New Year

Well, its 2009!

Its been a year since I started this blog. I don't know if I really accomplished my goal of writing more. I decided a few months ago that the reason why this blog couldn't function for me as a place for me to record my "unaltered thoughts" is because this blog isn't anonymous. I know my readership and they know me, so for me to write down my silly inner musings about the universe or my love life is too personal and embarrassing to put on a blog with my real name on it. I might have to start an anonymous blog somewhere else if I really want to journal online, as I had originally envisioned.

It is nice, though, to have in this blog a record of my life goings-on and of my more-or-less altered thoughts during the year 2008. It wasn't an overly exciting year. My life stayed pretty stationary. I did school, I did science. I did develop a close friend group and it was fun to bring in the new year with them last night. Really, 2008 was a good year to do the things I like to do, recoup from bad years past, and to plan for the future.

Now this year, 2009, is when the future comes into play. I finished applying to graduate school in December, and my first grad school interview is in 8 days! I have several more interviews after that (and hopefully more to come that I haven't heard about yet), then I find out where I got in and have to decide where to go. I graduate college this year, I will move this year, and - honestly - there is a good chance I will get engaged this year.

It's kind of crazy. I feel like my "real life" is starting. It's going to be sad to leave CMC and Claremont, but I think I'm ready to move on. It's bittersweet, but at least I think I will enjoy the next step even more than this last one. Bring on 2009!

I won't be sleeping much tonight... or this week.

My lit and stats presentations for tomorrow are now (mostly) made, now I just have to finish my TWO chem reports that are due at 8am.

When those are done, I will sleep for a few hours, get up and go to chem, come home and take a shower, then go to the computer lab to edit/practice my presentations (especially for stats).

Then I have present or listen to presentations from 2:45pm - 7:30pm (with a break for dinner).

After that I can sleep! For a little bit...

But ALL day Thursday I have to finish writing the two papers that are due on Friday.

After I turn in the papers on Friday I have to do my LAST (overdue) stats homework assignment. THEN I can sleep!

But then all day Saturday and Sunday I have to STUDY for my organic chemistry final.

Oh and probably on Saturday I'm going to finish the freaking writeups for the talks I had to attend for thesis. I wanted to do it earlier, but now that I think about it I will probably have to wait until Saturday to do it...

But when those are done ALL I am doing is studying for OCHEM.

Monday morning I take my chem final, and then I am DONE with ochem (for this semester).

Then I will sleep some more.

But ALL day Tuesday I will be doing my take-home biostats final. Then I will turn it in when I'm done (probably on Tuesday, but maybe on Wednesday).

And THEN I will be FINALLY done with this FREAKING semester that has been STRESSING me out so much!!


Okay, I needed that. To vent.

I am seriously so stressed out right now that my hair is falling out and my stomach is having all sorts of weird problems and my shoulders feel like bricks. But I just have to do this week and then I'm really really done. And I'm going to relax A LOT over break, and then take it easy(-er) next semester.

So its really just this one really hellish week...

Just one week...

Why I haven't been posting...

I) I finished applying to graduate school!
II) School, work, neuroscience club, mentoring...

But I'm almost done with this (hellish) semester. Here is all I have left:
1. Overdue stats HW #1 - Today
2. Overdue stats HW #2 - Today
3. Thesis talk writeups (6) - Today
4. Stats presentation - Wednesday
5. Lit presentation - Wednesday
6. Chem formal report rewrite - Wednesday
7. Chem normal report - Wednesday
8. Stats paper - Friday
9. Lit paper - Friday
10. Chem final - Monday
11. Stats final - Next Wednesday
Then DONE!

I have several posts brewing that I just haven't gotten around to. One is about why I should have made this an anonymous blog, another is about why I'm against male circumcision (well any circumcision really). But first I have to finish school... now back to it!

Update: August/September 2008

I know it has been a while since I have posted, things just got really busy in the past month.

In the beginning of August visited Oklahoma and then came back to California. It was nice to see the family but overall I did not enjoy my trip home. I was going to write a post about the trip, but I decided not to as what I have to say could be considered 1) whining and/or 2) offensive to people I know back home. Lets just suffice it to say that I love my life in California.

Once I got back to California, though, I had jury duty - and I was actually put on a jury! The trial lasted about 2 weeks and it was at the same time very interesting and incredibly boring. It was a medical negligence case involving the death of a diabetic 25 year old who was survived by her three young children. There were a lot of factors in the case, but we ruled that the doctors were not at fault for her death. Now I'm off the hook for duty for 1 year, and if I am never on a case again that would be fine with me.

As soon as jury duty was over I had training for my IT jobs, then freshmen orientation happened, and ever since my life hasn't slowed down for a second. My classes are going to be challenging this semester, if not only because each class is going to take many hours a week.

I am taking:
1. Applied Biostatistics - I don't expect the course to be overly challenging for me as I have a respectable background in stats, but I do expect to spend at least 5 hours a week (maybe more) doing problem sets.
2. Organic Chemistry - This class is going to be a challenge, I know. Not only because o-chem is hard for everyone, but because I find chemistry exceptionally challenging (even though I adore science). It is also going to take A LOT of time per week to do problem sets and study. Luckily I have already made plans to spend a lot of time with my friend Tori, the only other senior I know who is taking o-chem. I may or may not also live in my professor's office. Wish me luck!
3. Senior thesis - Surprisingly, I am not at all concerned about thesis at the moment. Most of the other members of my class are in a frenzy about it, but I have already done the brunt of my research and I have 2 semesters to write about it. Plus science theses are not overly long.
4. Jane Austen (Literature) - I am at once very excited about and nervous about my literature class. I am taking it not only because have put off my humanities general education requirement until my second-to-last semester of college, but because I have loved what I have read of Jane Austen and because I love the professor who is teaching the class. The reason I am nervous, though, is that even though I used to love literature and do very well in the subject in high school, majoring in a hard science has not helped me in my literature reading abilities. I do not feel confident anymore that I can read a novel and analyze it critically and intelligently. Even the research assignments for the class have me nervous. Writing a 20 page science research paper, even if it is not primary research, is cake compared to writing a 5 page literature paper. The standards are different. Besides, papers for science classes have a very rigid format, tone, and organization whereas I think of literature research papers as more organic. Plus I am always intimidated by knowing that a literature professor will be reading my grammar. I can just picture her cringing at every comma splice.

Hopefully, though, I will make it through and be better for it. If I can just maintain all A's and B's this semester that will really help me in my graduate school applications (that reminds me, I also need to get the GRE over with...). Wish me luck, and good luck to all my friends with your semesters!

My School's Princeton Review Rankings

CMC Princeton Review Rankings 2008
#2 Best Career/Job Placement Services
#4 Happiest Students
#5 School Runs Like Butter
#5 Best Quality of Life
#10 Students Happy with Financial Aid
#11 Most Politically Active Students
#11 Most Accessible Professors
#11 Dorms Like Palaces
#13 Lots of Beer
#15 Best Classroom Experience
#15 Best Campus Food
#18 Lots of Race/Class Interaction

Yup, that is where I go to school. We have great food, great dorms, plenty of beer, and financial aid money. We also have a lot of political debates in and out of class, plenty of conversations with our professors, and the school does basically everything it is supposed to do so overall we are quite happy. In fact it is like a $52000 a year country club where we also work hard to get good grades and leave after four years with a BA, and usually a job! Plus, because of the financial aid, it isn't just all rich white people. Its pretty much all an undergraduate could ask for, and much more.

It is strange that I am beginning my senior year in about a month, and even stranger that next May I will be leaving Claremont McKenna College. I'm excited about going to graduate school (though I still haven't figured out how I'm going to pay for applications), but it really will be sad to leave CMC. It has been my home for the last few years. It has been a lot of work, but also a great experience.

Luckily I have 2 more semesters, but unfortunately I will be in organic chemistry for both of them. Who knows, maybe by May I will be glad to be finished.

Update: June 2008

Well it is June 14^th and I haven’t posted since May, so I feel obliged to post a little update about my life and things coming soon (read: eventually) on this blog.

As far as the blog goes, I am working on a post about “intelligent design” in which I argue that it is bullshit and definitely not a scientific theory of any kind. Instead it is propaganda and an insult to intelligent people and to science. I am also going to post a few other things about my atheism and atheism in general. There will also be a revamped list of grad schools soon, I may post a draft of my personal statement, and maybe even a resume so I can get some feedback from you all if possible. Plus, you know, anything I think of randomly or find interesting online. If I manage to remember to post, that is.

And as far as my life in the last month? I worked as an intern for CMC alumni relations from the time school got out until June 1^st when alumni weekend was over. It was a great time. I met a man named Dan Vadala who graduated in 1948 (CMC was founded in 1946!!) as a ‘pacesetter.’ Pacesetters were CMC’s first students who came back from the war and went back to school. They only took 2-3 years to graduate because they had already taken some classes before fighting in WWII, and their education was paid for by the GI bill. Vadala stayed in the dorms during the weekend and enjoyed the parties.

Which reminds me, CMC alums are boozers. I swear the alums are bigger alkies (alcoholics) than the current students. They were cracking me up with stories of the old days when they would play large-scale pranks almost every day. Plus, it was founded as a men’s school (it was originally called Claremont Men’s College and there were no women until 1976) so it was basically one big frat for the first 30 years. Luckily for them there was a women’s school (Scripps) right across the street and it was cute to learn that many of the alums were still married to Scripps alums. Overall it was a good time. I was totally busy all weekend from 9am to LATE at night, but they paid me well and the alums were great so it was worth it.

For the remainder of June I have been working at the Claremont-Scripps-Pitzer Joint Science Department. I’m in the same lab that I worked in during the school year doing research on vocal learning. Things have been going well. The goal has been to do two experiments a week as well as doing two lesions a week, and some histology. Of course we have been having some trouble maintaining that pace… but if we keep the goals high then even if we fail we still did plenty. I love it. I love science, I love doing science, I love talking about science, I love reading about science. It’s pretty much awesome.

What else? Hmm, pretty much nothing. I live in the lab (some days I work from 8am to 11pm). And if I’m not in the lab I’m hanging out with people from the lab. For example, Thursday night the lab went over to Prof. Coleman’s house (my mentor) and I have never laughed so hard. It was a great time.

Okay, more to come soon I swear, but that’s all for now.