little ways out of the clearing. I think it was supposed to be someone's tomb or something. It looks like a mausoleum to me and it was still dead silent around here too. I had the hee-bee-jee-bees the whole time I was around this area.
I then ran into a civil war battle field and toured the area. Here a woman told me about haunted hill. It was a place were many Confederate soldiers were shot down by the Union when they were pushing canons up the hill. Apparently if you put your car in neutral and come to a complete stop, the ghosts of the Confederates will push you up the hill until they reach the point where they were shot. I tried a five different places on the hill but could never get it to work. It might be legend or it might be true. Who knows?
This is the sign to Burkittsville... not the same as the one in the movie because people kept stealing the old one.
This is just one of my many pictures of the cemetery.
This is a picture of the small church in Burkittsville. It was very quaint. I liked it a lot and wanted to go in, but they were holding Sunday Mass.
This is what the trail that I hike on. It was like this the whole way until I got to the clearing where the abandoned house was. It really scared me because the whole time I was hiking, there were birds and insects making noise. BUT as soon as I got to the clearing with the house, everything was dead silent. I was so scared...
This was the first look of the house as I came into the clearing.
Here is the front of the house.
Here is the other side of the house.
After I ran away from the house, I ran into this just a little ways out of the clearing. I think it was supposed to be someone's tomb or something. It looks like a mausoleum to me and it was still dead silent around here too. I had the hee-bee-jee-bees the whole time I was around this area.
I then ran into a civil war battle field and toured the area. Here a woman told me about haunted hill. It was a place were many Confederate soldiers were shot down by the Union when they were pushing canons up the hill. Apparently if you put your car in neutral and come to a complete stop, the ghosts of the Confederates will push you up the hill until they reach the point where they were shot. I tried a five different places on the hill but could never get it to work. It might be legend or it might be true. Who knows?
Adventures with Brandon and Sarah
Here is my first adventure from the east coast. It was when Brandon and Sarah were in DC during the second week of July. We decided to do something with them on Saturday. I rode down with our mutual friend, Katie Dean. She is a hilarious, spunky redhead with so much energy! We got lost about 5 or 6 times. It was hilariously funny though. I enjoyed every minute of our adventure. Katie Dean kept saying that the Holocaust Museum was by the George Washington Monument so eventually I kept telling her to follow the giant phallic symbol in the sky. We had a good chuckle of out this and it continued throughout the day and Sarah even thinks about me whenever she sees a giant phallic symbol. Here is a picture of the said giant phallic symbol in the sky.
We eventually caught up to Brandon and Sarah almost two hours late. I have never been that late to anything in my life. I felt so bad, but Brandon and Sarah thought our stories about getting lost were quite funny. We went through the Holocaust Museum and it was so sad. But me being my inappropriate self said some things that made Sarah and I laugh in the middle of some of the saddest parts of the museum. We received funny looks, BUT it made the museum even more interesting and entertaining than it already was. It generally was a sad sight to see all of the awful things that the Germans did to the Jews. I can't believe that anyone would ever go along with that. All of the propaganda behind it is very interesting though. It really made the people believe they were performing the correct actions to better their nation.
We then made our way to the American History Smithsonian. It was very interesting. I loved the history of American medicine that was intersperse throughout the museum. These are a few of the gems I saw while I was there.
After seeing the museum, we parted ways. It was good to see them and I had a great time. It was a lot of fun.
We eventually caught up to Brandon and Sarah almost two hours late. I have never been that late to anything in my life. I felt so bad, but Brandon and Sarah thought our stories about getting lost were quite funny. We went through the Holocaust Museum and it was so sad. But me being my inappropriate self said some things that made Sarah and I laugh in the middle of some of the saddest parts of the museum. We received funny looks, BUT it made the museum even more interesting and entertaining than it already was. It generally was a sad sight to see all of the awful things that the Germans did to the Jews. I can't believe that anyone would ever go along with that. All of the propaganda behind it is very interesting though. It really made the people believe they were performing the correct actions to better their nation.
We then made our way to the American History Smithsonian. It was very interesting. I loved the history of American medicine that was intersperse throughout the museum. These are a few of the gems I saw while I was there.
After seeing the museum, we parted ways. It was good to see them and I had a great time. It was a lot of fun.
Recipes?
Anyone have some fast recipes for dinner that they care to share with me? I realize that when I moved out here that I mainly know how to cook things that take too long to cook AKA over 30 minutes. If anyone cares to share their fast recipes, I'd greatly appreciate it! I'll also share mine if you like... :D
The First Two Days of Being a Big Boy
I've been a big boy for two days now! I can't believe it. I have a real job, a real apartment, and a real desk! It weird and nice at the same time. I miss school, but I'm learning a lot right now, so it feels like I'm still in school. Anyways, here is a run down of my first two days.
Day 1
I arrived at 9 o'clock. I had to go through security in order to enter Fort Detrick. They took my driver's license and had me open all of my car doors. I forgot to open my trunk and I had a army man yell at me. He made me feel stupid, and subsequently, I now hate him. He told me off and seemed annoyed that a "civilian" was entering his home and domain. Ugh! I hate the military there already. After security, I arrive to building 376 about 9:30. I am greeted by Melinda, the chemical biology building secretary. She is really nice and got me started on my paperwork. Then Dr. Gildersleeve (below is a picture of him) came in the office I was working in and talked to me for a bit about the project I am working on. Then we headed off to meet everyone in lab. There are five of us total in the lab, and I'm the only post-bacc. The rest are post-docs or research associates. It's weird to be the youngest one in the lab by a lot of years. After meeting everyone, I headed off to finish my paperwork. I finished my paperwork and then went to the clinic to set-up a physical that is required for everyone. Then I went to get me official government ID for NCI (see the picture above). I will be receiving an NIH badge soon.
To become fully official, I have to have my car registered and decaled as a government car. This allows me access to NIH parking lots and Fort Detrick (I don't have to go through security). I went to the military guy and he got up in my face. Yet another military man in my face... awesome! He went off about how I can't register my car as government because it isn't in my name and that I was essentially stupid for trying. Ugh! I really started hating the military after that. After that, I went into the lab and went to lunch with Olaf and Chris. Then we started some of my training. I have read many papers so far and have done homework, maybe that's why I feel like I'm not completely missing school. I left work about 6:30 and then stayed up until midnight working on my homework for today.
Day 2
I arrived to Fort Detrick at 8:30. I had a doctor appointment at 9. The same security guards were there, and the man still treated me like a stupid "civilian," even though I did everything right this time. I get the feeling that they like having power over the civilians and can do any checks they want if I want to get on the base. Ugh! I can't wait for the letter from my parents to come in the mail that will allow me to make my car a government car. It again took me about 30 minutes to get on base. I ran over to my appointment and had a general physical. I have 20/15 vision, great hearing, great reflexes, great heart rate, and great blood pressure. I'll get my blood work back next week, and hopefully all is ok there too! I then headed to the ID/Fingerprinting Center to get fingerprinted in order to receive my NIH ID. Once I finished that, I headed to lab. I went over my homework from last night with the post-doc, Chris, training me. I did almost everything right, but I had a few mistakes. They were easily changed though and I passed the assignment. After that, he gave me a beast of an assignment today. I had to analyze the results of four sets of data that had over 7000 points. Let's just say that it took me forever. I started going and then kept getting the wrong answers for 3 hours. It is all done in excel with complicated equations. I'm not good with excel, so I did not excel on this assignment. I finally took a lunch break, but the cafeteria was closed. So I bought a water and poptarts... what a great lunch! After lunch, I headed back into lab and worked on the assignment some more. I was still not getting things to work, which made me want to leave and go home. Finally, things started to work, and I finished everything about 6:30. I then learned that everything I did today was essentially pointless because there is a macro excel program that does all of that for us, but my post-doc wanted me to understand what the macro was doing. So about 8 hours later, I finished what a macro could do in 10 minutes or less... awesome! Then I headed home and did some shopping.
It's been fun, hard, frustrating, and challenging so far. I hope the frustration goes away, but the rest stays!
Oh, I also have a monster friend on base. I have yet to talk to it, but it lives in this, hence the danger sign. I walk past it everyday and it makes hissing and gurgling noises at me. I hope it's a friendly monster to "civilians" and eats military folk, especially the jerk at the check in gate.
Day 1
I arrived at 9 o'clock. I had to go through security in order to enter Fort Detrick. They took my driver's license and had me open all of my car doors. I forgot to open my trunk and I had a army man yell at me. He made me feel stupid, and subsequently, I now hate him. He told me off and seemed annoyed that a "civilian" was entering his home and domain. Ugh! I hate the military there already. After security, I arrive to building 376 about 9:30. I am greeted by Melinda, the chemical biology building secretary. She is really nice and got me started on my paperwork. Then Dr. Gildersleeve (below is a picture of him) came in the office I was working in and talked to me for a bit about the project I am working on. Then we headed off to meet everyone in lab. There are five of us total in the lab, and I'm the only post-bacc. The rest are post-docs or research associates. It's weird to be the youngest one in the lab by a lot of years. After meeting everyone, I headed off to finish my paperwork. I finished my paperwork and then went to the clinic to set-up a physical that is required for everyone. Then I went to get me official government ID for NCI (see the picture above). I will be receiving an NIH badge soon.
To become fully official, I have to have my car registered and decaled as a government car. This allows me access to NIH parking lots and Fort Detrick (I don't have to go through security). I went to the military guy and he got up in my face. Yet another military man in my face... awesome! He went off about how I can't register my car as government because it isn't in my name and that I was essentially stupid for trying. Ugh! I really started hating the military after that. After that, I went into the lab and went to lunch with Olaf and Chris. Then we started some of my training. I have read many papers so far and have done homework, maybe that's why I feel like I'm not completely missing school. I left work about 6:30 and then stayed up until midnight working on my homework for today.Day 2
I arrived to Fort Detrick at 8:30. I had a doctor appointment at 9. The same security guards were there, and the man still treated me like a stupid "civilian," even though I did everything right this time. I get the feeling that they like having power over the civilians and can do any checks they want if I want to get on the base. Ugh! I can't wait for the letter from my parents to come in the mail that will allow me to make my car a government car. It again took me about 30 minutes to get on base. I ran over to my appointment and had a general physical. I have 20/15 vision, great hearing, great reflexes, great heart rate, and great blood pressure. I'll get my blood work back next week, and hopefully all is ok there too! I then headed to the ID/Fingerprinting Center to get fingerprinted in order to receive my NIH ID. Once I finished that, I headed to lab. I went over my homework from last night with the post-doc, Chris, training me. I did almost everything right, but I had a few mistakes. They were easily changed though and I passed the assignment. After that, he gave me a beast of an assignment today. I had to analyze the results of four sets of data that had over 7000 points. Let's just say that it took me forever. I started going and then kept getting the wrong answers for 3 hours. It is all done in excel with complicated equations. I'm not good with excel, so I did not excel on this assignment. I finally took a lunch break, but the cafeteria was closed. So I bought a water and poptarts... what a great lunch! After lunch, I headed back into lab and worked on the assignment some more. I was still not getting things to work, which made me want to leave and go home. Finally, things started to work, and I finished everything about 6:30. I then learned that everything I did today was essentially pointless because there is a macro excel program that does all of that for us, but my post-doc wanted me to understand what the macro was doing. So about 8 hours later, I finished what a macro could do in 10 minutes or less... awesome! Then I headed home and did some shopping.
It's been fun, hard, frustrating, and challenging so far. I hope the frustration goes away, but the rest stays!
Oh, I also have a monster friend on base. I have yet to talk to it, but it lives in this, hence the danger sign. I walk past it everyday and it makes hissing and gurgling noises at me. I hope it's a friendly monster to "civilians" and eats military folk, especially the jerk at the check in gate.
Love Me Some Hospitals
A lot of people think I am crazy because I'm in love with hospitals. Whenever I see a big hospital I get really excited and want to run in there and see what's going on. It's almost an amusement park or museum for me or even a little boy in a candy shop. I become giddy as a school girl... people I'm with at the time find it hilarious.
This love of hospitals came to me as a child. I absolutely loved visiting people in the hospital. I loved watching doctors move around from room to room, ambulances pull up with their sirens blaring and light blazing, people coming out of the operating room, and the nurses taking vitals or doing lab work. I just loved it all. This love progressed when I was in the hospital for severe appendicitis during spring break. After my operation, I walked up and down the halls. I tried to see everything and would get in trouble for going into places that I wasn't allowed. It was so much fun! Then as I was touring hospitals during my visits to medical schools, I felt the same sense of awe and giddiness. It was where I was supposed to be. That's all I felt. Hospitals love me and I love them.
Currently, I am in a hospital. I wish I could explore it and see what is going on. Tragically, I am tied to an IV station to receive my Remicaid treatment for Crohn's Disease. However, just being the hospital makes me very happy! I'm weird like that, I guess. I was so giddy as I was walking up today. Secretly, I wanted to start skipping, but thought that it wouldn't be proper for me to do that.
Anyways, I'm not sure why I am writing about this. It might be because I'm bored, and because I am happy to be in the hospital. It might also be the fact that just being in the hospital gives me a sense of calling. It feels like home to me. So if you ever go on a vacation or trip with me, expect me to become very giddy when I see a hospital, especially if it is a big one!
Love me some hospitals...
This love of hospitals came to me as a child. I absolutely loved visiting people in the hospital. I loved watching doctors move around from room to room, ambulances pull up with their sirens blaring and light blazing, people coming out of the operating room, and the nurses taking vitals or doing lab work. I just loved it all. This love progressed when I was in the hospital for severe appendicitis during spring break. After my operation, I walked up and down the halls. I tried to see everything and would get in trouble for going into places that I wasn't allowed. It was so much fun! Then as I was touring hospitals during my visits to medical schools, I felt the same sense of awe and giddiness. It was where I was supposed to be. That's all I felt. Hospitals love me and I love them.
Currently, I am in a hospital. I wish I could explore it and see what is going on. Tragically, I am tied to an IV station to receive my Remicaid treatment for Crohn's Disease. However, just being the hospital makes me very happy! I'm weird like that, I guess. I was so giddy as I was walking up today. Secretly, I wanted to start skipping, but thought that it wouldn't be proper for me to do that.
Anyways, I'm not sure why I am writing about this. It might be because I'm bored, and because I am happy to be in the hospital. It might also be the fact that just being in the hospital gives me a sense of calling. It feels like home to me. So if you ever go on a vacation or trip with me, expect me to become very giddy when I see a hospital, especially if it is a big one!
Love me some hospitals...
Welcome to the Future!
Welcome to the future! That's what I feel like my life is telling me right now. I'm a graduate from BYU with a BS in Biochemistry and a minor in Sociology as Magna Cum Laude. I'm headed off to the NIH/NCI in Frederick, MD at the end of June for a year long post-baccalaureate research position (basically it is a paid internship). I will be working on developing a microarray to test the efficacy of the HIV/AIDS vaccines that are being developed across the nation and world. It is really exciting! :) I'm also reapplying for medical school, but this time I am applying for MD/PhD programs, instead of MD programs. These are much harder to get into, but I'm hoping to receive a position. I would love to research, teach, and practice clinical medicine at an academic medical center. So yeah, that's my update for now. Hope all is well with everyone!
PS If you want to read my application essays, I posted them before this.
PPS I was recently diagnosed with Spasmodic Torticollis.
PS If you want to read my application essays, I posted them before this.
PPS I was recently diagnosed with Spasmodic Torticollis.
Columbia and Baylor
Last week was my first medical school interview. I headed off to the wonderful city of New York. I stayed there for five days (thank the Lord for a three day weekend) with a good friend who is working for Goldman Sachs, which was nice because my expenses were very low. All that I can say is that I love New York and would love to live in that city. It was magnificent. While I was there, I saw Wicked (amazing), the Financial District, Wall Street, the Wall Street Bull, the Meat Packing District, Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Little Italy, Times Square, the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Art Design, the Museum of Modern Art, and so much more! There was so much to do and I highly doubt I would ever get bored.
I thought that I would be overwhelmed with the city, but I wasn’t. When I first arrived at JFK, I was overwhelmed with getting on a bus to Manhattan and then getting my way to my friend’s apartment. After dropping off my suitcase, I navigated the subways to Columbia all by myself. I was very nervous about that, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I became quickly acclimated to the city.
Columbia is a beautiful place (I’m a sucker for huge hospitals). There was so much going on there that I loved. I loved the curriculum, the service opportunities, the free homeless shelter/clinic, the school, the people, the diversity, and again, much more. My interview was probably subpar. The reason for this was because the first question the interviewer asked me was why I wanted to become a doctor. I told him about my desires to help others, but I also told him about my desire to earn an MD/PhD. He then looked me straight in the face and asked me, “Why are you here then?” The reason he asked me is that an MD/PhD has a different application and interview than an MD. I told him about how my desire to earn a PhD recently developed. I then felt like I was fighting my way back from the grave for the rest of the interview. He was always questioning my motives of being there. I think that I had a decent interview, but not an amazing one. I hope that it works out so that I could go to Columbia, because I loved the school and the city.
I just barely returned from my trip to Baylor. I didn’t spend much time in Houston, but from what I saw, it reminded me a lot of Salt Lake City. This isn’t a bad thing, but I much prefer a bigger city and I prefer something that wouldn’t remind me of home. Don’t get me wrong. I do love Utah, but I am ready for a new place and a new adventure. Houston, being the fourth largest city in the US, didn’t seem like a big city. I still had a good time.
The interview was yesterday and I felt like I rocked the two I had. The first one was with a doctor. She was an amazing, strong woman from Germany (I’m a sucker for strong women). She and I had a lot in common and so the interview flowed very naturally. I had a great time talking to her and she seemed to enjoy our conversation. At the end of the interview, she told me that she was planning on giving me a very strong recommendation to the admissions committee. I’m really stoked for this! The second interview also went well. This time it was with a fourth year student. He asked me some ethical questions and my opinion on health care reform. He agreed what I said in my responses and told me that I gave a good strong response, whereas other interviewees gave lackluster comments. This made me extremely happy. After the seven hour long interview session, full of interviews and tours, most of the applicants headed to an Irish Pub paid for by Baylor. We had free food and some good times. I enjoyed my time there, but I was surprised how many people were getting hammered and smashed. I thought that people in the medical profession would know better, but I guess the socialization of the norms for my age group is still there. It made me uncomfortable so I left, especially because all of the people that I made friends with during the interview session were completely drunk.
I really loved Baylor too! The school was amazing and beautiful! It had basically everything the same as Columbia, except it was in Houston. I really like both Columbia and Baylor. I’m not sure how things are going to work out, but I’m not sure if I would go to Baylor because of Houston. If it were between Columbia and Baylor, I would definitely go to Columbia. I would be happy at either place, but I would be happier at Columbia. I still have one more interview at The Ohio State, so things might change. I still haven’t heard back from the NIH either and that will definitely change what direction I go. If I get into the NIH, I will definitely reapply as an MD/PhD, which I am currently working on.
What happens next year still scares me because my future is still a mystery. I can’t make long-term goals to achieve because I don’t know where I’ll be, but wherever I end up will be the best for me and it will be the best route for me to take in life.
Second Interview
On Sunday, I received another interview at Baylor for February 19th. I'm very excited about this one because I would like to go to Baylor more so than The Ohio State (the interview is on March 17th). I don't know if I will get in so I've started cementing my back up plans.
Currently, I am working on my primary medical school application again. This includes writing another personal statement and boosting my resume with more activities, research, service, leadership, shadowing, etc. This will hopefully make me stand out as a candidate. I am also working on an application to do a post-baccalaureate at the NIH (National Institute of Health) in Bethesda, MD (near Washington D.C.) this upcoming year. My research professor believes that I have a good chance of getting into their post-baccalaureate program since I have a lot of research experience and good grades. We will see what happens. If I do get into this program and by some miracle get into medical school too, I will postpone my matriculation to medical school and do my post-baccalaureate at the NIH. This might give me the chance to for sure decide if I want to only be a M.D. or a M.D./Ph.D. I've seriously been considering doing a M.D./Ph.D again and if I receive the post-baccalaureate, I will probably head the M.D./Ph.D route.
Anyways, there is a quick update on my life. It's good! :)
Currently, I am working on my primary medical school application again. This includes writing another personal statement and boosting my resume with more activities, research, service, leadership, shadowing, etc. This will hopefully make me stand out as a candidate. I am also working on an application to do a post-baccalaureate at the NIH (National Institute of Health) in Bethesda, MD (near Washington D.C.) this upcoming year. My research professor believes that I have a good chance of getting into their post-baccalaureate program since I have a lot of research experience and good grades. We will see what happens. If I do get into this program and by some miracle get into medical school too, I will postpone my matriculation to medical school and do my post-baccalaureate at the NIH. This might give me the chance to for sure decide if I want to only be a M.D. or a M.D./Ph.D. I've seriously been considering doing a M.D./Ph.D again and if I receive the post-baccalaureate, I will probably head the M.D./Ph.D route.
Anyways, there is a quick update on my life. It's good! :)
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