Random updates

Okay, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted on here.  There are many things that have been happening and floating through my mind these days, the two items that have been preoccupying my mind have been grad school and the “non-discrimination/all-comers” clause at Vanderbilt (my alma mater).

Grad School:

It’s been a tough year and I’m slowly figuring out how to proceed forward and hopefully move onto my third year and propose a thesis project.  However there have been some hard hits that I took over this past year.  I won’t get into the details, but it’s given me some serious things to think about.  Questions like “Is science is what I really want to be doing?” have gone through my head, and it’s terrifying to see these thoughts go through my mind.  I’ve had to search for the original spark that brought me to science deep within myself.  I can only hope that I not only find traces and hints of this spark, but find a shard that I can hold onto for future bouts of questioning.

Vandy Happenings:

This past year has been a source of worry on the back of my mind leeching hope and focus.  Here’s a brief run-down of the whole situation: Vanderbilt University has begun to enforce a recently edited non-discrimination clause on student organizations with the intent to allow all students to not only be involved with any group but also give all members involved the opportunity to run for leadership.  It sounds great, except that this interpretation is being used to bar groups with “discriminatory” language in their constitutions, the biggest example being multiple christian organizations (including the fellowship I was actively involved in).  It’s disheartening to see this change in events because I really do treasure my time at Vanderbilt, but I cannot give my support while this is happening.

For further reading, check out the following links:

Intervarsity at Vanderbilt – A series of posts by IVCF staff in the Nashville area addressing the whole situation.
Reverend Gomes and Religious Freedom – An editorial written that references a similar case where a “non-discrimination” clause was almost enforced in a discriminatory manner.
Staff’s View of Christian Group Backward –  The article referenced by the previous link.  Note, this is in regards to a situation in 2003 that took place at Harvard (a university that many other universities aspire to emulate).

Okay, time to get back to housework.  Hopefully I’ll have something positive to post the next time I get back.

Fall…again

Wow…has it really been a year since I’ve moved to St Louis? It both feels like an incredibly short time and a long time. And so many things have changed both where I am and with my family (new stage of life). So let’s break it down:

St. Louis

School:
If I haven’t told you yet, I’ve finally chosen my thesis lab. Here, we’re using drosophila to study adult stem cells, utilizing the genetic tools and techniques that are readily available in this model organism. It took some time getting used to culturing the little guys, but I think I’ve gotten into stride for that. Additionally, I’m starting to get my technique down for dissecting them. Yes, they’re small. No, it’s not incredibly difficult (though there are small nuances here and there for each developmental stage that must be factored in while dissecting). Hopefully I’ll be able to get some more data out. Been working late nights here, but then again that’s not unusual for fellow PhD students. Let the games and insanity begin….

Church life/Fellowship
Been sticking with the church I first went to when I arrived. It’s been a blessing to have this community here in St. Louis to both plug into and grow with. It’s gone through some changes with two families moving away from St. Louis and setting up for the upcoming fall with the return of the undergrads (and possibly new students as well). Additionally, there’s a brand new IVCF group that’s being designed for PhD students that I’ve both joined and am actively participating in. It’s called Faithful Scholars (http://faithfulscholars.org/wordpress/), and it’s “a community of Ph.D students and faculty investigating the integration of Christian faith and scholarship to serve the church and impact the academic world.” Pretty big goal and mission, but it’s not something that can be ignored. Praying to both grow in my faith and also to actively integrate and bridge the (perceived) divide between academia and faith.

Housing
Finally moved out of the dorm I lived in last year in May. Now I live in an apartment north of the med campus that’s a quick bus ride or a walk that’s about as long as walking across the Vanderbilt campus from opposite edges. I’m enjoying the freedom of having a kitchen and cupboard that I only share with my roommate. We’ve still yet to eat cuisines from our parent cultures (Chinese-American and Ghanaian), but I’m looking to rectify this lack of exchange of deliciousness. The main hurdle that both of us need to overcome is that we’re both PhD students and both of us are pressed for time, so we don’t have a chance to cook much (but we still do). Plus, we’ve been slowly setting our apartment up and getting ready to move to a larger double (as soon as the city approves of the renovations in the double we’ll move into).

Maryland (and now NY and PA)

Empty Nest…(Seasonally)
This is the biggest change for my family in MD. My little sister is starting her college career this fall and she’s the last child to leave home. It’s both the end of a period in my family and the beginning of a new one. Sure, we’ll be back whenever we can for the holidays, but it’s going to be different at home (and whenever we go home). I miss my family, but we’re usually in contact via various email threads. Still trying to explore various options of video conferencing between all members of my family…

Another Grad student? (I sure hope so)
We’ll see where this goes as the year progresses, but my little brother is applying for PhD programs in engineering. Muahahaha….let’s see if this two for two in academic graduate education. Who am I kidding? This is fairly likely given my brother’s drive and focus. Now to get him through the application process for grad school, which is much more variable in comparison to the application process for undergraduate programs….

I hope to expand more in various posts in the near future, but we’ll see if time allows since I’m working on my prelim (I guess that could be its own post…).

Anyways, till the next time that my fingers decide to dictate my thoughts on this forum!

This is rather irksome…

Okay, I watched this video last fall and I was bothered by it.  Let me post it and see what you all think.

Agh….frustration, exhaustion, and renewal.

The past two weeks have been exhausting.  Having both of my classes have their exams in a two week period (take home, in class, in class, take home) was not a pleasant experience.  Trying to juggle studying for both classes and catch up on reading with labwork and taking care of myself (which definitely dropped) was insanity inducing.  So time for a bit of reflection on management.

Performance:

So far I’ve done well in classes (Confirmed success in one exam, pending results from the second).  Need to re-tool the balance by being more efficient in studying and doing more of the readings for discussion sections ahead of time.

Possible changes:

Start working out in the mornings again to keep a rigid routine in my daily schedule.
Email more with my professors and other classmates to keep ideas fresh and in the loop.
Read more background and write down questions.

I think I’ll keep this as my goals for this week.  Let’s see how I do next week!

I know I’ve been lacking in posting…

I know I haven’t been posting here for a while, but I’ve been trying to keep up with classes, reading, and labwork.

It definitely has been a fun few weeks in class and also many fun social events.  Let’s get the academic stuff out of the way, shall we?

Lab so far has been both enjoyable and frustrating.  It’s really interesting working in another lab of mostly asian post docs and an asian PI.  To give you some brief info, the lab has been working on characterizing the neurons dedicated to carrying the itch sensation (separate from the neurons carrying pain as previously hypothesized in literature).  It’s a completely new area that I’m starting to familiarize myself with (reading background literature and doing google searches).  However, it is frustrating to learn new techniques that don’t seem to be working even though I’ve been following all protocols to the dot.  I hope next week can bring a change to this.

Classes have been getting more and more enjoyable than when they started.  Most of the information I’ve been hearing in class is review and I’m getting used to the pacing of the class.  Each class also has a discussion section where we review, present, and critique current literature (the oldest paper we’ve criticized so far has been march 2010 to my recollection).  With each paper come new challenges from learning how to ask critical questions regarding some of the scientific principles behind the rationale to the format and to the style of writing.  I think I’m getting the hang of it.  Hopefully I can further improve this ability to scrutinize and decipher other people’s work (some of which look and feel like a foreign language at a first glance).

Socially, it’s been very fun.  Two weekends ago, there were a whole number of festivals in St. Louis.  I went to the Greek, Blues music, and Japanese festivals (in that order) over the course of two days.  Besides enjoying company with newly acquainted friends and friends from afar, it was fun seeing these festivals and seeing the people there.  Here’s a quick recap of the three:

Greek Festival
It was fun to have the food there, but I also had on good word from a trustworthy source that they toned down the spices used for many of the dishes.  That was saddening, but it was still worth it to hang out with an old friend.

Blues Festival
It was cool listening to all the live blues groups play (and it’s a very wide variety of styles too).

Japanese Festival
Actually spent my entire afternoon here.  It was fun walking around the botanical gardens with friends and seeing different aspects of Japan’s culture at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens (which I have a free membership to as a grad student).

So concludes that recap.  Now back to labwork and science!

“Brewing espresso…unlike other methods of brewing coffee…IS rocket science…”
– Kevin Knox and Julie Sheldon Huffaker ‘Coffee Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide’

First week

So my first week of graduate school classes has started.  I guess it’s not an original thing to say that I feel like I’m about to be left behind.  We’re covering material in my two classes at a very rapid pace that makes me feel like it will not only push me to learn more, but also pull beyond my (limited) grasp of knowledge.  So the two classes I have been taking are Molecular Cell Biology and Nucleic Acid and Protein Biosynthesis.  So far, we’ve covered old material that most people have learned in their cell bio and biochemistry (I and II) courses.  While reviewing has been good, the speed is unnerving.  Almost like…the Hulk roller coaster at Universal studios (you know you’re going to go over the curve, but it literally shoots you out before you hit the highest peak).  What to do?  I guess I’ll be reading and reviewing papers like crazy as well as class notes.

Oh yea, and I’ve also started my first lab rotation.  And it’s all asian.  No joke.  Let’s see how this turns out