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loriling
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Name: Lorraine
Birthday: 9/6/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: sleeping, painting, listening to music.
Expertise: losing things
2-1 wallet
2-10 digital camera
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/4/2003
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| How many times have I been told that success in life entails "working hard, getting into a good college, then afterward getting a good job or more school then getting a good job" LIES!!! LIES!!
that working hard bit is such BULLSHIT in context of my past three months of grad school. After two major exams, one each in my core grad classes, I have performed 2 standard deviations below the mean. this is not some abstract percentage of possible points. This is how i'm doing among my cohort of 1st years. In this context my performance is outright pathetic ::sigh:: WTF, I'm not sleeping in class, I do all my problem sets, I go to office hours. WTF?!?! I spent so much time studying. I felt so ready and then to get ::bitch slap:: by those tests. all those hours of my LIFE that I am never getting back, completely WASTED on studying. It makes me wonder why I should even put in the
effort when my best effort results in such PITIFUL output---2 SDs below
the mean.
::CRY:::
I know I'm not stupid. I conclude that working hard is useless.
WHY haven't I learned to study smarter or work smarter? HOW can I study smarter and work less? no pity, just suggestions?
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| Hi Folks,
boy it's been a while since I wrote an entry. but now I have things to share. I made my big move across the country last Saturday with my mom helping me bring luggage. In total I had 5 suitcases. My 2 bedroom apt is a short 12min walk from the Biology building. All last week was Biology Prep week and GSC (grad student council) sponsored orientation events. I had free food and alcohol everyday and never had to buy a meal. At MIT grad students outnumber undergrads so there were many activities. We had talks and lectures on nearly everything: fFrom navigating the Infinite Corridor to fighting depression, from ultimate frisbe to health insurance. On Sunday I went on a Bost Cruise on the Charles River. I never went on the one at Cal for undergrads so this is my substitute experience. Drinks were outrageuosly overpriced; and one of my classmates actually snuck aboard alcohol. He had a hiker's plastic water pouch strapped to the small of his back and a small flask under his khakis by his ankle, both filled with vodka. At security check point while he was getting patted down, the security guard felt the flask by his ankle shook his head and told him " just get on the boat." The boat left the dock around 7:30pm, and we watched the sunset. Boston skyline is quite lovely but unfortunately I couldn't recognize any of the buildings except for the Prudential skyscraper. My classmates (28 of them) are an awesome group. Most are from the states and two are international (from Singapore and Germany). There are also two students from Puerto Rico, but that is technically part of the U.S.
Today was registration day. I met with my faculty advisor who had my form. a quick chat, we both signed the form and then I turned the paper into the office of registrar. all this time I'm thinking " WHY isn't this process electronic and online? this is MIT right?" So my core classes are Grad level Biochemistry, grad level Genetics, Methods and Logic. I am shopping around for my elective and final class: microbial physiology, cell biology, or devolpment. I'll choose one by the end of next week. This semester will be course intensive and next semester I'll start research in lab rotations.
The weather is comfortable when the wind blows cool air from the Atlantic. otherwise it's hot and humid. I'm excited for the leaves to change color in the fall, and dreading the long winters.
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| Time: 6:15pm April 15th
Location: MUNI train headed towards downtown.
At Church or Castro Station a group of LOUD teens or young adults enters my MUNI car. (on a side note, what is a term for people 18-24 but not using "college age"?) Their voices included phrases like "that nigga.." "this nigga..." etc. I certainly heard them before I saw who was making all that racket. A trio of young black men, dressed in baggy pants. one in a hoodie, another in a athletic blue jacket, a third in a checker-board T-shirt.
Two sat down, and the third, who was the most rotund, tried to sit across from his friends by asking a lady if the seat next to her was free. However, when she swiveled to the side to allow him access to the window seat next to her, the fat one literaly wailed "oh , nuh un, you gotta move over, I ain't gonna have you squeeze next to my ass." The indignant lady did not move over. the trio laughed out lound, and FAtty just stood up for the whole trip. the one in athletic jacket stared down another MUNI passenger and charged "What are you lookin at? ... yeah just look away." During the rest of our shared ride, I tried to concentrate on my crossword but they maintained a loud and opinionated conversation. "sister, does my ass look fat?" "sister, your jacket is phat." "Sister, that nigga is ...."etc. They acted as stereotypically gay as Hollywood can caricaturize-- limp wrists, lisps, high pitched wailing.
When they finally exited the MUNI at Civic center station, a fellow passenger, also a young black man, broke the ice and sighed "well, that was awkward." nearly everyone in the vicinity of where the trio once was, broke out into chuckles. I too found myself laughing. Laughing at the peculiar instance of how one stereotype was replaced by another.
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| I'm going to graduate school this Fall, pursuing a PhD in Biology at MIT. that's my big news to share. It's a funny "tongue-sticking out jeering" moment for me because I applied to MIT for undergraduate studies but was not accepted. Now I'm attending my first-choice institution all paid for by the federal government. It's not a "free-ride" by any means. Grad students on average work more than 40 hr/wk. I'm excited to return to academia; I feel my brain has been atrophying this past year.
AFter 22 years of my Bay Area Bubble (a very comforting bubble), I will venture to a brand new place without anything or anybody familiar. But it's not some dire "I'm moving to Antarctica to study penguins" type of of move. I think NYC is about a 3-4 hour train ride away from Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum and Megan (if you're still there.) It's a challenge; a good kid of scary. The PhD program is on average 5.5 years long. The length is reported as an average because to graduate you have to present and defend a thesis paper, whose completion is 50% hard work and 50% luck.
I'm a social person by nature. I have no concerns of adapting to the four seasons of New England. I think I've always had a bit of Wanderlust in me. And I'll have more blog posts to come to chronicle this next stage of my life.
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| continuing my chronicles of Interviewing at grad schools......
Seattle
so I forgot to write an entry on Seattle and my memories are rusty right now. However, I'll do my best to entertain you folks.
First impressions of Seattle: beautifully dotted with lakes. I didn't go on the neighborhood tour, but other grad students' testimonies reveal that renting a room will be a bit cheaper than in Berkeley. I opted for the tourist sightseeing trip instead of the wine-tasting trip. I visited downtown SD, Pike's Place and the Seattle Space Needle. Traffic was terrible that afternoon because there was an Obama Rally in town that very same day. Pike's Place reminds me of the Ferry Building, a facade of local, oozing with tourists, and nothing that I would seriously buy. there were many local artisans and crafters at one end of the market. Towards the other end were produce stalls, fish and meat stalls. However this demarcation was more haphazard than I would have expected. A good walk trhough, but I can't imagine locals coming here to get their meats and produce on a daily basis. Also the supposed "original" Starbucks coffee shop is across the street from Pike's Place.
The Space Needle was equally disappointing. I think I'm just unfortunately growing old and that fantastical thrill of heights has just lost that lovin' feeling. So we went up on the elevator, walked around the observation deck one, twice and that's it.
On the last night, at a party hosted by a grad student, I left my cell phone at his house. coming home to SF and the Bay Area, I spent a week of punishment without my cell phone. they mailed it back to me and I finally got it on Friday.
Weather: Seattle gets a bad rep for weather. It wasn't that bad. A bit overcast and drizzly on the first day, but the rest were pleasant, and sometimes sunny.
San Diego.
fresh in my mind. the weather just SUCKED the entire vist. foggy, overcast, COLd, and still SUCKS. today lots of rain. I couldn't see the ocean. Because of the weather, the interview kicked into its rain-mode plan B. No bonfire by the beach =( No visit to the SD Zoo (no pandas) =( My shorts sat uselessly in my luggage. Luckily the alternatives were awesome. Tuesday night I had dinner at Karl Strauss brewery and restaurant. it's a local micro brewery. the place looks so small compared to Pyramid, without the nice humming of the fermenters in the background. Housing is San Diego is very easy to find and affordable. check plus.
Wed morning was my first set of interviews with faculty at the Salk Institute. The Salk has some sexy architecture, concrete juxtaposed with sea-weathered wood. Wednesday night we had dinner inside the Scripps Aquarium. haha, we had fish and sharks staring at us as we ate our meals. Afterwards, our night activity was bowling. I haven't gone bowling in such a long time. I remember prom night bowling quite a few spares. that night I just sucked, lots of gutter balls, the beer probably didn't help with coordination either.
Thursday morning were the second set of interviews with UCSD faculty. in the afternoon I went rockclimbing. I learned to belay (sp?) First time ever and it was AWESOME. At night they split us up into smaller groups for intimate dinners with faculty at various restaurants. My group went to a Yakitori restaurant in Hillcrest. It's was refreshing to taste another aspect of Japanese cuisine that was not sushi and teriyaki.
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