A salute to "the greatest show on Earth."

   The assumption that the universe can always be broken down and resolved into easily understood adages and Wikipedia articles is an erroneous one. The fact is that some things are, even in their most condensed forms, still fantastically complicated. Such is the case with evolution and the evidence for it. Admittedly, the proof for evolution - especially considering molecular sequence data and certain dating methods concerning fossils - is probably too sophisticated for non-scientists. Or at least it requires more time to look into than most people can or will afford it. 
   My recommendation: grant the specialists - geneticists, paleontologists, geologists, anatomist, physiologists, etc. - that have spent their lives researching this stuff and converging on near unanimous support for evolution via natural selection the same trust you do the pharmacists and medical doctors that prescribe you medical treatments (they are, after all, scientists, too!). Just for a minute unhinge yourself from the religion, upbringing, etc. that won't allow you to either look into the facts yourself( and in time understand them), or trust the many great people that have contributed to our understanding of "the greatest show on Earth."

What is success?

Success is accomplishment/attainment of some desirable outcome or result as defined by the entity using the word. As such, there are many different definitions of "success" relative to the individual, political party, graduate admissions board, etc. Defining it this way, and operating on the assumption that you're interested in my ideas and not a political party's, I think a good approach to a response is to list what I want for myself for the future, again with success being the acquisition of the listed.

• A fully funded Ph.D. in a biology related field.
• A research position in industry (that is, one far from teaching) in which I would be challenged to come up with exciting, new, and innovative technologies and information related to cell, molecular, or some other sub-field of biology. 
• A group of friends and colleagues I can feel comfortable around; ones that I would appreciate, and that would appreciate me as a person.
• Maintaining connection with my family in Michigan especially if I end up living out of state. 
• A (long awaited) feeling of financial security and solvency.

I think these 5 points pretty accurately encompass what success is to me with regards to my life. As mentioned, success is really just the achievement of some goal, idea, or condition an entity sets for itself or others. These are my goals and ideas, and I intend to do everything I can to manifest them.

Success awaits, comrades.

Camp Epiphanies

   Camp was a lot of information cramming into a small amount of time, so there wasn't much time for an epiphany. Reflecting however, I think there are a couple things I took away from camp that come somewhat close to epiphanies. 

   1.) The discovery of a Microbiology & Pathogenesis Ph.D. program. Apparently, many schools offer this option, which I was previously completely unaware of, but seemingly fits my interests perfectly. The idea is to research new or alternative treatments for infectious diseases.

    2.) My portfolio is probably not as bad as I previously thought. Maureen's presentation really helped me toward this conclusion, also making me less anxious for the GRE, and more confident in my grad program search. 

   3.) Finally, I sort of realized that maybe this whole grad program search thing is better done in company even if no one else in the cohort is interested in pursuing a similar degree. Sitting with some fellow scholars outside of the mock interviews on the last full day of camp, I couldn't help but notice how much better the grad school search experience was with people to bug about this faculty member's project or that school's stipend and health coverage.

My Voice

"Your 'voice' is your unique contribution that is made up of your passion, talent, values and the 'needs' of the world - what problems need to be addressed and solved?  What can you do that other people can't?" - Lynn Curry.

In response:
My passion is for problem solving. It's my reason for pursuing a terminal degree and the reason I keep going from day to day. 

My talent is for considering the many intricate and generally complicated and hidden variables in a situation. This ability fuels my passion for problem solving, and most often gets me into trouble - it seems people would rather believe things are either good or bad, black or white, than spend time facing reality for what it really is: a labyrinthine yet systematic array of facts. 

I value truth and coffee. Science brings me close to both, so it's my favorite. 

The world is full of people willing to believe whatever lie makes itself most evident and takes the least amount of convincing. The world needs to emancipate itself from the tendency to only consider the most superficial aspect of problems and enter the domain of critical thinking. I confidently believe that you can't ever hope to solve a problem without fully understanding it. Any attempt at a solution will create another problem until the entire situation is considered with all of the facets that feed into it.

What I can do that other people can't is exactly what my talent is: to look at the complexity of a situation and consider all of the aspects of the problem. My hope is that considering this, I will inspire a new approach to whatever field I end up in.

Concerning Strengths and Cohort Contributions

Considering my contributions (voice) in our cohort, I'd like to first consider my strengths according to strengthfinder.com (1 to 5, 1 being the strongest):

1. Self-Assurance

2. Command

3. Analytical

4. Intellection

5. Arranger

Now my 5 weakest qualities according to the site (1 to 5, 1 being the weakest):

1. Positivity (Har har...)

2. Harmony

3. Context

4. Connectedness

5. Includer

So, now having seen the spread, you're probably wondering why I haven't attempted to overthrow Lynn, Maureen, and Kim for sole dictatorial control over the program. I assure you, it's on the way, but for now (admittedly more realistically) I'm still trying to find where I stand within the group. As I mentioned to Miki (the other power-hungry, cold controller of the group) earlier today at the seminar, it's odd being in a hierarchy-free sort of arrangement like we have. I feel like what's inevitably going to happen is I'm going to rely more heavily on my 4th strength - intellection - by focusing on intellectual discussion and introversion. It's at least the most civil direction to go in I feel. My contributions will be limited to my analysis of whatever interesting debates/discussions are going on individually, with little effort in the sense of cohort-wide direction.

That's probably all for now. 

My research

As per a conversation I had earlier with Tarah and Matt, I won't be posting my entire research proposal on here, but since this blog is for you fellow McNair scholars and since you've all seen me present my project anyway, I'll just briefly describe what I've been doing lately in lab for now.

Generally this week was slow in lab. My research involves a lot of tests that take hours or days to complete, so I spent most of my time setting up conditions for research after the Kentucky trip. I didn't get the full 20 hours in lab - again because there isn't much I can start and leave for a week - but considering my schedule, I'm pretty happy with what I've accomplished.

Regarding the procedural side of things, since Monday I've grown a strain of yeast (SGY 102) which will be implanted with the specific plasmids from two bacterial strains (B181, B182) which I've extracted the DNA from and frozen for tomorrow's transformation.

Mostly what I've been doing this week is making myself anxious for the hardcore research I plan on doing upon our return from camp. I can't wait to have something more substantive to report to you all, including (dare I mention it) results!

To kill an error...