My last scheduled interview is now over and I must say, I have a mixed set of emotions about the whole experience. I spent Thursday morning traveling and arrived to my destination at 11am; making the most of the time, I unpacked, ironed and caught a quick nap. I awoke starving and made my way down to the lobby to have a quick bite to eat. Eating quickly, I found that I had quit a large amount of time and so I decided to go explore the campus. I walked around for a while, taking pictures and looking at all of the nature surrounding me. It really was quite beautiful there. Several of my friends attend this school and I had plans on the first and second nights to meet them for drinks. Friend "A" called me early and asked if I was already on campus because he had a break; the two of us met up and he showed me his lab as well as around campus. I saw the undergraduates in their natural environment; something quite fun to observe. It was great catching up with him and we planned to meet later for drinks after he was done teaching. I returned to my hotel to read about the professors who I may be meeting with and then grabbed dinner. Having not much to do, I returned to my room and watched a few movies. After drinks with my friend, I figured I would call it a night and that is when my roommate showed up. He was a nice enough guy; he introduced himself and we exchanged pleasantries as he ironed his clothes in preparation for the next day. As soon as he was done, we both called it a night.
The first day of the actual interview was quite rapid. There were several faculty presentations where everything was discussed; from the funding the school receives to the requirements of the students. The faculty then gave a few presentations about their work (lasting several hours). We then were ushered to another building and here 3 more presentations were delivered where the facilities and associated businesses were reviewed. Finally we broke for lunch at 11 and it was at this time other graduate students from the program joined us. It was an excellent time to get to discuss labs and professors with them in an attempt to get their opinions. After lunch we had 2-15 minute interviews; 1 interview involved 3 professors and the other consisted of 3 graduate students. These interviews were conducted in a pannel like form and all asked similar questions. They were:
1) Discuss your current research
2) Why Immunology?
3) Why this school?
4) What do you like to do beyond science?
The other professors of course asked more questions than that and some were definitely more probing. I found the way that I was asked some of questions (i.e. tone or structure) to be mildly off-putting. I was hoping to meet with some of the professors on a one-on-one basis but that didn't seem to happen. After the interviews we were taken on several tours and then shuttled to a professor's house for dinner. Here we talked with more grad students and faculty. Again, I was hoping the faculty whose research I am interested would be present, but alas, they did not show. I returned back to my hotel room around 8 and my other friends took me to downtown to have a few beers and discuss the whole process. It was great seeing them and I gained some wonderful insight into how their university conducts the process.
The second day was much more brief; we began by having breakfast and heard several short lectures from professors about their work. There was then a student poster session, followed by 2 short talks from students about their work. Finally, a winner of the research was awarded, and the program director thanked all those who helped in the planning of the recruitment event. We were then set to have lunch when I got pulled for one more interview by one of the faculty who originally reviewed my application. She again asked almost the identical questions as before. My roommate and I were the only two to have such an experience and it left me wondering why? Of the number of applicants who attended, I have been lead to believe that about 50% of us will be offered admittance. So the question remains in my mind "Was this a good thing to have this additional interview? Was it because they were on the fence about us and they wanted to know more?" I don't know...I hope it went well. I guess we'll see soon.
Now back to the lab to finish experiments and data counting so I can finish, officially, my thesis.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Next at Bat
In total, it was almost a full week that passed between my initial projected deadline and my actual completion of my first draft. Though I am frustrated by the process, my professor seems supportive and understanding of the situation. I believe that this is something required for being a mentor; a kind of patience that I do not necessarily possess...or have yet to acquire.
Having completed my first draft, I uploaded it to a third party site so that my professor could download it (as it is too big to email) and immediately began putting together data for my thesis committee meeting. I began preparing this presentation at 1:00pm on Sunday afternoon and finished around 1:30am Monday, stopping occasionally for a few food breaks. Though not fully prepared or practiced, I presented my research to my thesis committee at 1:00pm Monday afternoon. Lasting a little longer than an hour and 30 minutes, I was thoroughly exhausted; having stood and spoken for that long, I was glad when I was once again finally able to sit and have some water. The whole process was very similar to a lab meeting where we present our data to our lab-mates, they are allowed to interrupt and as questions through out the process. This, however, I was not necessarily ready for and quite frequently lost my train of thought; something I obviously saw frustrating my professor as she watched me speak. The lesson that I've learned throughout my under/graduate career is that I am not one who can speak extemporaneously about my work. I need practice and time to make sure I get the points out that need to be made in a clear and logical order.
Having completed two major milestones for this week, I took a small break in the form of dinner and a few drinks with my parents before beginning to read a paper that I need to present to my research lab for Wednesday's meeting. This entry serves as yet another break from that endeavour as I find myself trying desperately to stay focussed on the subject at hand, but lacking the energy required. This presentation must be completed by Wednesday evening, before 5pm. The post celebratory event will be to return home only to pack my belongings and prepare myself for the journey of Thursday; I am to travel, once again, to another interview. It too, is a two day process. I may have a roommate and so I do not know that I will be able to record here my adventures. However, I shall, to the best of my abilities, steal away to write when I can and then upload the results.
In the weeks and months yet to come, there are a lot of things to accomplish before I have a final draft of my thesis. There are experiments yet to run and data still to quantify. I don't know how I'll do it all, I am exhausted already and I know I have a marathon to run in less than a month. What will happen next is anyone's guess. I am glad, thus far, that I've committed to writing at least once a week; it has served as an excellent source to vent frustration and exhaustion.
Wish me luck on my interview.
Having completed my first draft, I uploaded it to a third party site so that my professor could download it (as it is too big to email) and immediately began putting together data for my thesis committee meeting. I began preparing this presentation at 1:00pm on Sunday afternoon and finished around 1:30am Monday, stopping occasionally for a few food breaks. Though not fully prepared or practiced, I presented my research to my thesis committee at 1:00pm Monday afternoon. Lasting a little longer than an hour and 30 minutes, I was thoroughly exhausted; having stood and spoken for that long, I was glad when I was once again finally able to sit and have some water. The whole process was very similar to a lab meeting where we present our data to our lab-mates, they are allowed to interrupt and as questions through out the process. This, however, I was not necessarily ready for and quite frequently lost my train of thought; something I obviously saw frustrating my professor as she watched me speak. The lesson that I've learned throughout my under/graduate career is that I am not one who can speak extemporaneously about my work. I need practice and time to make sure I get the points out that need to be made in a clear and logical order.
Having completed two major milestones for this week, I took a small break in the form of dinner and a few drinks with my parents before beginning to read a paper that I need to present to my research lab for Wednesday's meeting. This entry serves as yet another break from that endeavour as I find myself trying desperately to stay focussed on the subject at hand, but lacking the energy required. This presentation must be completed by Wednesday evening, before 5pm. The post celebratory event will be to return home only to pack my belongings and prepare myself for the journey of Thursday; I am to travel, once again, to another interview. It too, is a two day process. I may have a roommate and so I do not know that I will be able to record here my adventures. However, I shall, to the best of my abilities, steal away to write when I can and then upload the results.
In the weeks and months yet to come, there are a lot of things to accomplish before I have a final draft of my thesis. There are experiments yet to run and data still to quantify. I don't know how I'll do it all, I am exhausted already and I know I have a marathon to run in less than a month. What will happen next is anyone's guess. I am glad, thus far, that I've committed to writing at least once a week; it has served as an excellent source to vent frustration and exhaustion.
Wish me luck on my interview.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Missed it by THAT much
To quote Steve Carell..."Missed it by THAT much!!!!"
2 days have passed since my deadline and I have not completed my thesis. This was partially my fault and partially not.
As I was entering the final stretch of what would be my first draft, my computer suddenly became glitchy. Without cause or warning, it wouldn't let me save my thesis. Something was drastically wrong and I didn't know what. Having a Mac, I used the "repair disk utility" to see if something was wrong. A few minutes later I discovered that something indeed had gone awry, but it was fixable and fixed. I opened my thesis once again and began working. Unfortunately, a matter of minutes passed and my work was once again compromised. This time, I was highly suspecting something more malicious to be present causing the damage. I installed a malware search program to identify any wrong-doers and dispose of them accordingly. To my surprise, it was clean. Strange to say the least. As I began the disk repair again, it noted several corruptions, though it said that it was unable to repair the damage as it was running on the OS. I had to restart my computer and repair from the Rescue/Repair menue. Easy enough I thought. Before I restarted though, I saved back-up copies of my thesis and relatable files to Google-Drive (an online storage space...I highly recommend using it). I restarted my computer and ran the disk-repair.
Much to my dismay, there was a hard-disk error that was not repairable. My heart sank and I was sick. It suggested my backing everything up and Formatting my hard-drive. Oddly enough, it would not let me re-enter my computer to do so. I was stuck with what I had saved online and saved on my external hard drive (mostly everything... I routinely backup my hard drive every 10 days out of sheer paranoia for such an event as this). I raced to retrieve my thesis and informed my professor of the damage. Having a very understanding and heartfelt talk, she let me know it was okay and that she understood. Calmly I returned home to begin the process of repair.
I initially restored my computer from a previous back-up point. Not a bad solution, taking ~3 hours to do so, I was back in business and began typing away, working at lost figures/legends and all other manner of thesising. Within a half hour, my computer was once again...down. I decided to do a quick format of the hard drive and re-install everything. Luckily for me, I am a minor packrat and hold on to all of my electronics. I have a spare macbook that I was never willing to part ways with and so, I turned to it, my old and trusty friend. As my newest shiny toy was being stripped of all of its files and reinstalled, I began cautiously working on my old one. As I opened my back-up copies, I found that they too, were not functional and so, the corruption was one far reaching beyond my efforts to prevent such a disaster.
A modest amount of work was achieved as I was...disheartened to say the least. Such an event as this takes a lot out of a person...to see my efforts gone, through no fault of my own...no malicious program...no nothing...I felt scared to begin again and the full force of my passion and brain were not behind this. As the night progressed, I watched as the re-installation of my OS occurred (initially saying it would take 12 hours...and then 6) time dragged on. I decided not much would be accomplished at 11pm and so I closed up shop. I was, however, unable to sleep. I finally was greeted by the Sandman at 2am, only to be stirred awake by my Mac, an hour later, letting me know of its completion. A joyous moment, sure, but not one to be having at 3am. I grabbed my external hard drive and had it begin its process of restoration, replacing every file and program from my most recent backup. Hurray for this.
In the midst of everything. I found that the cause of the corruption was the fact that my thesis was "Too Big." To be clear, my thesis was in the 40-50 page range...however, due to figures and charts, the file size was 30+MB. Indeed a large file. Though Microsoft and Mac deny the claims, there are several forums which clearly describe when a file reaches a certain point in Office 2011, there is a problem that arises and this is it. A permanent hard-disk corruption. There is no alternative but to format it and anything new is lost. As I'm not the only one who has experienced this issue, I feel somewhat consoled and somewhat violated. I am angry with both companies...but mostly Microsoft. Having a prejudice against them, I recognize that I must take this into account, but their program cost me time, and energy...though there was no blood, plenty of tears and sweat were poured over this and it only enrages me further. Mac's Pages does not have this problem and I love them for it.
Most of yesterday was reserved for not writing, as it was my birthday and I felt compelled to enjoy it, as much as I could, despite the tragedy. I removed Microsoft office 2011 from my computer only to find that the version of EndNote I possess would not function with Microsoft 2008. Disgruntled, I removed EndNote and restarted my computer. Alas, components remain and so, today, as I write from my Lab, my newest Mac is once again being Formatted (this time, at the most thorough level...doing a 7-pass sweep to ensure deletion. When I return home, I shall re-install the OS and hopefully continue my work from my newest computer.
Lesson's learned:
1) 1 back up isn't good enough
2) Don't just over-write a old file with a new update. Save Save SAVE
3) Keep old electronics. They may save you
4) Sometimes, you need to sit back, say "FUCK IT" and have some whiskey
Note: I discovered the conflict that caused the corruption to be the cause of an incompatibility between MS 2011 and Time Machine (a program responsible for systematic back-ups on the Mac). This problem normally isn't fatal, however, when a file larger that 30MB is being worked on, it becomes so.
For those who doubt and for those who wish to see for themselves: Microsoft Forum on Autosave/Time Machine
Additionally, I received another "No Thank You" from another school.
New Score:
Yes- 1
Interview - 1
No - 5
Unknown - 4
2 days have passed since my deadline and I have not completed my thesis. This was partially my fault and partially not.
As I was entering the final stretch of what would be my first draft, my computer suddenly became glitchy. Without cause or warning, it wouldn't let me save my thesis. Something was drastically wrong and I didn't know what. Having a Mac, I used the "repair disk utility" to see if something was wrong. A few minutes later I discovered that something indeed had gone awry, but it was fixable and fixed. I opened my thesis once again and began working. Unfortunately, a matter of minutes passed and my work was once again compromised. This time, I was highly suspecting something more malicious to be present causing the damage. I installed a malware search program to identify any wrong-doers and dispose of them accordingly. To my surprise, it was clean. Strange to say the least. As I began the disk repair again, it noted several corruptions, though it said that it was unable to repair the damage as it was running on the OS. I had to restart my computer and repair from the Rescue/Repair menue. Easy enough I thought. Before I restarted though, I saved back-up copies of my thesis and relatable files to Google-Drive (an online storage space...I highly recommend using it). I restarted my computer and ran the disk-repair.
Much to my dismay, there was a hard-disk error that was not repairable. My heart sank and I was sick. It suggested my backing everything up and Formatting my hard-drive. Oddly enough, it would not let me re-enter my computer to do so. I was stuck with what I had saved online and saved on my external hard drive (mostly everything... I routinely backup my hard drive every 10 days out of sheer paranoia for such an event as this). I raced to retrieve my thesis and informed my professor of the damage. Having a very understanding and heartfelt talk, she let me know it was okay and that she understood. Calmly I returned home to begin the process of repair.
I initially restored my computer from a previous back-up point. Not a bad solution, taking ~3 hours to do so, I was back in business and began typing away, working at lost figures/legends and all other manner of thesising. Within a half hour, my computer was once again...down. I decided to do a quick format of the hard drive and re-install everything. Luckily for me, I am a minor packrat and hold on to all of my electronics. I have a spare macbook that I was never willing to part ways with and so, I turned to it, my old and trusty friend. As my newest shiny toy was being stripped of all of its files and reinstalled, I began cautiously working on my old one. As I opened my back-up copies, I found that they too, were not functional and so, the corruption was one far reaching beyond my efforts to prevent such a disaster.
A modest amount of work was achieved as I was...disheartened to say the least. Such an event as this takes a lot out of a person...to see my efforts gone, through no fault of my own...no malicious program...no nothing...I felt scared to begin again and the full force of my passion and brain were not behind this. As the night progressed, I watched as the re-installation of my OS occurred (initially saying it would take 12 hours...and then 6) time dragged on. I decided not much would be accomplished at 11pm and so I closed up shop. I was, however, unable to sleep. I finally was greeted by the Sandman at 2am, only to be stirred awake by my Mac, an hour later, letting me know of its completion. A joyous moment, sure, but not one to be having at 3am. I grabbed my external hard drive and had it begin its process of restoration, replacing every file and program from my most recent backup. Hurray for this.
In the midst of everything. I found that the cause of the corruption was the fact that my thesis was "Too Big." To be clear, my thesis was in the 40-50 page range...however, due to figures and charts, the file size was 30+MB. Indeed a large file. Though Microsoft and Mac deny the claims, there are several forums which clearly describe when a file reaches a certain point in Office 2011, there is a problem that arises and this is it. A permanent hard-disk corruption. There is no alternative but to format it and anything new is lost. As I'm not the only one who has experienced this issue, I feel somewhat consoled and somewhat violated. I am angry with both companies...but mostly Microsoft. Having a prejudice against them, I recognize that I must take this into account, but their program cost me time, and energy...though there was no blood, plenty of tears and sweat were poured over this and it only enrages me further. Mac's Pages does not have this problem and I love them for it.
Most of yesterday was reserved for not writing, as it was my birthday and I felt compelled to enjoy it, as much as I could, despite the tragedy. I removed Microsoft office 2011 from my computer only to find that the version of EndNote I possess would not function with Microsoft 2008. Disgruntled, I removed EndNote and restarted my computer. Alas, components remain and so, today, as I write from my Lab, my newest Mac is once again being Formatted (this time, at the most thorough level...doing a 7-pass sweep to ensure deletion. When I return home, I shall re-install the OS and hopefully continue my work from my newest computer.
Lesson's learned:
1) 1 back up isn't good enough
2) Don't just over-write a old file with a new update. Save Save SAVE
3) Keep old electronics. They may save you
4) Sometimes, you need to sit back, say "FUCK IT" and have some whiskey
Note: I discovered the conflict that caused the corruption to be the cause of an incompatibility between MS 2011 and Time Machine (a program responsible for systematic back-ups on the Mac). This problem normally isn't fatal, however, when a file larger that 30MB is being worked on, it becomes so.
For those who doubt and for those who wish to see for themselves: Microsoft Forum on Autosave/Time Machine
Additionally, I received another "No Thank You" from another school.
New Score:
Yes- 1
Interview - 1
No - 5
Unknown - 4
Thursday, February 7, 2013
First Official Acceptance
Though it came as no surprise to me, and I am aware that may make me sound rather cocky, I received my official first acceptance to a PhD program in Immunology. It happened yesterday, though I had too much to do to really reflect on the idea. I still have quite a bit more that must be done, but I have to say...The idea of going to school, out of state, has definitely grown on me. I'm still waiting to see if I get any other offers before I make my decision, but it feels great knowing that I officially have a position waiting for me if I so choose. It would be tough leaving my home state for roughly 6 years, but there are 2 weeks of allotted time off and I would make every effort I could to return home to visit family and friends.
I have one more interview coming up, which I hope will result in an acceptance letter as well. The deciding factor for me may be what "feels" better. Specifically, what professors I think I could work with for 6 years and not get completely frustrated with and vise-versa.
Time for more reading/thesis stuff
I have one more interview coming up, which I hope will result in an acceptance letter as well. The deciding factor for me may be what "feels" better. Specifically, what professors I think I could work with for 6 years and not get completely frustrated with and vise-versa.
Time for more reading/thesis stuff
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Here Comes Crunch Time
The time left until my first rough draft of my thesis is due is quickly coming up and I've still got quite a lot to do. I'm currently holding at the 30 page mark and focussing my attention on reading articles that will be helpful for the introduction. So far, I'm 7 articles in and have about 40+ more to go. The current dead-line is the 11th of this month. So, I figure if I do nothing but read for the next several days and then spend a couple days writing, I could meet that goal. Of course, I still have to write a discussion section and finish off the results area...but those are minor details. The clock is ticking...
This past weekend, rather than working and stressing on my thesis, was spent celebrating my 3 year anniversary with my girlfriend. It was a wonderful get away and was very much needed. We did nothing but relax, have good food and lots of alcohol. I even scheduled us a couple's massage, so that helped with the stress of what was to come. The scenery was lovely and it made for quite a nice anniversary/valentine's day present.
Also, I've scheduled a meeting with my thesis committee for 1 week after my draft is due to my advisor. This is the prelude to a lab meeting I will have just 2 days after this talk (on a completely different subject). The following day (Feb 21st) I leave for my next interview. So, These next few days...things will be very close and the pressure is on.
On top of all of this, my birthday is coming up, as is valentine's day...so I have several evenings that will be spent with family and my girlfriend which means less time on the presentations. That isn't a bad thing, I mean, no one can work 24/7 on science...you'd just go insane. Well...Tesla could, but he was the exception.
I suppose I've procrastinated reading for long enough and I've fulfilled my requirement to myself of writing once a week.
Back again I go.
Someone wish me luck.
Also, I've scheduled a meeting with my thesis committee for 1 week after my draft is due to my advisor. This is the prelude to a lab meeting I will have just 2 days after this talk (on a completely different subject). The following day (Feb 21st) I leave for my next interview. So, These next few days...things will be very close and the pressure is on.
On top of all of this, my birthday is coming up, as is valentine's day...so I have several evenings that will be spent with family and my girlfriend which means less time on the presentations. That isn't a bad thing, I mean, no one can work 24/7 on science...you'd just go insane. Well...Tesla could, but he was the exception.
I suppose I've procrastinated reading for long enough and I've fulfilled my requirement to myself of writing once a week.
Back again I go.
Someone wish me luck.
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