Wednesday, December 24, 2008

'08 in retrospect

I know... I know... it's Christmas Eve and instead of going to another one of those family-friendly holiday parties (read: the one where people my parents' age tell me how much I've grown), I'm sitting here listening to whatever music I have stored on my computer and updating this blog I created. Anyway, the cell bio final (which I was panicking about) turned out to be pretty easy, and I don't have to think about class for another week, so now I intend to forget all about RTKs and G proteins. Oh wait... what about next term's rotations? oh well...
Quite a year in retrospect...originally I thought that graduation would change a lot of things. So many people moving out of AA, getting jobs, off to med school, grad school, or whatever plans they have... clear across the country. I had thought that this past summer would be pretty mellow, since my friends were leaving and grad school, along with a complete shift in priorities, was starting. But in reality, this summer was pretty much one big hurrah interrupted with labwork, locking myself out, and accidentally flooding the zebrafish room. That and drama... not the minor kind that keeps life interesting, but the kind that I haven't seen since middle school. Best song to describe it would prolly be that Maroon 5 song "Tangled."
Grad school in itself is relatively enjoyable; it makes me a little sad that people in PIBS aren't as close knit as the physics grad students I know. The first year physics students have their offices all in this one hallway, and even tho there are assigned desks and rooms, nobody really pays attention, so books, like their owners, are all over the place. It's not just studying either; Michelle says that the boys in the department have already broken a grand total of three ceiling tiles, got reprimanded by both the building manager and older grad students for playing soccer/kickball/football in the hallway, and I guess for just being obnoxious in general. And maybe for also throwing full Nalgene bottles at each other. Gotta love 'em...and their whiteboard of inappropriate quotes.
I think it's nice that even though we're all in grad school and have definitely matured since freshman year of undergrad, we're in no way transcending insane or boring.
Looking forward to next term, since I'm taking development (finally!) and a seminar on teaching in science. Should be fun. Plus my lab rotations will be back in Nat Sci, so maybe a little more time to visit the physics department and promote, er, PREVENT, future ceiling tile destruction. That, and Michelle and I decided that we need to go sledding in the Arb. But since nobody has a sled or toboggan or sorts, we'll use Ben as the human sled. He won't mind.
Hopefully.