Reviving this blog…

It ain’t easy trying to find time to write and reflect these days.  Life has been non-stop since my last serious post about passing my quals.  Okay, Here we go for the “quick” recap for the past year and a half (and I can’t believe it’s been that long.  It seems so short…).  Here’s a list of things that happened:

1) Took a leave of absence from the PhD Program
2) Switched to a different lab
3) Rejoined the program right before Christmas 2012
4) Urbana 2012!!!
5) Passing the general knowledge portion of the quals
6) Writing the mock-proposal for the second part of the quals
7) Navajo Missions Trip
8) Finally getting a chance to TA a class
9) Passing the Second part of Quals
10) Trying to get something started for my thesis work
11) Getting active again throughout all of this.

 

Now that I have this written here, hopefully I can start to write a detailed recap of what happened for each of those 11 points.  

It would not be funny if I said that Rick Warren was the ‘Rick’ in ‘Rickshaw Rally’

Just a little something to think and mull over….

A Christian Thing

UPDATE: The contents of the following post concerned a post by Pastor Rick Warren that has been deleted on the afternoon of 24 September 2013. It also coincided with an apology on Sam Tsang’s blog, Engage the Pews, which Tsang has accepted and on which he has written further reflections. Following the examples of other bloggers such as Sam Tsang, Kathy Khang (More Than Serving Tea) and Wm. Darius Myers (Death Pastor), we will be leaving this post up in order to maintain the integrity of the public record. After all, contrary to the comment by L2 Foundation’s D.J. Chuang that appeared on all of our respective blogs that the post was ‘immediately and personally removed’ by Warren, we acknowledge that while the apology may have been personal and may indeed be encouraging for a catholic way forward, a response following two business days is not ‘immediate.’ Indeed…

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Wow…

A quick update since I’m finishing up my quals* (FINALLY).  It has definitely been a long time since I’ve updated this blog (or even logged in), but I have not completely forgotten about this place I have claimed as my little platform on the internet.  So much has happened in the one year and five months since I’ve last posted (yikes, has it really been this long? I guess it has).  I will do my best to update once I’ve passed my quals with a quick recap of each month starting since that last April 2012.

Wish me luck!

*quals = Qualification Exam

Qualification Exam

Noun

1) The exam that all aspiring PhD students must pass in order to achieve candidacy in receiving the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD).  While this exam will vary from field to field and department/program to department/program, there generally consists of (a) a general knowledge portion where the student demonstrates their breadth of knowledge in their field of study and (b) a mock research-grant portion where the student demonstrates their depth of knowledge in a specific subject/field

Alternate definitions from a graduate student:
2) The war battle that all aspiring PhD students must fight through at some point in order to continue their graduate careers.
3) The hell that all mad scientists must go through in order to begin their dreams of world domination changing the world.

What do we do now?

Vanderbilt, What Will We Wear Wednesday?

“Who knows what will happen tonight and in the months to come?  This post has just been an effort to say that, regardless of what happens, tonight is not the end.  We trust and worship Jesus Christ, and when the white shirts come off, he will not.  If the following months bring a victory for religious organizations on Vanderbilt’s campus, then we will be clothed in Christ and thank him and worship him for that victory.  If Vanderbilt decides that their policy is not changing, then we will still be clothed in Christ, putting on his love, compassion, and forgiveness, trusting that he knows best.  After all, Christ’s greatest victory came when he laid down his rights and gave himself up for us all (Philippians 2:5-8).  Perhaps his greatest victory through us will happen when we do the same.

When we wear white shirts tonight, it will make a statement.  If we put on Christ, he will make an impact, and one that we never could have imagined.”

 

Well said brother.  Well said.

wk1d4-wk2d1

Okay, so I didn’t update the last few times.  Quick recap:

Thursday: biked for 30 min.  No stats recorded (reading papers simultaneously).

Friday: 30 min on a treadmill

Saturday: took the day off

Sunday: 30 min biking (no stats)

Monday: 30 min rowing (6.6km, 390 Cal).

Okay, one more update in a few minutes….

day 1 of fitness challenge (DBBS)

rules:
6 days a week
30+ min of cardio per work day.
if one day is missed, must be made up for in the next 7 days.
if pressed for time, can bypass w/ 1.25 mi (I think) of jogging.
if not made up, loser must buy partner lunch.

Current streak: 1 day
30 min rowing (>1min water break @ 15min and 22min)
distance: 6.4km

Oof…

Man…I really haven’t been good at keeping this up.  Maybe I should set the absolute goal to post monthly with the ideal goal of reaching close to once a week.

Quick event summary for Jan/Feb:

Classwork: Currently taking two extremely relevant classes for my field: advanced genetics and developmental biology.  While classwork has been a bit more intense this semester, it’s enjoyable.  I know that makes me a total nerd, but you already knew that, right?

Rotation: totally awesome.  Loving the fact I’m back in a zebrafish lab doing drug work.  Doing really cool work both searching for drugs and learning to ask questions about the underlying biology of development by using the drugs.  Hopefully I can turn this into something larger…like a thesis project.

ANYF/LNYF: What’s better than celebrating new years?  Celebrating it three more times!  Chinese new years with friends, then going to the LNYF at the Danforth Campus at Wash U, then one more time with ANYF at Vandy!  It’s my zodiac year, so what else do you expect?

Church: Plugging in well with the english ministry there and continuing to grow there.  Inductive bible studies ftw!

Faithful Scholars: Just started going to this meeting of christian grad students and faculty members.  It’s very interesting to hear the perspective of fellow christians in different areas of academia from different departments and different stages.  Praying that this will continue to grow…

 

So that’s my summary so far.  Let’s hope I can come up with another update soon!

Recent advice

This past Sunday, Pastor Manning spoke on a topic that applies to people at any stage in their life: marriage and singleness. In the sermon he gave the following as counseling points (summarized of course):

For Married Couples:
1.) God has united the two of you.
2.) Put God and righteous living first in your life.
3.) Banish the notion of divorce. It has no place in your life.
4.) Strengthen the oneness of your marriage.
5.) Focus on giving happiness to your spouse rather than receiving it.
6.) Quickly reconcile (and completely reconcile) differences.
7.) Immediately kill and repent of every adulterous inclination.

For singles:
1.) We were made to need the opposite sex and to eventually marry.
2.) God and righteous living must be first in your life.
3.) List and pray for Godly qualities in your future spouse.
4.) Listen to your parent(s) guidance.
5.) Get specific counsel from your pastor or other mature christians involved in your life.
6.) If you can handle being single for now, do it.

I think this is a very clear and succinct set of guidelines for christian couples to follow (and also christian singles). More thoughts on this later and others. Back to studying swi/snf chromatin remodeling and the Goldman Hodgkin Katz equation for my exams.

Hmm…interesting info for us caffeine addicts…

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/caffeine-and-calories/

Shows the various caffeinated drinks commonly consumed on a scatterplot (caffeine content in mg vs. Calorie count). To further add interest, it also puts certain exercises and other foods on there for us to remember the caloric impact of these drinks. Guess I’m going to be foregoing those eggnog lattes for a while…

Ancient Cisterns and the Modern Rat Race (via Superhua)

This post by a relative of mine is a succinct reminder of the traps that this world sets in front of us and makes us wonder whether or not we are trapped in this meaningless race for an illusory happiness that is dangled just beyond our sight and reach.

Then: ““My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)   Now:   [comic credit]    … Read More

via Superhua