Things I'm in the habit of missing...

It' s summer here in Provo, and I'm missing some things that come with a full campus and over-populated south of campus (and some things that are in no way related). I'm definitely missing seeing my favorite professors frequently. I miss classes, and skipping classes to see way cool speakers (of which there are few during the summer). I miss being a TA and making friends with my students. I miss L&T being open on Saturdays. I miss my little brother who is on his mission to Catania, Italy. I also miss my best friend, who is on a mission in France. I miss always having someone to hang out with and late night conversations with a roommate (of which I don't have, currently). I miss my family, and especially my siblings (as opposed to my parents); they keep growing up, and I keep missing it. I miss my science friends; Lauren, Katie, Geoff, etc. I also miss homework (which I much prefer to work) and religion classes. I miss interfaith dialogues, which are few and far between in the summer and fall. I miss the opportunity that the full campus affords me of meeting new people every day.

I'm not saying summer is bad; please don't mistake me for that. Just know that as fun and relaxing summer is, my shoulders and neck hurt from sitting at a computer all day and that I wouldn't mind sitting in on a lecture or stay up finishing a book for a class. I guess the seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake, eh?

You're a part-time lover and a full-time friend

It's funny how turned upside down your life can get in a single day. Things seemed pretty solid until I started looking at graduate programs that are not in chemical education, but in molecular biology or biological chemistry. If I wanted to be competitive in applying to a program like this, I would have to write a personal statement that will "give evidence of a strong commitment to research," which I'm not sure I have. So I think, unfortunately that I'm going to have to give up my job as a TA (which I love dearly) and take a job in a research lab so that I can perhaps write a statement of commitment to research.

This has been an interesting thing to be thinking about; a program in traditional biochemistry or molecular biology would give me a lot more latitude as far as where I want to go for graduate school, and it wouldn't be hard to transition into a teaching profession with no research responsibility. I don't know. Nothing's in the bag, and the decision is far from being made.

I watched the film Juno yesterday. Definitely my favorite film so far. I laughed and cried and it was beautiful. I now have a copy of it being mailed to me from amazon.com. Love it.