Records of a Mad Scientist: Welcome

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Welcome

This blog, at the moment, is dedicated to Kara (you know who you are...) who said that I should do this. So... here's the deal.

I graduated from a small women's college in the middle of northern Indiana located next to a large former football powerhouse co-ed school. The schools engaged in a friendly sort of brother-sister rivalry. Where I went to undergrad, the teachers knew your name. Sometimes, they knew your sister's names, or who your roommates were. If you didn't perform in class, or you missed a session, you'd better have a decent reason, because they'd know. Basically, you did your homework, and you did it well.

Surfice to say that I am no longer in Kansas (or Indiana, as the case may be). I have started graduate school at the largest state funded university in a currently unnamed northern-midwestern state. Its cold, and the wind rarely stops blowing here. People ride 4-wheelers to school, and there is a cow field by the dorms. When I need sheep blood for experimentation, I call the guy in animal science, and ask if he could get me some. Then, I walk across campus and pick up the blood. The last place got it by mail.

My responsibilities and jobs in grad school are four fold:

Researcher. I'm supposed to be producing a master's level thesis in 2 years, and getting my PhD in four. I'm doing this because its my timeline, not someone elses. I am NOT going to be one of the people who needed seven years to get her degree. I couldn't fund myself that long. I spend essentially all my free time in the lab, playing with my adorable little cells or crunching data. Its a fun job, and someone has to do it...
Student. I have 10+ credit hours a week, and the corresponding homework. Never mind that one of the classes is easier than the two hundred level equivalent in undergrad... I still have homework due for it every week. I take tests, write papers, and am responsible to teachers, just like everyone else.
Teacher. I teach 3 lab sections. I have 2 hours of office hours for tutoring, and then extra office hours because mine are at a bad time for my students. I grade for the three sections. I have a significantly greater respect for all my teachers, now.
Human. Apparently, amidist 70 - 100 hours of work a week (6 - 7 twelve hour days at the office, plus grading and homework), I also need to do things like feed myself, keep myself and my home clean, and occasionally get out and socialize. This is probably the hardest thing I do. Yep, I'm that one.

So, now, I'm here, doing mad science and blogging from my actually rather large apartment. In general, people will be designated by letter combinations or nicknames. Here is the cast of characters:

JW -- Me. Slightly insane grad student. May have mild ADD and OCD. Dyslexic. Likes: Cell biology, sleep, fantsey novels, other people cooking, caffiene. Dislikes: stupid mistakes, buroracy, inorganic chemistry.
N -- my fabulous Indian roommate. Seriously, she is great. And, she feeds me.
Br -- my lab mate, year mate, and primary competition. I haven't decided if he's smarter than I am or not. He seems harder working, or just has a higher tolerance for florescent lights and sitting in silence in the office. I'm avoiding him, lately.
MM -- year mate, and fellow biochemist. Native of this windy state. Absolute sweetheart. Somehow involved with Br, but I'm not entirely sure how.
St. P -- this is actually an aberration of his nickname. Older analytical chemist. Br's other main competition. Has more life experience than the rest of us put together.
MC -- this stands for Michael Cera. He's basically a Lutheran boy scout who holds doors open. Seriously.
DrR -- my teaching boss. Crotchety old man who doesn't take shit. Slightly sexist. Smokes like a chimney. A teddy bear.
DrA -- my research boss. Somewhere in his thirties and totally chill. The first PI I've ever met who bakes cookies during lab meetings.
AD -- my boyfriend. Its new... and exciting... and hard from this distance. An aerospace engineer. Still goes to the famous former football giant across the road from the castle where I went to undergrad.
BD -- my male bestfriend from undergrad.
T -- my former roommate. Gave me a cold for my brithday.
Kara -- you know who you are... basically the person who told me to write this.
El -- a close friend
Mar -- my little sister.

More people will be introduced as necessary.

1 comment:

UnknownSeptember 20, 2010 at 4:55 AM
It sounds as if you are setting up the plot line for a story. I look forward to your regular updates and all things mad sciencey.

And yes, I know who I am :) Thanks for the shout out!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Cast of Characters

AC -- AD's roommate. Famous for his frustration with his own epic procrastination and ability to curse the latin word on the tip of his tongue.
AD -- my boyfriend. Its new... and exciting... and hard from this distance. An aerospace engineer. Still goes to the famous former football giant across the road from the castle where I went to undergrad.
BD -- one of my best friends from undergrad. Another ex-boyfriend and part of my incestious little circle of friends. Has rigid boundaries that serve him well. Math major and genius.
Dr.jR -- head of the chemistry and biochemistry department. Researches NOM (not eating, sadly, but natural organic material). Nice, but unpredicatble.
DrA -- my research boss. Somewhere in his thirties and totally chill. The first PI I've ever met who bakes cookies during lab meetings.
DrR -- my teaching boss. Crotchety old man who doesn't take shit. Slightly sexist. Smokes like a chimney. A teddy bear.
JL -- our post doc in lab. Chineese. Tells me not to work so hard.
JP -- an ex-boyfriend of mine and sort-of friend. Suitmate of AD. Sort of an asshole. VERY crude. We tend to play off eachother. Once dropped his pants in the middle of a crowded room. Also, halo teabagged someone in real life. More than once. Signature phrase is "Dicking Fuck." Exemplifies why Physics and Math double majors scare me.
Kara -- basically the person who told me to write this.
Michael Cera -- guy in my program. Actually younger than I am (I was suprised). Very nice. Lutheran boy scout. Might decide to teach chemistry. Analytical chemist.
MK -- The youngest member of the Quad (AC, AD, JP and MK). Computer science major. Bearded. Sometimes more mature than his fellow seniors who can drink. More or less uncorrupted. It was adorable when he had his first girlfriend.
N -- my fabulous Indian roommate. Seriously, she is great. And, she feeds me.
St. Pat -- One of the guys in my program. Older than the rest of us by a few years. A good analytical chemist. Smart. Familiar with the works of Joss Whedon.
T -- my former roommate. Gave me a cold for my brithday. LIke, a stuffed one.

A few definations...

Cell Biology -- a field of biology that is basically their answer to the fact that life is based in chemistry. As a graduate level course, it has involved a 2 day lecture on atomic bonding and the Krebs cycle. These were things covered in my freshman chemistry and biology courses.
Cubby's -- My prefered non smoking bar in graduate school
Macrophage -- Somestimes called Macs; a type of immune cell, and the target of my research. I've been told they're ugly, but I think they're pretty cute when I get to dye them pretty colors with florescent dye or proteins and look at them under the microscope. I get geeky abou them.
Microscope -- Dr.A's big, expensive microscope that looks at cells. It can see brightfield (normal cells) and florescent ones. We can also see if protiens are clumping together with it.
Students -- I teach freshman science majors, except for the ones who want to be chemists. I have a lot of engineers, a handful of premeds and biologists, and quite a few pre-pharmacy. Sometimes agravating, often exhausting, and a huge time suck. I want them to suceed, which, according to my defination, is learn something.

WARNING: Scientific Content

I realize that not all of my readers are scientists (I think maybe 1/3?), and even fewer are chemists. So, I propose a science warning system.

* Basic science. Things you should have learned in school if you had been paying attention. Or... if you don't know this, you need to talk to T because our science education system sucks.

** High School/Freshman college science and math. Stuff I would expect you to know after a calculus class and at least one class in physical and life science.

*** Some scientific knowledge. Let's assume you've had 1+ upper level science course in either biology or chemistry.

****Upper level science. You probably need 3 - 4 years of college chemistry/biology to get this part. Maybe not, though. I'll try to avoid this as much as possible. Sometimes, though, I can't help myself and I geek.