Something to think about...

I have now had a complete 6 days of class. Not too bad. I've already read 10 journal articles and some textbook stuff. But I'm not behind... although I do need to do more for neurology... Anyhow, school is going well. My group for the big project in my experimental social psych class is all girls. Oddly enough, we are all 5th year seniors, and all were raised as practicing Catholics. (the only reason I know about the religion part is our topic is: "uncertainty and religion". So far we seem to get along. With are similarities I'm not too worried.

Something interesting... I was approached a few days ago (via e-mail) about meeting with a recruiter for Teach for America. They said regardless of my post-graduation plans they would like to talk to me. I went in expecting just to talk to them with no interest in applying, but I became interested in at the least considering it. 2-year commitment, they can set up with deferral for graduate school if I get in, I get a stipend, a regular teacher's salary, and benefits. Plus I get to teach a topic I'm familiar with. So I'm going to talk to the genetic counselors I work with and feel for what they think. Although part of me just wants to be done with my own schooling! Hmmm... It was nice to be referred to a recruiter though!

Ok... now time to read for tomorrow's class!

Feeling Good

Yeah, I'm in my fifth year... but I am feeling good!! I got a letter today acknowledging my leadership demonstrated in Scholars Ambassadors and asking if I would talk to a Teach for America representative next week 'about my achievements on campus and ways to network with other top students. Wow! Talk about feeling accomplished. I always feel like I'm the type of person that doesn't really stick out, but maybe... just maybe I do.

Testing... testing...

This quarter will be a true test for graduate school. I can already tell. The main reason I say this is because if I added any more work for myself this quarter I would have to be suicidal (my brain would explode from trying to cram it with more information and not giving it any sleep). --are you glad I didn't make that one any more graphic? Today I had two classes

The good news- I have great teachers! Both of them are great a lecturing and have a really good sense of humor. I was laughing all throughout my 9:00 class (good way to start the day). I'm also encouraged by the fact that this teacher has no midterms, and doesn't seem to have a final. He has 4 really big quizzes. Well, he said he wasn't sure how to 'title' them; they're bigger than a quiz (1hr long) but smaller than a midterm. So there you have it. The other good thing, he tests from his class notes (my favorite).

My afternoon teacher I've had twice before, and he is great as always. I also got to briefly catch up with him about his summer, so that was nice too. Having the same teacher repeatedly is another way to make OSU feel small (plus the class has no more than 20 people in it).

The bad news- This quarter I have a lot of memorization, a ton of reading, and lots of experimental designing! My morning class is a biology class disguised as a psychology class. Sure they call it Psych 313- Psychobiology. But today the mask was removed and the true title revealed: Behavioral Neuroscience (aka- anatomy and physiology of the brain). I think he will be a fabulous instructor, but it doesn't change the fact that I will have to learn every structure and function of the brain!

My afternoon class is loaded with reading-- which as everyone knows takes me 3X longer than the average slow reader. For Monday I have to read 40 text book pages, plus 4 articles totaling 80 journal pages. Then more for Wednesday! At least it seems interesting. We'll have to see what tomorrow's class brings.

Some exciting news... Dr. Nygren (my thesis advisor) was discussing my project with another faculty member, and she was excited about my project! I'm meeting with the two of them Friday, I think she could really improve my project, and she seems to have an interest! Makes me feel good about the ideas I'm putting out. I also found out that she's well known and has an extensive amount of publications. So I'm very excited about that!

Tonight I'm going to Brazenhead for $3 burger night. Leah's sister is in town, so a bunch of us are going to meet and go there for dinner! So that's it for now... just thought I'd update about my first day of my last year at OSU!!

Calm before the storm

A little over a week ago was my 23rd birthday! Can you believe it? It's the first time I started to feel like I'm getting old.

My birthday went great! My parents came up and we played some games with Dave and Pat before heading to Cameron's for dinner. Cameron's may just be my new favorite restaurant! The food was amazing (I would have to say cruise quality!) Mmmm... I would have liked to try desert because everything else was so good, but my mom had brought german chocolate cake- my favorite! (Yes I'm spoiled). After dinner we went to Kate and Greg's for cake and to open some gifts. Colin was better at helping me with the gift opening this year. While I didn't get to take any of the paper off the boxes, he didn't really care about what was in them. He was also very good about throwing away all of the paper.

For my birthday, my friends and I were originally going to go to Thurman's. So we delayed our trip until Monday. Unfortunately, many of them couldn't make it. But I still had a great time with those that could. Leah, (her) Dave, Amanze, Pat, Amy, Fred, and I all had a good time.

Let's see... what else...
I've been studying for the GRE, and getting nervous. I'm still not sure when I'll be taking it, but it should be relatively soon.

I took off work this week to help settle into the school year. Yesterday I bought books. It amazes me at how expensive 3 little books can be! >$200!! Yuck. After I bought books I walked through the oval where they were having the involvement fair. I'm glad I thought about it and called my cousin, Chris. He was actually really close to me when I called so we walked around together and ate some free food.

That's really about it. We'll have to see how this quarter goes... I'm so nervous! But as always, I'll try my best. Feel free to call me as much as you'd like this quarter! I may be too busy to give myself a break to blog often, but I may need one!

Change in Plans

I'll start you off with a pretty picture of an 800 ft bridge from our rafting trip...
and a picture of me and the girls before Cecilia left for Pittsburgh.

Just when you think you have it all figured out...
So I was told this week it isn't in my best interest to apply to Cincinnati for graduate school. And I think I have to agree. They are updating their program, and while it may be ready for a new class... it would make me a guinea pig class. So while it would be extremely nice to be able to live at home, I think that it may be better to just try to get into other programs. Plus, they might change their minds and not take anyone for next year, and I don't want to have wasted money on an application fee.

Right now here are the schools I'm thinking about applying to (in no particular order). Northwestern, Case Western, Pittsburgh, Arcadia (in Philadelphia), Indiana, Wisconsin, and then I'm still debating on Maryland and Sarah Lawrence. Maryland takes 4-5 people; and while Sarah Lawrence takes 24, they are in New York and I'm afraid it may be too expensive and far away. I am scared that by taking away UC I not only may hurt my acceptance chances, but also I am mixed in feelings about going far away. While I feel good about my resume, I still remind myself I may not get in on my first shot. But I am going to try my hardest. We will just have to see. This year is going to breeze by.

My timeline for applying to graduate school:
by Early October: take the GRE

by early November: have a good draft of essays/ personal statement/ resume

by mid December: finish and send application to IU, Arcadia, Northwestern, and Sarah Lawrence? (all with deadline of Jan 15.)

by mid January: finish and send applications to Case Western, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, and Maryland? (all with deadline of Feb. 1)-- unless I send them with the first batch

by February and March I should hear if I have offers for interviews

in March-April I will go to such interviews

May 2- should be notified of any acceptances/wait-list standing
May 9- must tell final decision!

So... I'm hoping to get to May 9th!

Well... this entry is getting very long, and I bet you really don't care about any of it... but more to write...

Today I got to shadow Rob (my boss). It was really interesting getting to see a different type of counseling session. I feel really good about actually doing well in the profession, so that's encouraging. Ok, I'll stop posting for now... If you are still reading, hopefully I'll post again soon... so you have more nonsense to read! I can't believe that classes start in less than 2 weeks! Where has the time gone?

Oh Boy... I'm in Trouble

This blog needs to have an attachment so that when I actually update it will let you know. I am awful at consistently blogging. It didn't help that I didn't have internet in my apartment for 2.5 months, but there was still not really any excuse. What can I say... I'm a loser.

I would say that I don't blog much because my life is fairly stable, and nothing new and exciting really happens to discuss... but again, that's a lie. This summer has been a blast. I got to see Cecilia and Leah a TON! We did dinner nights a few times a week together, and it was simply wonderful.

I also got a job working full time for a genetic counselor (it was 2, but then I finished the project for one of them). The counselors I work for are in clinical cancer genetics at OSU. I really like everyone I work with, it's a great environment. I have learned a ton, and feel it is yet again a good fit for me. I'm so excited to get a move on in this career. Applications, GRE... here I come...

One of the highlights of my summer had to be White Water Rafting. I went with several of my close friends. What a blast. I'm ready to go back!! We went to the New River in West Virginia. Gorgeous.

See? That was our crew.

Cecilia started graduate school at Pittsburg already, and she said she's loving it. So that's good.

Now for the bad news... I don't like to complain/ freak out on my blog. I'm not sure why, but I try to avoid it. In reality, I am scared to death about fall quarter. Why?? Let's see what I have on my plate:

Course 1: We start out with an appealing 18 credit hours of class (3 of which go towards course 2)
Course 2: The credit hours are complimented by finding time to finish my survey for my thesis project, and actually having people take it!
Course 3: For an extra spicy new addition to the menu I will be taking the GRE
Course 4: The spice of course three will set the palate to truly enjoy applying to 8-9 graduate schools (can we say essay's??)
Course 5: Just for desert I decided to add 10-15 hours a week working at the clinical cancer genetic facility.

And of course I will wash that all down with 2 hours a week of test counseling, and the ever more delicious hours of studying!

Hopefully this will all settle well... because I don't like to complain on this blog! (did I mention that?) So if you wonder why I don't update... think about how full I already am... I'm already studying for the GRE, and well... we won't go there.