I just submitted my application to the Amgen Scholars Summer Research Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Although a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, it is still going to kill me to have to wait to find out if I receive acceptance into the program. I may not find out until March 1st, so until I get any word I will be praying about it and hope that you can help me in those efforts.
School has been going fine. I'm getting pretty excited about the end of the semester rapidly approaching. I have the rest of the semester planned out in most of my classes, so it is nice to actually be able to see the end. I'm looking forward to a mostly relaxing and fun-filled weekend before I go home for Thanksgiving break next Tuesday. I am definitely ecstatic about going home.
We are changing gears in dance from football season to basketball season. Our uniforms finally came in so we will be revealing those at the first game we dance. That day will be pretty busy as I have a track meet on the same day. Luckily I am not competing indoor this season so I will just go to support my teammates. Hopefully the meet will be over in time for them to support me as well! It should be a fun time. Unfortunately, the weather is getting really cold and I don't know if I will have another day to throw outside before the spring. It is a little depressing, but there isn't anything I can do about it but keep up with my workouts and practice footwork.
I guess I could tell a little bit about my world record breaking experience last night. The World United Organization (or WUO as we call it) was started by two young men at my university with the mission to "make the world aware of its fixable problems, inspire people to change those problems for the better, and to help those that are less fortunate than most." You can read all about their story and organization at www.worldunitedorg.org. They started selling "Wuo Wear" a while back, and I bought a tee shirt from them my freshman year. Little did I know how big of a deal this organization would become. They started by donating the profits they got from their Wuo Wear, but are now on to bigger and better things. They are planning a trip to Africa to hand out rice to villagers, build a school, and implant a water purification system for an entire village. In order to raise money and awareness for their organization, they held an event on campus called "High Five World Hunger in the Face." The event started by a presentation of their mission statement and explanation of why they do what they do. It then led to a bunch of supporters (including me) lining up to break the world record for most consecutive high fives. Once the record was broken, everyone was able to buy tee shirts and wristbands, eat food, make holiday cards for children in Africa, sign a banner, and make donations. It was an exciting and inspiring experience and all I can say is what a great organization!
Well, that's all the time I have. I have to get into the lab. As always, thanks for reading and don't be afraid to leave comments!
"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"
-Matthew 6:34
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Maybe One Day I'll Make Up My Mind
I did it again. I changed my mind. I'm back on the path to becoming an MD/PhD. Why? Because I talked to an adviser, and she thinks it would be in my best interests to go for the combined degree. After an hour long discussion, the conclusion we came to was that at the age of thirty, having both degrees would be a great advantage. I do love school, so I don't think the length of time would be a problem. Also, it is hard to say whether I would get enough patient interaction by just doing a PhD program. I really love working with people, especially at older ages, and I think working with Alzheimer's patients would be really rewarding. By getting both degrees, I wouldn't necessarily need to use both. I could use one or the other, but would have the correct training to utilize both if I needed to. I still think working with patients would be excellent motivation to apply to my research.
With that said, the professor I talked to has confidence in me about getting accepted into such a prestigious program, which is quite encouraging. She has been to medical school and has her MD, so she knows what it is like and what it takes to get there, and she believes I am on the right track. While I am at school, I will be focusing on my coursework, grades, research, and extracurricular activities, and on my breaks I will be focusing on volunteering and preparing for the MCAT. I actually can't wait to get back to the senior village to volunteer again over Thanksgiving break.
I am, of course, still a little nervous about getting accepted into a program. Everyone keeps telling me that I won't have a problem, but it is extremely competitive. However, if I do not get accepted, I can still apply to PhD programs or take a year off to do research. I would rather not take a year off, but there is no way to tell what is going to happen.
This summer is going to have to be very productive if I want to get into a program. The application for the research program in St. Louis I really want to attend comes out this week! I am really hoping I get accepted into the program. It would be such an awesome experience. I have a backup plan with a neuroscience summer research program in Maryland, and beyond that I am going to have to make some phone calls. If anyone has any connections in the field of neuroscience, I would love to spend some time with them.
On a more personal note, classes are going okay. It has been a rough semester just out of business, but I'm hanging in there. Track has officially started and it should be a really good season. I am still having tons of fun dancing. Our last football game is next Saturday and then we switch gears to basketball season. Halloween weekend was pretty disappointing this year, but I got some relaxing in so I can't really complain.
Well I am off to organize my life and get some homework done. Thanks for reading.
With that said, the professor I talked to has confidence in me about getting accepted into such a prestigious program, which is quite encouraging. She has been to medical school and has her MD, so she knows what it is like and what it takes to get there, and she believes I am on the right track. While I am at school, I will be focusing on my coursework, grades, research, and extracurricular activities, and on my breaks I will be focusing on volunteering and preparing for the MCAT. I actually can't wait to get back to the senior village to volunteer again over Thanksgiving break.
I am, of course, still a little nervous about getting accepted into a program. Everyone keeps telling me that I won't have a problem, but it is extremely competitive. However, if I do not get accepted, I can still apply to PhD programs or take a year off to do research. I would rather not take a year off, but there is no way to tell what is going to happen.
This summer is going to have to be very productive if I want to get into a program. The application for the research program in St. Louis I really want to attend comes out this week! I am really hoping I get accepted into the program. It would be such an awesome experience. I have a backup plan with a neuroscience summer research program in Maryland, and beyond that I am going to have to make some phone calls. If anyone has any connections in the field of neuroscience, I would love to spend some time with them.
On a more personal note, classes are going okay. It has been a rough semester just out of business, but I'm hanging in there. Track has officially started and it should be a really good season. I am still having tons of fun dancing. Our last football game is next Saturday and then we switch gears to basketball season. Halloween weekend was pretty disappointing this year, but I got some relaxing in so I can't really complain.
Well I am off to organize my life and get some homework done. Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
How Can I Say This?
New Orleans is a crazy, crazy city. That's pretty much the only way I can describe it. It is definitely a place that you just have to visit to know what it is like. I can do all the explaining in the world, but you will never get it unless you experience it yourself.
I traveled to New Orleans this past weekend to watch my beautiful older sister get married. It was a gorgeous day, lovely wedding, and awesome reception. Held at the House of Blues, we had a private room to eat and celebrate in. We all definitely had a great time.
The weekend trip was without question an adventure. Getting up at 3AM to catch a flight, watching the sun rise at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport during a two and a half hour layover, seeing things I've never seen before, experiencing a new city and culture, spending time with family, taking my first taxi and trolley rides, walking endless amounts, trying new foods, going to three states I'd never been to before (even if it was just to hang out at the airport), and much, much more, I'd say it was well worth my extended break from school.
Unfortunately, I now have to come back to real life for a while. I have a ton of homework that I should be doing instead of typing all this, but I feel that if I don't keep up with updates I won't ever come back. That would totally defeat the purpose of starting a blog.
Some of you are probably wondering (if any of you noticed anyway) that I have changed the title to my blog. The answer is simple. After doing some more research, I have learned that getting my PhD will give me everything I want out of an education. I will still be able to do my research and eventually teach if I still choose to. I will still be a doctor. I will still be helping people (even if it isn't always directly). By not choosing to enter into an MD/PhD program, I will save myself three or four years of going to school, plus I do not have to worry about taking the MCAT. Instead, I will be taking the GRE, which tests more on critical thinking and analytical skills. Another benefit of opting for a PhD only is that it increases the number of schools I will be applying to. Although I am generally looking at the same schools, I am pretty excited about my decision, and I can't wait to look into more programs.
Since I am pretty sure I won't be updating before this weekend, I'll let you know that I am planning on traveling with my boyfriend to visit his family. It should be a somewhat relaxing weekend. I am trying to get all my homework that is due at least at the beginning of next week finished before the weekend so I won't have to worry about it then. With that said, I better get going.
As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or questions. Until next time.
“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”
I traveled to New Orleans this past weekend to watch my beautiful older sister get married. It was a gorgeous day, lovely wedding, and awesome reception. Held at the House of Blues, we had a private room to eat and celebrate in. We all definitely had a great time.
The weekend trip was without question an adventure. Getting up at 3AM to catch a flight, watching the sun rise at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport during a two and a half hour layover, seeing things I've never seen before, experiencing a new city and culture, spending time with family, taking my first taxi and trolley rides, walking endless amounts, trying new foods, going to three states I'd never been to before (even if it was just to hang out at the airport), and much, much more, I'd say it was well worth my extended break from school.
Unfortunately, I now have to come back to real life for a while. I have a ton of homework that I should be doing instead of typing all this, but I feel that if I don't keep up with updates I won't ever come back. That would totally defeat the purpose of starting a blog.
Some of you are probably wondering (if any of you noticed anyway) that I have changed the title to my blog. The answer is simple. After doing some more research, I have learned that getting my PhD will give me everything I want out of an education. I will still be able to do my research and eventually teach if I still choose to. I will still be a doctor. I will still be helping people (even if it isn't always directly). By not choosing to enter into an MD/PhD program, I will save myself three or four years of going to school, plus I do not have to worry about taking the MCAT. Instead, I will be taking the GRE, which tests more on critical thinking and analytical skills. Another benefit of opting for a PhD only is that it increases the number of schools I will be applying to. Although I am generally looking at the same schools, I am pretty excited about my decision, and I can't wait to look into more programs.
Since I am pretty sure I won't be updating before this weekend, I'll let you know that I am planning on traveling with my boyfriend to visit his family. It should be a somewhat relaxing weekend. I am trying to get all my homework that is due at least at the beginning of next week finished before the weekend so I won't have to worry about it then. With that said, I better get going.
As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or questions. Until next time.
“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”
-Kenneth Blanchard
Friday, September 30, 2011
So Much Going On!
As usual, I have been crazy busy, but that's expected by now I think. With classes, work, dance, and track, I barely have time to breathe. I believe it's all worth it though. Classes are going okay. I am buried in homework all the time but I'm starting to feel almost all the way caught up. It's a great feeling.
My workouts for track are on the upswing. I was extremely sick last week (sinus infection?) so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. It was extremely hard to breathe and/or move for almost five days straight. However, I am almost fully recovered now. Still a little difficult to breathe, and my nose doesn't like to stop running (wish I could say the same for my legs) but other than that I'm feeling pretty healthy. I've been able to increase the weight that I have been lifting as well as the intensity of my conditioning workouts. It is going to be great to be ready to go once the season starts. I won't have to worry about getting back in shape because I'll already be there! I'm also proud of my teammates because for the most part it seems that they are keeping up with their workouts as well. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish this season!
As for dance, I am having so much fun. We are all freaking out a little because we debut TOMORROW! We will be performing for the first time ever as our school's first ever dance team at halftime of the Homecoming football game tomorrow afternoon. We have a pretty busy schedule until then. Practice is in a few hours, and then we will have team dinner and video. Tomorrow morning we have rehearsal at 9am and are busy from then until the end of the game approximately seven hours later. We are so excited. There are a lot of different opinions about us out there, and we want to give a great first impression.
The other exciting part of this weekend is my family coming to see me! My mom, dad, and sister will be arriving tomorrow morning(ish) to watch me perform at the game, and then we get to hang out all night and the next morning. It is going to be awesome.
Well I better get some homework done before practice. Thanks for reading!
"Be a winner: plan to win, prepare to win, expect to win."
-Anon
My workouts for track are on the upswing. I was extremely sick last week (sinus infection?) so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. It was extremely hard to breathe and/or move for almost five days straight. However, I am almost fully recovered now. Still a little difficult to breathe, and my nose doesn't like to stop running (wish I could say the same for my legs) but other than that I'm feeling pretty healthy. I've been able to increase the weight that I have been lifting as well as the intensity of my conditioning workouts. It is going to be great to be ready to go once the season starts. I won't have to worry about getting back in shape because I'll already be there! I'm also proud of my teammates because for the most part it seems that they are keeping up with their workouts as well. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish this season!
As for dance, I am having so much fun. We are all freaking out a little because we debut TOMORROW! We will be performing for the first time ever as our school's first ever dance team at halftime of the Homecoming football game tomorrow afternoon. We have a pretty busy schedule until then. Practice is in a few hours, and then we will have team dinner and video. Tomorrow morning we have rehearsal at 9am and are busy from then until the end of the game approximately seven hours later. We are so excited. There are a lot of different opinions about us out there, and we want to give a great first impression.
The other exciting part of this weekend is my family coming to see me! My mom, dad, and sister will be arriving tomorrow morning(ish) to watch me perform at the game, and then we get to hang out all night and the next morning. It is going to be awesome.
Well I better get some homework done before practice. Thanks for reading!
"Be a winner: plan to win, prepare to win, expect to win."
-Anon
Friday, September 9, 2011
What Am I Doing With My Life?
I have been asking myself this very question a lot lately, mostly just because I am so busy that I am getting extremely overwhelmed and stressed. Therefore, I am pretty sure the answer to my question is, "too much." However, this is really the only life I know. I'm not really sure why I still get so stressed out when I should be used to non-stop craziness by now. A lot of it is probably good stress, but sometimes I just get exhausted and have to step back, take a deep breath, relax a little while, and then get back to work. As long as I can get in a short break here and there I will be just fine.
Classes are still pretty crazy. I am kind of amazed they are taking so much of my time because I am only taking four. I am so glad I decided not to take more. I knew these classes would be tough and would take a lot of my time, and I am positive I made the correct decision. I think part of it is also that I am so used to staying ahead in homework that it is just freaking me out that I am actually on time. Plus I still have to schedule in work, dance practices, track workouts, making meals, sleep, and other random things that come up along the way.
Work has slowed down as I suspected, and we are using most of our time to work on projects and organizing our office. We are getting too big for our office, however. We have too many students enrolled! High enrollment is definitely not a bad thing for the university but we have surpassed our maximum capacity for student files. I am pretty sure we are ordering another filing cabinet that we aren't exactly sure is going to fit. I guess that's not my problem though...yet.
Dance has been going really well. I am getting so close to doing the splits. We have started doing skills practices taught by a few of the girls that have a lot of dance experience outside of our twice weekly team practices. Today was the first one I was able to attend and I had a great time. It ended up being a one-on-one session so I got a lot of attention and learned a lot about technique, form, dance terms, and posture. I can already see a huge improvement in my turns and kicks. Our Homecoming debut is getting closer and closer and I am getting so pumped!
I guess I should put a little note on how this is the first year I have a full kitchen at school and therefore the first time I am in charge of all of my meals. It is very difficult for a college student to be responsible for their own food and still make sure they are eating healthy, especially on such a tight budget. I have been taking some risks with my cooking, though, and am learning a lot about what works, what tastes good, and how I can use the little amount of things that I have to make a fulfilling meal.
I started to get back into lifting finally this week. It felt great to get back in the weight room, but it is so hard to try to find time to get it taken care of because besides being busy all the time, when I have free time I am completely exhausted, which is not the best condition to lift in. I have just been taking everything one step at a time to try and keep up with all of my responsibilities as a student-athlete. My first priority has to be school though, which is why they put the word "student" before the word "athlete." Besides, if it weren't for school I wouldn't be participating in athletics. I came here to get a degree. Being an athlete is just a huge perk.
I know what you're thinking. If I am so busy how do I have the time to write all this? I don't. I just know it has been a while since I updated everyone and I wanted you all to know I am surviving. It is extremely late (midnight-I know I am pretty lame for thinking that is way late) and I am so excited to go to bed. Plus my laundry is drying. I still have to fold it. I think I am probably just rambling now because I am way too tired to be awake right now, so I'll go ahead and close.
"Those who work the hardest are the last to surrender." -Rick Pitino
Thanks for reading! God bless =)
Classes are still pretty crazy. I am kind of amazed they are taking so much of my time because I am only taking four. I am so glad I decided not to take more. I knew these classes would be tough and would take a lot of my time, and I am positive I made the correct decision. I think part of it is also that I am so used to staying ahead in homework that it is just freaking me out that I am actually on time. Plus I still have to schedule in work, dance practices, track workouts, making meals, sleep, and other random things that come up along the way.
Work has slowed down as I suspected, and we are using most of our time to work on projects and organizing our office. We are getting too big for our office, however. We have too many students enrolled! High enrollment is definitely not a bad thing for the university but we have surpassed our maximum capacity for student files. I am pretty sure we are ordering another filing cabinet that we aren't exactly sure is going to fit. I guess that's not my problem though...yet.
Dance has been going really well. I am getting so close to doing the splits. We have started doing skills practices taught by a few of the girls that have a lot of dance experience outside of our twice weekly team practices. Today was the first one I was able to attend and I had a great time. It ended up being a one-on-one session so I got a lot of attention and learned a lot about technique, form, dance terms, and posture. I can already see a huge improvement in my turns and kicks. Our Homecoming debut is getting closer and closer and I am getting so pumped!
I guess I should put a little note on how this is the first year I have a full kitchen at school and therefore the first time I am in charge of all of my meals. It is very difficult for a college student to be responsible for their own food and still make sure they are eating healthy, especially on such a tight budget. I have been taking some risks with my cooking, though, and am learning a lot about what works, what tastes good, and how I can use the little amount of things that I have to make a fulfilling meal.
I started to get back into lifting finally this week. It felt great to get back in the weight room, but it is so hard to try to find time to get it taken care of because besides being busy all the time, when I have free time I am completely exhausted, which is not the best condition to lift in. I have just been taking everything one step at a time to try and keep up with all of my responsibilities as a student-athlete. My first priority has to be school though, which is why they put the word "student" before the word "athlete." Besides, if it weren't for school I wouldn't be participating in athletics. I came here to get a degree. Being an athlete is just a huge perk.
I know what you're thinking. If I am so busy how do I have the time to write all this? I don't. I just know it has been a while since I updated everyone and I wanted you all to know I am surviving. It is extremely late (midnight-I know I am pretty lame for thinking that is way late) and I am so excited to go to bed. Plus my laundry is drying. I still have to fold it. I think I am probably just rambling now because I am way too tired to be awake right now, so I'll go ahead and close.
"Those who work the hardest are the last to surrender." -Rick Pitino
Thanks for reading! God bless =)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
First Week: Complete
The first week of class was crazy to say the least. I was already assigned a ton of homework and even had a quiz the first day! Luckily the quiz ended up being extra credit toward our first test. It looks like I will have a pretty busy semester, but it should go well, and I am looking forward to learning a lot of new things. With that said, I have been working my butt off already and have completed all the homework I have due by Wednesday! I also talked to a professor about a possible research project and I will basically be performing a lab to see if he can use it in future classes. Depending on my results, students in the future may be performing the lab I investigated!
I went into work at the financial aid office a few times last week and plan on working some more hours this week. It was pretty busy with everyone being back to campus and having questions and everything, but it will probably slow down a little some time within the next few weeks.
Dance has been going really well. We have started working on skills a little bit so we can improve our dancing and clean up our routines. We had call outs yesterday that went really well, and I am excited for the future of our team. We will be debuting at Homecoming, and it should be a great performance.
That pretty much sums up my first week of class. I have pretty much just been trying to keep up with the homework assigned and keeping my stress levels down. 1 week down. 16 to go. Let's do this.
I went into work at the financial aid office a few times last week and plan on working some more hours this week. It was pretty busy with everyone being back to campus and having questions and everything, but it will probably slow down a little some time within the next few weeks.
Dance has been going really well. We have started working on skills a little bit so we can improve our dancing and clean up our routines. We had call outs yesterday that went really well, and I am excited for the future of our team. We will be debuting at Homecoming, and it should be a great performance.
That pretty much sums up my first week of class. I have pretty much just been trying to keep up with the homework assigned and keeping my stress levels down. 1 week down. 16 to go. Let's do this.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Back to School
Well I am back. I have been here for a few days now but was pretty busy during the week and didn't have internet in my room until now. During the week, I was all about dance and getting everything unpacked and organized in my room. For those of you who didn't know, I joined the dance team at school. We had conditioning in the morning, and then two hours later we had practice every day. We then had a few hours until team dinner. By 9pm I was completely exhausted.
My time at home during my last week or so of summer was spent packing and hanging out with my family. I had a lot of time to think this past summer, so I have some pretty nice goals for this school year. I also started a new hobby digital scrapbooking. I am just messing around with what I can do right now but I am hoping to eventually build a portfolio and turn it into a mini business. We college kids are always thinking of ways to make some extra cash, right? I really enjoy it so far and am looking forward to what I can do with it.
Like I said, I have many goals for this school year. One of them is to pursue research. I would really like to work on my own research project this year, so I am hoping to work it out with a professor. It would be really nice if I could get some class credit for it as well. The more I think about what I want to research, the more I think I am leaning toward Alzheimer's disease. I haven't been close to anyone with the disease, but just talking to people about their family members who have/had it really pulls on my heart. To me, the relationships you have with people is one of the most important aspects of life. When someone has Alzheimer's, they lose the ability to have those special relationships, and it hurts everyone that cares for them. It also really ties in to wanting to be a physician-scientists because I will be able to work with patients in the pursuit of a cure. It will keep me even more motivated in my research.
Class starts in two days. I am looking forward to learning new things, although I am not that excited to jump back into the stress that comes with it. I hope that I will be able to stay ahead and really get the most out of my classes this semester. Thanks for reading! I'll post again soon once class starts!
My time at home during my last week or so of summer was spent packing and hanging out with my family. I had a lot of time to think this past summer, so I have some pretty nice goals for this school year. I also started a new hobby digital scrapbooking. I am just messing around with what I can do right now but I am hoping to eventually build a portfolio and turn it into a mini business. We college kids are always thinking of ways to make some extra cash, right? I really enjoy it so far and am looking forward to what I can do with it.
Like I said, I have many goals for this school year. One of them is to pursue research. I would really like to work on my own research project this year, so I am hoping to work it out with a professor. It would be really nice if I could get some class credit for it as well. The more I think about what I want to research, the more I think I am leaning toward Alzheimer's disease. I haven't been close to anyone with the disease, but just talking to people about their family members who have/had it really pulls on my heart. To me, the relationships you have with people is one of the most important aspects of life. When someone has Alzheimer's, they lose the ability to have those special relationships, and it hurts everyone that cares for them. It also really ties in to wanting to be a physician-scientists because I will be able to work with patients in the pursuit of a cure. It will keep me even more motivated in my research.
Class starts in two days. I am looking forward to learning new things, although I am not that excited to jump back into the stress that comes with it. I hope that I will be able to stay ahead and really get the most out of my classes this semester. Thanks for reading! I'll post again soon once class starts!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)