Life update
It's been like 3 months since I've posted (maybe less? can't be bothered to check) and some plans are formulating in this devious mind of mine.
So I'm about to finish my Honors project soon (word to the wise: if you ever have the inkling to work in sugar chemistry, DON'T), which means I'll be graduating soon. In May, I'll just be wrapping up odds and ends like getting my full license and some other stuff...
In June, I'll be starting Master's in chemistry at the university of Toronto for two months under Dr. Dong. I'll be living with my brother in Oakville (he got into residency for radiology at McMaster U) for those two months. Then, in August, I'll be taking a trek with a couple of buddies to Poland, Czeck Republic, Morocco, Turkey and Egypt on a borderline educational trip :O. Then I'm back in September to continue my Master's, hopefully work that into a PhD and... yeah that's about it.
It's going to be tough leaving... just recently started a band with a bunch of the grad students in my department, and I've made some really good friends in the last 6 months. Mike and I thought about it and realized that they're not going to have a year like ours for a long time, with a lot of really talented chemists, including Sophie who, in her undergrad, has two JACS papers (really high impact journal) and the Pfizer scholarship, and a really tight-knit crew at that. And our department's really great, and I'm going to miss the profs, and the grads, and the convenience of everything... and while Toronto has a bigger department with (arguably) even better profs and more talented grad students, I'm just worried I won't find the same feeling of... community that's here at Ottawa U. And, when the lot of us leave, I don't know if that will even stick around at Ottawa... LC's going to start at Merck, Matt's leaving to do some government training, a half dozen undergrads are doing grad school outside of the university. A few of my friends are coming with me to Toronto, Nick and Naila going with Dr. Yudin and Peter coming with me to work for Dr. Dong, and I met some really great people at the Grad Student Weekend Dr. Dong hosted in Toronto, so I'm sure we'll all make the same kind of feeling at U of T.
It's kind of weird though. The chemistry grads at U of T already hold a lot of events together and they have a really active student government (their CGA runs a business selling lab equipment and reading materials to undergrads, so they can go all out on their events), I feel that it's really superficial, that they separate work from play to the point where they only unwind at these events... at Ottawa U, it's different.
I dunno, I'll see. I'm really excited though. Dr. Dong just started last summer, but she has grants from everyone, and she has some really cool ideas... start off with her early means that we'll all start fresh on these projects and really develop them from scratch.
So yeah... that's it. See you in another 937983274982374 months.
So I'm about to finish my Honors project soon (word to the wise: if you ever have the inkling to work in sugar chemistry, DON'T), which means I'll be graduating soon. In May, I'll just be wrapping up odds and ends like getting my full license and some other stuff...
In June, I'll be starting Master's in chemistry at the university of Toronto for two months under Dr. Dong. I'll be living with my brother in Oakville (he got into residency for radiology at McMaster U) for those two months. Then, in August, I'll be taking a trek with a couple of buddies to Poland, Czeck Republic, Morocco, Turkey and Egypt on a borderline educational trip :O. Then I'm back in September to continue my Master's, hopefully work that into a PhD and... yeah that's about it.
It's going to be tough leaving... just recently started a band with a bunch of the grad students in my department, and I've made some really good friends in the last 6 months. Mike and I thought about it and realized that they're not going to have a year like ours for a long time, with a lot of really talented chemists, including Sophie who, in her undergrad, has two JACS papers (really high impact journal) and the Pfizer scholarship, and a really tight-knit crew at that. And our department's really great, and I'm going to miss the profs, and the grads, and the convenience of everything... and while Toronto has a bigger department with (arguably) even better profs and more talented grad students, I'm just worried I won't find the same feeling of... community that's here at Ottawa U. And, when the lot of us leave, I don't know if that will even stick around at Ottawa... LC's going to start at Merck, Matt's leaving to do some government training, a half dozen undergrads are doing grad school outside of the university. A few of my friends are coming with me to Toronto, Nick and Naila going with Dr. Yudin and Peter coming with me to work for Dr. Dong, and I met some really great people at the Grad Student Weekend Dr. Dong hosted in Toronto, so I'm sure we'll all make the same kind of feeling at U of T.
It's kind of weird though. The chemistry grads at U of T already hold a lot of events together and they have a really active student government (their CGA runs a business selling lab equipment and reading materials to undergrads, so they can go all out on their events), I feel that it's really superficial, that they separate work from play to the point where they only unwind at these events... at Ottawa U, it's different.
I dunno, I'll see. I'm really excited though. Dr. Dong just started last summer, but she has grants from everyone, and she has some really cool ideas... start off with her early means that we'll all start fresh on these projects and really develop them from scratch.
So yeah... that's it. See you in another 937983274982374 months.