Day 429: Lots of changes!

It seems my work load has grown exponentially. No, seriously. I started my new MCAT prep course this weekend and I have enough books to knock someone out. Lots of passages and questions and reading. I am taking calculus concurrently and after a shameful/dismal/depressing/shockingly bad grade on Exam 2, I decided something had to give. And what gave? My internship.

Dr. Z was incredibly understanding about giving me some time off to focus on my calculus class and impending MCAT.

Oh, and I got these puppies.

Doesn't this remind you of awkward teenage-dom?

I think I look sincerely like a twelve-year old. I also think I look horrendous. In spite of this, I kind of like them. I like the idea that change is happening. Since my teeth are quite tender at the moment, change is quite apparent (to me anyway). Also, I never realized how unpleasantly crooked and discombobulated my teeth were until they put the braces on.

So, to keep everything straight, I'm on a hiatus from my internship. Instead of running Western blots, I am doing lots and lots of math and MCAT homework. I got braces yesterday (Wednesday).

That is all.

Day 421: Have there really been 421 days?

It's a little weird to think that I've been writing in this thing for more than 400 days! I barely sleep that consistently ;)

Anyway, updates!

• My lab cohorts, 9 1/2 and J-Town, and I are so inefficient and ineffective that our boss has separated all of us and placed us with different lab people.
• I have my second (of four) calc tests tomorrow.
• My best friend is home from Ireland for the week! Jubilation!
• I start my MCAT prep class this weekend. -- You know, I was kind of against this class for some reason. However, upon being signed up for it and registering that I'm really taking this class, I'm rather grateful. It'll be nice to have someone teaching me instead of me teaching myself.
• I realized I only need two quarters of calc and one quarter of stats (for a year of math, total) so once I finish this class, I'm done! (With Calc anyway) ...then, all I have to take is stats and Bio 2. Holla!
  

I think that's all really. Oh. There's one more thing. I'm getting braces. Okbye.

Day 416: Rats and chats

Hello!

Yesterday (Thursday) was quite a big day for me. I had my first calc test (it went fine enough). Then, at the lab, I extracted my first brain and sliced and did all the fun, gory stuff related to the lab's research.

NOT our actual experiment. Just samples of rat brains :P

In other news, I've been trying to run this experiment all week (with my fellow interns) and we kept f-ing it up. Yesterday, the experiment was successful (it's a two-day experiment) and today, we were able to scan our results. They were fairly successful, which is always good.

My actual boss, let's call him Dr. Z, is...interesting. I feel that I'm more of a speck on his radar than anything of actual concern. That doesn't make me any less grateful for the research opportunity. I just want to feel more...useful. And wanted. But whatever. We had a nice chat/discussion about my future at the lab and I think we're going to focus my tasks at the lab. I'm going to learn to run the experiment (it's called a Western blot) as well as I can. I'm also going to learn to troubleshoot the experiment, which seems to the be the best demonstration of my knowledge. Either way, more focused work at the lab. It can get pretty slow at times. Good thing I have books (I just finished Bernard Schlink's The Reader) and Calculus homework to keep me busy.

Tonight, lab people and I are going to dinner for my pseudo-boss, Mr. X. Mr. X is just the best. Today is his last full day. He's moving to a different lab next week. However, due to the lack of aptitude at our lab, Mr. X has decided to work part-time at our lab until August. (Yay!) Until then, we'll have to work hard to gain enough confidence and comfort with the goings-on of the lab.

Day 410: Happy Independence Day!

Hello my fellow Americans! Happy Fourth of July! Fun question, does England have a Fourth of July?

Moving on, I hope you're all enjoying your freedoms and liberties and all that other mumbo-jumbo that's expoused in our Declaration of Independence :)

This is the first (sort-of) week of my new routine and it's gone quite well. I figured out where to park at Stanford (after receiving a lovely parking ticket from the university, thanks Stanford) for my new internship. Since I see the internship people at least five hours a day, I've already developed small rapports with each of the people there. I've been learning about the research they do and I had the opportunity to guillotine a rat's head the other day (vive la France!) We cut off its head in order to slice its brain to see the effects of our experiment. Too gory? I'll move on.

My calc class is moving at a decent pace. I was worried it would pick up where things left off, and it has in some ways, but it's done so in a way that I can certainly manage. My first test is this upcoming Thursday. I have a test every Thursday (four total) and then the last one will be a final. The professor seems fair enough and he makes cute academia/nerd jokes that amuse me.

Aside from that, my best friend comes home Wednesday (wee!), I need to start working out again (sooner rather than later) and I also need to get my personal statement together. Things to do, things to do.

Day 406: News, friends and more news

I got my MCAT scores back. I haven't wanted to blog about them but I've had some time to deal with them and I can talk about it now. I am incredibly disappointed in my scores. I am re-taking the MCAT. That's all the MCAT talk we're going to have. I found this picture a while ago and now I can finally use it.

Moving on, my gal-pal Tori left on the 21st and then my friend Zooey (and her girlfriend) came out two days later. They left Sunday, the 28th, and then my beautiful sister turned 20 yesterday! It was great to have all these guests but its nice to just be home now, you know?

Anyway, I have begun a new routine. (And we all know how much I love routines) I am taking a calculus class Monday through Thursday and I am interning at a neurosurgery lab at Stanford. I go directly to that after my calc class. Then I stay 'til whenever. It's a flexible situation, so that's nice. Overall, it's a pretty sweet gig. I just started this all yesterday (the 29th, Monday) so I'm still acclimating myself to both the math and learning research techniques but its getting me back into a schedule...which I like.

Day 395: Home sweet home

I know, I know. It's been a while.

I'm finally home in California and I have the boxes in my house and the mileage on my car to prove it! My dear friend Tori and I drove through 8 states total to get from North Kakalaky to Cali-Cali and it was quite a trip. Here's a brief rundown of my trip -- check back later for pictures.

• North Carolina: This involved a really beautiful drive through the Appalachian mountains.
  
  
  

• Tennessee: Not much there. Long as heck state.
  
  
• Arkansas: My friend Joy warned us it wouldn't be that pretty but the fact that we were visiting her made it all the more worthwhile. Joy's a blast and her whole family (hers and her husband's) are loads of fun. Oh, and Tori and I almost died in a hurricane. That was fun.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Oklahoma: Not a fun state. We didn't get any pictures of Oklahoma-related signs. Boo.
  
  
• Texas: Ugly. Desolate. Boring. Moving on. (Granted, we drove on I-40 through northern Texas. Maybe the southern part is better. ...we weren't holding our breath.)
  
  
• New Mexico: Much more lively, better scenery.
  
  
• Arizona: Since it was along the way (sort of), we stopped off at the Grand Canyon. I hadn't been for ages. It was honestly breathtaking.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• California: Tori was amazed at LA traffic. LA wasn't as terrible and soul-sucking as I remember. We stayed a day and we drove home Wednesday. Tori and I went to a winery in Napa yesterday and we had a complete blast.

Currently, Tori and my sister are asleep on the couch and I'm here, blogging. I need to upload pictures, clean my room, get skinny, and prep for more friends heading out west :)

I love being home. I can feel sanity and general contentedness seeping back into my soul.

Day 380: New York, New York

Hello!

I am currently in New York and I have many feelings about it. Probably four, at least.

I'm always amazed at how easy it is to fall back into city life. The subway. Honking cars. Tourists every which way. The walking. The food. Shopping. It's all so ... routine, but in the best way possible.

I've seen a few people already and loved every moment of it. I've only eaten and not really shopped, which is always a good thing. I should get chubby and broke, not well-dressed and broke ;)

My gal-pal Tori and I have had a slow start today but it was all for the better. Rather than work out in her complex's sweet gym, I instead filled out more of my med school application. It's crazy to think that I'm applying. It's all really happening...eep!