Livin' for the moment

So while contemplating whether or not to get my doctorate I've been thinking about a lot of things.  I know five years from now whether I decided to continue my education or not I will be 27 (wow that sounds old) but it is the quality of those five years that I am worried about.  Right now I spend my life studying, I work on homework all the time.  If I were given the choice to be able to start my college career over I don't think I would want to have to redo it all.  I know college is supposed to be the time of your life but there is no way I could have time for what it needs to do well in all of my classes. 

I suppose the best way I can think of to describe this is my intensity.  When I get a project or goal in mind I think of it as more of an end destination and want to finish it.  I have always been very determined/competitive and I need to work on enjoying the ride rather than looking to the finish.  With all that in mind, still no decision. 

Finals Week

You can always tell when finals week is here because our apartment seems to get much cleaner!  I was lucky this year because most of my work was due the last week of class, aka dead week.  This week I only have one final, so I've been taking advantage and going to a coffee shop everyday to study for a bit.  I can't believe that I am heading home in 2 days!  And then it's Christmas time!  It sure feels like Christmas time if you go outside, it is freezing!

Henry is so happy to have some presents

Tonight my roommates and I are exchanging out secret santa presents.  We were all pretty good this year and as far as I know no one knows who anyone else has.  Hope we all get something good : )

And I hope you all are enjoying your Holiday Season as well.

Pondering

So during my trip to San Diego while we were all hanging out we somehow got onto the topic of the potential of stem cells and the advances that have been made in science and all kinds of things.  But someone brought up the fact that the more you know, the more you realize you don't know.  There is just so much out there, so much to be discovered and researched and understood.  Really focusing in one specific area portrays all the infinite details and how oversimplified we as a society tend to make things.  Nothing is that simple, nothing is a 100% guarantee.  Within almost everything there is so much more going on than you can ever imagine or is even understood.  And this translates into everything, into surgeries that are done routinely and even into dealing with people.  Speaking of which, as one of my (blogger) friends mentioned the other day, I need to be more understanding of others.  Nothing good comes out of judging.  Just a thought for the day.

Student for Life

I recently made a quick trip to San Diego, and by quick I mean being in SD for less than 24 hours with a five hour drive on each end!  But it was a lot of fun and a good way to get to know all the CIRM students and professors a little better.  It was a very different atmosphere than when in class. 

The point of this trip was to get to know all of the host institutes a little bit better and learn what they are researching about and discuss some logistics with the matching process of our internship.  I was thinking after this meeting I would have a very clear idea of where I want to go but there is just so much potential in all the different aspects, I don't know where I want to go!  I loved Novocell but from networking with all of the postdocs it sounds as though if I want to be able to do research then I need to get my PhD.  I was kind of hoping in two years I would be completely done, so now how do I decide if this is something I should do?  It is likely that I could double count a couple of my classes from getting my masters and that my internship could be the basis of my research for my doctorate, so I don't know exactly how much time I would be looking at. 

I guess I should just let the information sink in a bit before I make a decision.  I just don't know what I want to do for my career.  Should I continue my education to ensure there aren't any doors that are closed in the future?  Should I look for a job after I get my masters and go back to get my PhD if I do later decide I want to do research? 

If only I were better at making decisions!

Sharing the joy of Blogging

Yay for bringing another friend into the blogger world!
If you guys want to follow her here is the link: http://beccatm.blogspot.com/

Give her lots of love for starting out : )

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope you are all able to spend a day with those you love and be thankful of where you are. It's so easy to get carried away in life and all of the small details, its great to be able to slow down and really have time to come to peace with where you are and all of the good in your life. I have so much to be thankful for this year (and all the previous years) I don't know how I have been so lucky. My family has started a new tradition of participating in Run to Feed the Hungry. It's a great way to start the day by contributing to the community and those who are facing tough times and need support. And it's also good for yourself, gets you up and about in the morning, gets the endorphins going and your metabolism set for all of the turkey. I haven't been eating much meat but I am going to get my fill for a while and have plenty of meat for a while (and I had some steak tonight... haven't had red meat in about 7 weeks!!).

I don't think it was until I had been in college for a couple of years that I really came to appreciate Thanksgiving. Growing up it's all about Christmas, but Thanksgiving has it's own uniqueness. The colors on the trees are so pretty and it's starting to get cold so you can bundle up and best of all... if just seems to be surrounded by such contentment. You don't have to worry or run around trying to get presents, you can just enjoy each others company. It's kind of nice.

I would like to say I am thankful first and foremost for my family.
They are truly amazing. Each and every one of them. Today I had to take my car in to get smogged and they called and said that it had some break problems, my dad handled the whole situation AND went and bought a new battery and had it ready to install the minute I got home from my hair appointment. I don't think I have every met anyone so dedicated and giving as my dad. He puts his everything and is so unselfish in everything he does. It really inspires me to be a better person and to keep pushing myself. My mom is also a wonderful person she's so good with people and tends to lighten up my days and reminds me to take time to enjoy life. She has taught me so much about finding a balance and what's really important. She is always there to talk and guide me. My sister again, is always there for me. Today she stuck around in Sacramento with me for two hours to hang out and wait to get my hair done. She has always been such a great big sister taking care of me and watching out for me. And my brother, he is just so smart and helpful. I can call him anytime with any sort of computer program and he can instantly tell me how to fix it. He is going to be rich some day, and he is so generous, he deserves it! And I should also say, Brian (Amanda's fiance) is pretty cool too. He can do anything and is so much fun to be around, very easy to get along with but always working on some project. I also have such supportive grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins... I am very lucky.

Besides my family I am grateful for the CIRM program and the grant that Cal Poly recieved to further my education (even if I may argue this at times when I am overloaded). Even though it's only been a day, I did absolutely no homework today and it was kind of nice to be able to step back. I started talking about stem cells and the presentations I've done and primary literature I've read and I realize just how much I really have learned and how excited they make me about where I am headed in my career. I'm excited to see where I end up.

I'm also grateful for Lola. I do miss her, I left her at school, I hope that Jess (my roommate) will give her lots of love for Thanksgiving. I know she must be lonely : ( I'm grateful for my roommates too, we have fun and become our own sort of family. I think it's an important experience to have.

I could probably go on and on about everything I am thankful for but I suppose I will stop now.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving break

I could not be more ready for break to be here. I keep hearing about people already being home and I am so jealous. My roommate left this morning. I was hoping that with the furlough days I would get a week off but it just didn't work out that way. This past month or so I feel as though all I EVER do is homework. And even at that it just keeps piling up. I was hoping that when I went home for Thanksgiving I could take a break and do nothing but it doesn't look like that is going to work out either! Blah. Welcome to grad school. Only ten more days when I come back until the quarter is over.
so close.