Miracles
(gasp) A public entry? Well, why not. It's a miracle.
As I worked ridiculously hard on my term paper these past few days, I got pretty close to cracking under the pressure. Along the way I learned a lot of interesting things about detection methods for bioterrorism, including this wonderful line from Jane Alexander, deputy director of HSARPA (U.S. Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency), as quoted in a 2004 Science article: “We are asking everybody to work as fast as they can. In some cases, we have told bidders, ‘We know we’re asking for the sun, the moon, and four planets. If you can only give us two planets, go ahead.’”
I also learned how to use RefWorks, a slightly cumbersome but ultimately super-convenient way to manage my references when writing a paper. Despite the 4-8 hours I wasted on getting it to work right, now I have a great tool for the future. I worked until 2:30 AM last night, chowing down Espresso Viennese Wafers sent by my parents to keep me awake, taking a mere 3-hour nap to continue in the morning. At 11 AM I emerged from my pyjamas victorious, and headed off to campus to hand in my paper.
More importantly, I've finally burrowed through all my academic obligations for 2006, and in the new year I think I will have a much better idea of how to get things organized. My timetable will allow me to spend more continuous time on research than before, while still allowing me an afternoon off to attend to all things medical, when the need should arise. Also in other wonderful news, I got an excellent grade in the course where I kept arguing with my prof.
Sunday night, in the middle of a dinner break from term paper work, I sat down to watch the news. Bad idea. Shootings, multiple civil wars, so many senseless deaths. I cried, and turned around to see my Chanukiah patiently waiting for attention on the dinner table. A moment of reflection upon the Chanukah blessings, and I knew I had to light my candles that night. The television still on, the tears still in my eyes, I sang with my soul, especially the second blessing:
Barukh atah... she'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim haheim baziman hazeh.
Blessed are you... who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time.
I sang it so loudly it drowned out the violence on television for one brief moment, and illuminated a brief hope that maybe, at this time, we will again see a miracle. We damn well need one.
Happy Chanukah.
As I worked ridiculously hard on my term paper these past few days, I got pretty close to cracking under the pressure. Along the way I learned a lot of interesting things about detection methods for bioterrorism, including this wonderful line from Jane Alexander, deputy director of HSARPA (U.S. Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency), as quoted in a 2004 Science article: “We are asking everybody to work as fast as they can. In some cases, we have told bidders, ‘We know we’re asking for the sun, the moon, and four planets. If you can only give us two planets, go ahead.’”
I also learned how to use RefWorks, a slightly cumbersome but ultimately super-convenient way to manage my references when writing a paper. Despite the 4-8 hours I wasted on getting it to work right, now I have a great tool for the future. I worked until 2:30 AM last night, chowing down Espresso Viennese Wafers sent by my parents to keep me awake, taking a mere 3-hour nap to continue in the morning. At 11 AM I emerged from my pyjamas victorious, and headed off to campus to hand in my paper.
More importantly, I've finally burrowed through all my academic obligations for 2006, and in the new year I think I will have a much better idea of how to get things organized. My timetable will allow me to spend more continuous time on research than before, while still allowing me an afternoon off to attend to all things medical, when the need should arise. Also in other wonderful news, I got an excellent grade in the course where I kept arguing with my prof.
Sunday night, in the middle of a dinner break from term paper work, I sat down to watch the news. Bad idea. Shootings, multiple civil wars, so many senseless deaths. I cried, and turned around to see my Chanukiah patiently waiting for attention on the dinner table. A moment of reflection upon the Chanukah blessings, and I knew I had to light my candles that night. The television still on, the tears still in my eyes, I sang with my soul, especially the second blessing:
Barukh atah... she'asah nisim la'avoteinu bayamim haheim baziman hazeh.
Blessed are you... who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time.
I sang it so loudly it drowned out the violence on television for one brief moment, and illuminated a brief hope that maybe, at this time, we will again see a miracle. We damn well need one.
Happy Chanukah.