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It’s Never Too Late to be What You Might Have Been: Grad School New Year’s Resolutions

While many have their New Years Resolution to get fit, eat healthy, save money… our list is rather important to staying on task and getting to the end goal. Some of these can be a hit and go kind of thing.So let us begin. 1) Apply for FAFSA! While you may only be approved for student loans, it is important to apply for FAFSA every year. 1) it’s free, 2) Some scholarships/grants like to see the FAFSA report especially if they are need based 3) you never know what may happen and at least you have a back up. FAFSA 2015/2016 applications opened January 1. Get yours done… I know I did. For quick information check out this awesome 1 Page Guide at StudentAid of myths and facts about FAFSA for graduate students. Apply forFAFSA here. 2) Apply for Scholarships/Grants! While some of us may be on awesome Phd Graduate assistantships/scholarships/grants… …

Holiday Fun in a Nutshell: Mechanical Bull, Amish Food, Spike Ball, Willy Chin Party, Shabu Shabu, Family Time and more…

While the holiday was simple and relaxing, it was a much-needed one before beginning a new year and continuing my research. Rather than write a million different posts… I just wanted to share how my holiday was and see just what you did on your wonderful break!! City Walk Orlando (Bob Marley-A Tribute to Freedom Live Band) Before all the Christmas celebration began, I ended up in Orlando to celebrate a close friend’s birthday. She then explained we were going to City Walk and though I should know more about it, I surely had not a clue what we were going to do. Turns out it is neare Univeral Studios, and at night there are a bunch of clubs around that you can go to. In fact they had a band you could pay like $12 to get, and go in and out of any club. All the places were …

The End is Near: 2014 Bucket List Recap

How on earth is 2014 already coming to an END! It is December and I feel like (as usual) this year has flown by. Looking back though, I must say, I have loved every second of it! Adventures and traveling each year helps to keep me SANE! So let’s just take a quick look back before I start up on my new bucket list for 2015. I will most likely reminisce on these adventures of 2014 separately in posts in the future so look for that… in case you were curious as to how or why I ended up doing most of these activities! I can’t wait for 2015! I am still working on my list now, but if you have any suggestions… please let me know!!!Celebrate New Years in Miami (with my Sissy Poo)Fly to another country just for a party (Tons of fun with friends! Nassau is one of my …

Fall in Love With Your Research

“Love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life!” I have no idea who said this, but it is especially true in research. In a field where experiments go wrong all the time, you may begin wishing more and more there was a Journal of Negative Results. This is where loving what you do is crucial. So I searched on Google “How do you know when you are in love” and tons of articles came up, 10 Definitive Ways To Tell You’re In Love With The Right Someone 7 research-based indicators that you’ve found the real thing. 9 Signs You’re Really in Love Now while these are all articles focused on one person falling in love with another… ‘Til death do us part kind of shindig… it should be no different as you fall in love with your research. So here are 7 ways to …

Lost in the PhD World: The Quest for Committee Members!!!

One of the most important things I will do as a PhD student is form my committee!!! Yet, I feel so confused on how the heck I should do this. My committee is the group of people that will guide me my entire PhD career as I complete experiments. They will advise me regularly and in the end… GRILL ME with questions in my Qualifying Exam and Dissertation. So basically they OWN ME!! Can I just put up an ad on Craigslists saying “Nice hardworking graduate student in NEED of available active and helpful committee members!!” That would be nice!!! So.. what do I do? How do I approach people that have no idea who I am? How do I make them want to be on my committee? Maybe I should bring them cookies/donuts…. mmmm…. Maybe!! I have found it to be one of the hardest things to determine who …

My Little Sister’s Initiation into being an Adrenaline Junkie (World’s Tallest Slingshot)

I have been an adrenaline junkie as far back as I can remember… having already gone skydiving, bungee jumping and hang gliding to name a few… I am still seeking my next rush!! My little sister has been asking me to come on an adventure for a while now, eager to one day skydive with me. I am however, not prepared to jump out of a plane with my sister just yet. So I brought her, as test, to the Worlds Tallest Slingshot in Orlando to see if she was really ready to roll with the “Big Dogs”!Looking at this slingshot, it really doesn’t seem too bad! However, being thrown into the air well… let’s just say that’s another story. I am pretty sure my eyes rolled into the back of my head, but overall it was an enjoyable experience for just 25 bucks!!! After viewing the tape …

8 Ways to Make Weekends in the Lab Fun

While working on weekends is not a must… research is ongoing and the desire to find out more often gets me to work on the weekends (especially if I don’t have a trip/adventure planned). However, the weekend does not have to be counted like a total loss. Most people just hear “I’m going to work!” and assumes my day will be sitting inside my lab or analyzing data 9 am – 5 pm. THIS IS COMPLETELY WRONG! First, a lot of what I do includes LONG incubation period/treatment times… so I do not have to sit there and watch my cells the entire time. While, you could sit in lab staring at the many posters that you really only have up because it looked pretty, or scrolling through Facebook to pass time… Get up and do something. Here are some ways how!! 1) Overdrive: FREE BOOKS! FREE AUDIOBOOKS! FREE MOVIES!! I found …

That Time When… I Walked on Water in Estonia

So, where the heck is Estonia? That is pretty much what I said when I decided to go on a Scandinavian tour… by this I was thinking of countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. However, I ended up also exploring other countries as well… like Estonia. Just a ferry ride away from Helsinki, Finland I explored an unknown land to me. I started with my usual Free Walking Tours (which I recommend to anyone that wants to get a good feel for their new surrounding while traveling) and was impressed with the very adorable architecture of the area. After trying Elk Soup (which wasn’t bad by the way), Seeing Patarei Prison only closed in 2005 (truly a hell hole, and unbelievable that prisoners were held there), taking beautiful pictures from Kohtu Platform seeing all of Tallinn… I still needed something adventurous.. Something new… So, I asked the Free Walking …

What I Actually Do Everyday-Neuroscience

So for the most part, I am not blowing things up in my lab everyday… but the field is very exciting!! Just to give you a quick run down, without overcomplicating it… I work in a niche of neuroscience focusing on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and how it has negative cognitive effects on daily living. Most people, do not know that in addition to the known immunological deficits of HIV, individuals actually develop mild dementia earlier in life, and the prevalence is expected to increase. So my job is to understand…. How? and If something can be done to help? I’m usually in a cell culture hood treating cells (usually neurons, microglia etc) with drugs or proteins etc to measure changes that occurs and indicate the effects on the cells. EXCITING RIGHT? *smiles* I will share a bit more on this later… until then…. World’s AIDS Day just passed December …

YOLO

You Only Live Once!! Definitely something I believe in. If you want to do it, I say make it happen. Don’t sit around waiting until you have time, make more money, or find the right people. There is no better time than when you desire to make something happen. And this goes for all things in your life.. not just your crazy adventures. As for me, I like to create the right moment to make all my desires happen…. So far as it related to adrenaline rush I have been able to: 1) Sky dive over Washington DC 2) Bungee Jump into the Nile River in Uganda 3) Hanglide in Clewiston, Florida 4) Attempt to swim with Shark in San Diego, California (Epic fail, because I definitely can’t swim) 5) Reverse Bungee/Slingshot in Orlando, Florida 6) Rock Climb somewhere in California I can’t think of others right now… but I …

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