January: Did a thing which is now on the internet forever….I told an extremely private story in an extremely public place and it is now on the internet.
February: Started rotating in the lab that would eventually become my home lab.
March: Found a house to live in and decided to live on my own, just me and Lena.
April: Got the NSF fellowship, which never in a MILLION YEARS I thought I would win. It was one of the best feelings in the world. I woke up at 4 in the morning to check my email, and the first thing I did was email my dad. My parent's first reaction: "You're going to be a scientist." It's hard to say exactly what this means--that this was something they could be immeasurably proud of me for. It sounds weird, because it's just a thing and obviously they are happy and proud of me, but this was just such a good feeling. The best feeling.
There was a big down which was my rotation PI gave me some harsh feedback and that was really tough to hear, but also ok. (Mostly because I ended up joining the lab.)
May: Moved into my new house. HIRED MOVERS WHICH WAS THE MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCE. Officially joined my lab.
June: L finished kindergarten, first experience with summer camps.
July: Worked. I’m sure something else happened in July but I can’t think of anything exactly.
August: Lena started 1st grade! I get the Marcy Speer fellowship, a real honor: one second year from my program gets it each year. It serves as a reminder to be the best person I can be, in science and in service.
September: Gave my first talk to over 200 people! Went to my first conference as a grad student: the Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomics conference with Aspen, Firas, and Lawrence, which was just amazing. Motivating, inspiring, + korean barbecue. Aspen, Firas and I grew really close, which turns out to make lab the funnest place to be on earth.
October: I turned 27. Went for a walk in the woods with Alex, which was just the most perfect thing. Continuing to love my lab and my science. (I think things started to work, or rather, I started to fundamentally understand my project.)
November: I gave a chalk talk for lab meeting, and I discovered that I love giving chalk talks. During said chalk talk I came up with an idea for a project that I started working on in earnest. I also started hanging out with the most amazing person ever, and that is really exciting.
December: A month for retrospection. I am loving my life, I'm making some friends that I think I will keep forever. The biggest challenge of this month and for the coming year is focus. My project moves in leaps and bounds, I am writing more and more. Lena is fun, so much fun. And this boy. This boy fills my life with music and is occupying a space in my heart that I had forgotten existed. If past is precedence, 2015 is going to be amazing. I cannot wait. See you all there.
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