Week 12 Famous Last Words: So Long, Farwell

With the completion of this post I will have achieved the minimum amount of points to get an A in this class! I am so excited that I decided to take this class. It was very rewarding and I have honestly learned a lot from the readings that I would have otherwise never have even considered reading. It was great that I got to reconnect with someone that I knew in high school and got to meet other people both within my major and those who are not. This class was great at allowing me to express my imagination and creative capabilities. It is something that I would like to continue to develop after this class.

Since I am done, I now have time to focus on my other projects and finals in my other classes. I have not decided yet if I want to comeback next week or later before the end of the semester and complete my Storybook. I have put a lot of time and energy into the development of the plot and the characters and I would like to see it to its completion.

It is strange how it has only taken 51 posts to achieve a total of 410 points, but I have worked hard and did my best to stay diligent in doing the daily and weekly assignments as well as a few extra credit assignments each week. I look forward to seeing what everyone in this class does in the coming semesters and in the future after graduation.

I wanted to say thank you to everyone for your comments and support on my stories and my Storybook throughout the semester. You have all been really helpful. A special shout out to Dr. Laura Gibbs for her hard work on the development of this class and her insightful comments and critiques on my stories.

BYE!

Week 11 Famous Last Words: Excuse me while I move to the Projects

Projects on projects on projects on projects.

I have so many coming up and I can begin to feel the pressure rising from them.

For one class, this project is completely optional and serves as a source of extra credit. Now, the professor made it optional, but with the current class average, the only thing that will keep many in the class afloat is by doing this project. Luckily, I am doing alright in this class so I have the luxury of skipping out on it. I thought long and hard about it, and I decided to do it, albeit half-assed, but I will do it. I figure it would be a nice cushion to have should I do poorly on the next exam or the final.

Another class I have a project is basically just a paper on my favorite infectious disease. Now going into it, I though it would be easy. But the disease I chose does not have a lot of research that has gone into it since it is considered a "neglected tropical disease." The length of the paper is not terrible, but I worry about the quality since all that I currently have is about half of the requirement. I could fluff it up, but I hate writing scientific papers like that.

Finally, my last project serves as a final. I am in a group of three and we are doing our topic on a rather hot topic in the microbial ecology community. Unfortunately, the other two in my group have almost no research skills. The first time we met to work on it they brought sources from Wikipedia and other non-peer reviewed sources. They also are not motivated at all to do it. Most of the work for this project I have done alone so it is an added stress.

Luckily, I have the project in this class too. It is actually the only one I look forward to doing...

The Projects

Week 10 Famous Last Words: I am a survivor

So this week had its ups and downs.

In the beginning of the week, I had a phone conversation with a Primary Investigator (PI) from a lab at the University of Alabama. As we talked, he told me that he wanted me to go do my Masters research with him on the ecology of subterranean ecosystems. It was an exciting moment, I had finally got someone who is willing to take me in as their student next year!

Unfortunately, later that day, I started to feel a little off. I went home early from the lab where I am doing my senior thesis research and went straight to bed (4:30 PM) I woke up at 10:00 with intense stomach pain and rumbling bowel movements that sounded and felt like an earthquake (it was actually an interesting experience in hindsight). I had some sort of stomach bug! I was out of commission for the whole day and the next. It was terrible. A few of my friends and other people in my department got it as well. It was quite literally and figuratively a shitty experience.

Even though I recovered by Thursday, my whole week was shot. I had no motivation and no energy to do anything. While my stomach pains and frequent trips to the bathroom stopped, I found out it was only because I had run out of things to expel from my body. Every time I ate something, not even an hour later, it would be back outside of me. In a course of over 48 hours, all I ate was a tortilla and half a glass of water. I was extremely dehydrated on Thursday and Friday. I guess the moral of this story is to wash your hands kids.

Image courtesy of the CDC

Week 1 Famous Last Words: One last year

The title of this makes me think of MCR...

So for those of you who do not know, this is my last year at OU as an undergraduate. After this semester, all I need to take to get my degree is a total of 7 hours. It is all very exciting and quite terrifying at the same time as my future after May 2017 is currently obscured with a grey haze. I took the GRE earlier this week and inquired to some professors at different universities around the US about a graduate position in their lab, but there has been no luck yet.

It has all been very stressful. I think I will continue to do the "Famous Last Words" posts as a way to remain encouraged and set goals throughout the semester as I am sure that certain things are not going to work out for me whether it be my applications, my experiments for my thesis, or just a really bad day. I am also easily distracted, so having goals written down somewhere might keep me on track.

For my first week, I want to hit the ground running and get some preliminary results on my thesis project. This experiment is make or break, folks. If it works, my idea is golden and I can proceed as planned, if it does not, then I have to come up with an entirely different thesis topic. No pressure bacteria, but don't let me down. I also want to maintain my head start in this class, I know it will be difficult, but I also know that it will be so beneficial to me in the end.

Be sure to check in next week as I will tell you my results on the experiment and let you know if I kept my lead in this course. You can also see my next goals for Week 2 of school.

Cover art of the My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade.
I am feeling very nostalgic about my middle school days...