As promised
Maybe I should update this thing more often. Then the task wouldn't be so...dauntint.
So. Work. Work is good. I've got an REU with the chemistry department at Cal State LA. My summer will be spent working with sulfur compounds trying to create a molecule that will change shapes when hit with a beam of light so that it either grabs onto or lets go of calcium ions in solution. It'll be used to model oscillations in calcium concentrations found in cells during signalling. My biggest fear is that I'm going to start smelling like the stuff; that would be bad. The actual lab work is slightly frustrating because there's a lot of waiting on my boss, and a lot of guess-work since the reaction has never been successfully completed before. Most of the guess-work is slightly over my head still; I can understand what my partners in crime are saying and arguing about, but I can't really make good arguments of my own yet. Great practice for China, right? My coworkers are awesome. They make me laugh. My Spanish skills might start to come back by the end of the summer, since over half of the lab is bilingual in Spanish. Except for the professor, I'm one of two white kids in a group of 12, so that in itself is an interesting experience. Most of my coworkers have strong ties to other countries (immigrants, first-generation, etc.), so it's really interesting to hear about their backgrounds and homes.
The next big thing on the horizon is my sister's wedding. She gets married on July 22nd. I'll be home from the 14th through the 23rd, but most of the time will be very busy with wedding prep: bridal showers, bachelorette parties, etc. Basically partying all week. It's a tough life. I'm a little nervous about the whole week; it's a lot to pull off. I can't imagine how nervous she must be as the actual bride if I'm this nervous just being in the party. Poor girl =P
On a sad note, my puppy died last week. She had been really sick for almost a week, and the vets had finally determined that she had some kind of inflammation in the back of her brain. She died before they could make any decisions about how to treat it. It hasn't hit home a whole lot yet; I'm sure it'll be tough when I go home. That's the other thing that makes me nervous about July. My mom told me tonight that she and my dad are considering getting another puppy and have to decide by tomorrow. She'd be from the same breeder and a cousin of some sort to Sydney. I guess she's about a week old right now. I don't feel very positive about a new dog seeing as I'm not really a dog person and I wouldn't even meet the dog until January. But ultimately it's not my decision, and I suspect they'll go ahead with it.
And there's my life in a nutshell. =)
So. Work. Work is good. I've got an REU with the chemistry department at Cal State LA. My summer will be spent working with sulfur compounds trying to create a molecule that will change shapes when hit with a beam of light so that it either grabs onto or lets go of calcium ions in solution. It'll be used to model oscillations in calcium concentrations found in cells during signalling. My biggest fear is that I'm going to start smelling like the stuff; that would be bad. The actual lab work is slightly frustrating because there's a lot of waiting on my boss, and a lot of guess-work since the reaction has never been successfully completed before. Most of the guess-work is slightly over my head still; I can understand what my partners in crime are saying and arguing about, but I can't really make good arguments of my own yet. Great practice for China, right? My coworkers are awesome. They make me laugh. My Spanish skills might start to come back by the end of the summer, since over half of the lab is bilingual in Spanish. Except for the professor, I'm one of two white kids in a group of 12, so that in itself is an interesting experience. Most of my coworkers have strong ties to other countries (immigrants, first-generation, etc.), so it's really interesting to hear about their backgrounds and homes.
The next big thing on the horizon is my sister's wedding. She gets married on July 22nd. I'll be home from the 14th through the 23rd, but most of the time will be very busy with wedding prep: bridal showers, bachelorette parties, etc. Basically partying all week. It's a tough life. I'm a little nervous about the whole week; it's a lot to pull off. I can't imagine how nervous she must be as the actual bride if I'm this nervous just being in the party. Poor girl =P
On a sad note, my puppy died last week. She had been really sick for almost a week, and the vets had finally determined that she had some kind of inflammation in the back of her brain. She died before they could make any decisions about how to treat it. It hasn't hit home a whole lot yet; I'm sure it'll be tough when I go home. That's the other thing that makes me nervous about July. My mom told me tonight that she and my dad are considering getting another puppy and have to decide by tomorrow. She'd be from the same breeder and a cousin of some sort to Sydney. I guess she's about a week old right now. I don't feel very positive about a new dog seeing as I'm not really a dog person and I wouldn't even meet the dog until January. But ultimately it's not my decision, and I suspect they'll go ahead with it.
And there's my life in a nutshell. =)