The end of the semester...

It seems that all the professors have forgotten the semester was supposed to end today because the last day of class came and went and I still have a mountain of work before me.

Sunday:
10 am - 1 am
-Finished up Fluent simulation and wrote PPT presentation for class next morning
End of Day 1: 26 PPT slides, 2 pages of Word doc

Monday:
8:30 am - 9:30 am
-Gave PPT presentation
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
-Worked on paper about gold nanoshell cancer treatment due Wednesday (took 20 min for lunch)
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
-Attended Biomaterials class
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
-Attended lab meeting and was tasked to write paper for Wednesday and PPT for Thursday
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
-Worked on tracing electrical problem with my LabView USB 6221
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
-Attended SWE banquet
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
-Worked on Biomaterials paper until headache set in
9:00 pm - 8:00 am
-Showered, played with Kerrigan, slept
End of Day 2: 6 pages Word doc

Tuesday:
8:00 am - 10:00 am
-Breakfast, Kerrigan, worked on Biomaterial paper
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
-Worked on Biomaterials paper, more troubleshooting lab equipment
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
-Attended last Optimization class of the semester
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
-Attended meeting at local children's museum HealthWorks! to discuss plans for new exhibit I am building
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
-Worked on troubleshooting flow loop so Andrew could have data to present Friday at conference
6:30 pm - 11:00 pm
-Dinner, finished Biomaterials paper, wrote semester report
11:00 pm - 7:00 am
-Shower, Kerrigan, sleep
End of Day 3: 11 pages Word doc

Wednesday:
7:00 am - 8:00 am
-Breakfast, Kerrigan
8:30 am - 9:30 am
-Cardiovascular Fluidics last class of the semester
9:45 am - 1:30 pm
-Worked on setting up Optimization project, lunch, corrected Biomaterials paper
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
-Turned in Biomaterials paper, received term paper that now needs to be corrected for class textbook
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
-Helped Andrew with conference presentation
4:00 pm - 7:00pm
-On campus errands, dinner, off campus research errands
7:00 pm - 1:30 am
-Finished optimization project, started lab PPT for presentation tomorrow
1:30 am - 8:00 am
-Shower, sleep
End of Day 3: 5 pages Word doc, 13 PPT slides

Midweek totals: 24 pages Word doc, 39 PPT slides

Thursday:
9:00 am - 10:00 am
-Breakfast
10:00 am - 11:45 am
-Start writing last term paper
11:45 am - 2:00 pm
-Help Andrew with presentation, semester presentations
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
-On phone with NI support trying to fix DAQ
4:00 pm - 10:00 pm
-Continue writing term paper, dinner, finish term paper
10:00 pm - 11:00 pm
-Get ready for bed, sleep
End of Day 4: 18 pages Word doc

Friday:
9:00 am - 10:00 am
-Breakfast
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
-Studied for Math qualifier, turned in term paper
2:00 pm - on
-Gave in the mental fatigue and began my weekend.
End of Week totals: 39 PPT slides, 42 pages Word doc

Work still left to do: Write my portion of NIH R03 grant, correct Biomaterials term paper, put together summer research plan, study for qualifiers

The worst part is that I can never get on top of the work because even though classes are over, I keep getting assignments every time I turn something in!

The year is ending so fast, and I still need the time.

There are only a few classes to go before the end of the semester. Unfortunately, my professors keep piling more and more work on me. On top of the projects and homework assignments, I am trying to help my undergraduate finish the flow loop for his research conference presentation. I am also helping our lab post-doc write an NIH grant proposal for her work. Finally, the icing on the cake, I have to start studying for the qualifying exams in my free time.

Thankfully, the weather has gotten nicer and so my free time isn't spent sitting inside waiting for sunshine. The sunny sky has also brought me a new surge of energy. I am trying to start a mini garden on my balcony. I hope to grow peas, tomatoes, corn and a few different herbs. So far, the tomatoes and one pea plant have sprouted. The soil is not yet warm enough for the corn or herbs yet, but hopefully I can start them soon.

My walls of my bedroom have been bare since I moved in, but I finally got some art for my room. Now that it is on my wall, the rest seems so bare.

This past Sunday, Anne, Michael, and I went over to Nick's to celebrate his birthday by using the grill is parents bought him for his birthday. We had some great steak and watched X Files: I Want to Believe, which was very disappointing. I wanted to see aliens.

This weekend, I hope to have the time to attend the Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival which will no doubt yield a blog post.

At last some good news...

I have been feeling a bit discouraged lately because my health has really been making it hard for me keep up with my class work and research, but today that all changed. The first thing I do when I get into my office is to check my email. One sender caught my eye: GRF Operations Center. The subject line read: 2010 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Award Notification. I opened the email to see this:

I know it is hard to read so here is the first part blown up.

I was so psyched that I started jumping up and down in my office. I didn't stop bouncing for about an hour. The best part about getting the NSF is that I don't have to apply for the other grants my advisor wanted me to apply to. Unlike the NSF, those grants required a real research proposal (think around 12 pages) which followed all normal proposal formats. This meant a lot of writing and paper research work that I would have had to do this summer. I now have funding for three years and hopefully I can use this as leverage to fast track my studies here.

If you wish to know more about my research, you can read my proposal below. My project focus has changed slightly to study the effects of aging, but the idea is essentially the same.



NSF Proposal