It's been a while.
I'm still writing (kinda) my thesis.
I'm still a TA.
I still drink unhealthy amounts of coffee. My kidneys hurt.
I still have demonic gerbils.
But hey, I just got an email asking me to interview for the Peace Corps! I submitted my application a couple weeks ago and apparently everything is good. This has been my dream for several years now, and a welcome respite from thesis land.
On the note of my thesis, I am going to complain about my thesis. I have compiled my thoughts into a concise list:
1) Research is tedious and disheartening. Nothing happens for months at a time; suddenly everything happens at once. No amount of worrying changes that. I have learned to be more zen when my formaldehyde meter consistently measures "0". Research is like yoga for grad students.
2) Advisors expect you to do nothing but read papers about your topic. If you are not good at skimming, please do not consider doing a thesis. Your life will be consumed. This brings me to my next point...
3) Start the literature review early. I haven't learned this the hard way yet, because I haven't started my literature review. I'm about to learn this the hard way. Stay tuned.
4) Sometimes you have to ignore everything and sleep in a very rebellious manner. Also, ice cream is not your friend. It is the skag who talks behind your back after pretending to be your friend during your times of deepest need. Sleep is the oft-ignored introvert who really is just pushing you to be a better person.
5) To play devil's advocate: coffee is your friend. Well-timed coffee is important, though. Coffee and sleep argue a lot so you don't want to try a group movie night. Coffee will study with you (and consistently outperform you on tests, motivating you to try harder), but sleep is the one who's waiting when all the measurements have been taken and you have nothing to do.
6) You're going to start making a lot of weird comparisons between people and the things that have started to replace people in your life. Roll with it.
7) Learning another language is a great way to distract yourself! Case in point: Le chat a une botte rouge. J'aime le chat.
8) Don't try working 30+ hours a week during your final semester, on top of four classes, on top of research. Unless you're stupid like me; then, by all means, go for it. We can console each other when our brains turn to mush and we end up in the loony bin.
9) Romance is not for you. No, believe me. Romance IS NOT FOR YOU.
10) I feel like there should be a tenth point. So here's a paper:
Formaldehyde Fixation Contributes to Detoxification for Growth of a Nonmethylotroph,
Burkholderia Cepacia TM1, on Vanillic Acid
Ryoji Mitsui,1,* Yoko Kusano,1 Hiroya Yurimoto,2 Yasuyoshi Sakai,2 Nobuo Kato,2 and Mitsuo Tanaka1
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC201235/
Things can use formaldehyde as a growth substrate! Just not my things!
11) Just because. Somebody is microwaving pizza in my office and I'm realizing my deep-seated hatred of the food industry for creating such a tempting, delicious monster of a food. CARROTS ARE COOL, TOO.
Signing out to write a letter of interest for a project that will take me away from research for the summer. Best wishes!
-Anne
