1st Year is Behind Me!!

Wow! I can't believe that my first year in graduate school has been completed. Through all the hyperventilation of "I wish I accepted that job offer!", "What in the world have I gotten myself into!", "Am I really capable of handling all this"...my first year has gone by and I feel like I've actually learned a significant amount of information! I have to attribute all of this to God because He was truly the source of my strength at time when I felt my weakest.

Now I must continue my preparations for the Ph.D. qualifier's examination this summer. I have to turn in a written proposal and go through an hour and a half oral defense regarding my submitted proposal. Talk about nerve-wrecking! However, I know that the same God that brought me through my first year of grad school will take me through this summer as well!

Alrighty...one year closer to that Ph.D. - The future Dr. T! : )

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I'm an NSF Fellow!!!

I just had to share the great news. I am now officially a National Science Foundation Fellow! I received news this past weekend that I was awarded the fellowship which is considered a great honor for graduate students and also comes with a much improved stipend : ) I immediately thanked God when I read the news! In fact, I had to reread the email a couple times to make sure I a) wasn't half-dreaming b) wasn't misreading and that I had actually been given honorable mention status, lol.

So with that, I'm feeling a bit more motivated as this semester from down under winds down (interesting how the workload simultaneously "winds up" exponentially!). This motivation is much needed as I have a mock NIH proposal due in class tomorrow. It's not finished yet..but we're getting there : )

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Encouraging article for those good ole PhD students

A short article that I found a bit encouraging today after feeling like how the above graph (from PhD Comics) illustrates...

"PhD...What They Don't Tell You!'

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Welcome to Research!

This is definitely one phrase I'm starting to get weary of hearing! Let me give you some of examples of where it has come up:

Case 1

Me: Wait, was I supposed to use the distilled PEG to mix with the MeCl??

Labmate: Yea, sorry I didn't make that too clear in the protocol

Me: Oh goodness...now I'm going to have to redistill my solution and start back at step 2. 4 hours of work down the drain!

Labmate: Welcome to research! : )

Case 2

Me: These gels are taking a bit long to form, how long do they usually take you?

Labmate: Oh about 10-15 minutes

Me: Really?? Mine take like 30-40 minutes

Labmate: Well are you making new initiator solution for every polymerization?

Me: Umm, no. No one told me about that. I thought you could make a batch and it would last you several days. That means I'm going to have to redo all the samples I've made this semester for my measurements!!

Labmate: Welcome to research! : )

Case 3

Labmate: Hey, something happened with the measurement of your samples on the DSC. The machine started acting weird for no reason.

Maeling: Are you kidding? (This was an experiment I have to let run overnight)

Labmate: Yea, this machine is a little ornery sometimes. Welcome to research! : )

All I have to say is...Research, why must you treat me so! What did I do to you?!! Can we start over on the right foot....PLEASE!!!!!

Just had to vent : )

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Innovation is Key!

So one thing I've learned about the major differences between graduate and undergraduate training is how they train you to think. In my undergraduate career, we were expected to study the information presented and demonstrate that understanding by doing homework sets and answering questions on exams...all of which the answers were already known by the professor. In graduate school, particularly for the PhD, you are still presented with information, but with that information you are expected to use it in a way to solve problems that currently do not have a solution known by anyone! This means that in order to solve these types of problems, you also have to approach them in ways that haven't been tried before in order to yield new information.

I must say that this is one of the areas that has been hard for me to transition into. Right now, I'm being required to write two proposals, detailing new experiments that are designed to solve current problems in the area of biomaterials. Its so frustrating because every time I think that I have come up with a new idea, I do some more searching of the literature and it has already been done! It can be very discouraging, but I'm reminded that I have a personal connection with the Creator of this world who also was intimately involved in the design of the human body. With Him on my side, I know I can trust that He will lead me into paths of thinking that will produce groundbreaking ideas in my areas of research. I just have to TRUST, be PATIENT, and continue doing my job of DILIGENTLY STUDYING : )

These texts have especially been of encouragement to me over the the past couple of weeks:

Jeremiah 33:3 

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

Lamentations 3: 24-26

 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;

       therefore I will wait for him."

 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,

       to the one who seeks him;

 26 it is good to wait quietly

       for the salvation of the LORD

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One semester down!!

Well well well...Fall 2008 has past and I'm now in the midst of the Spring 2009 semester. I can't believe how much material was covered last semester and how much of it I understood by the end of the semester! That was a miracle. 

I really enjoyed working in the biomedical engineering (BME) lab last semester. Definitely picked up some useful skills for my research including polymer synthesis, reading journal articles critically, hydrogel (polymers that absorb water) degradation studies, presenting research for lab meetings and a ton of other things! I also had the "wonderful" experience of applying for a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. It will only have been a wonderful experience if I am awarded the fellowship because boy was preparing that application a project in itself! I almost missed the announcement of the elected president on Nov. 4, 2008 because I was up late working on my application. I'll find out in March if I am awarded one. If I am, I will be sure to put up a new post giving advice on how to successfully prepare an application for that fellowship!!

To help maintain my sanity, during the middle of last semester I decided to join a young adult choir at the church I attend. That really helped, since I was able to fellowship with other people my age, some who are in graduate school as well. In any case, I love to sing and it really helps to relieve my stress!! 

So I'm taking two classes this semester, but my time spent in the lab has increased exponentially this semester! I don't think I've quite found the right balance between study time for classes and research time yet. I need to find it soon though with exams coming up starting next week! This semester, all of us 1st year grad students have our lovely qualifying exams looming over our heads. The qualifying exams take place this summer and basically consist of each of us defending our proposed research topics to a panel of faculty members that are ready to grill us with a plethora of questions!! My heart beat literally increases twofold everytime I start thinking about that! 

Well, no more venting for tonight...have an exam to study for!! Kinetics of phase transformations...woohoo!!! : )

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So life as a PhD student begins...

So as I write this, I can say I have completed 2 full months of my PhD program in Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech...Thanks to the Lord! Ever since day 1 of the program, I have felt that my mind was being pushed to the max with the depth and the amount of material being presented to me. To be honest, I've had my days where I've questioned why I decided to do this program instead of going out into the workforce and being paid a nice engineering salary. Whenever that happens though, I have to remind myself that I should be following God's will and not my will (which most of the time..is looking for the easy way out). I am really excited about my research in biomaterials though. Once I arrived here, I was accepted into an NIH Biomaterials Training grant program that allows me to work simultaneously between a biomedical engineering lab and materials engineering lab so I can gain skills in using materials science to solve biomedical problems ( ie...creating biomedical devices with materials that won't be harmful to the body, creating body part replacements w/ suitable materials). Its challenging but really exciting at the same time. I'm praying to God that He will allow me to make a significant contribution to this area by the time I'm finished with my program (in the next 5 years!). 

Well, as writing tends to be soothing to my soul, I'll occasionally post updates about my life in general, and even share some devotional thoughts. 

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One Test vs. 5 Years!!

I'm taking the GRE exam tomorrow...for the second time, and I had to wonder to myself -- Why does one test have the power to overshadow my 5 years of engineering education??? Is it fair to say that if I don't perform well on the GRE (verbal, quantitative, analytical writing), that I won't perform well in an ENGINEERING curriculum after performing extremely well in my ENGINEERING classes? I certainly don't think so. To qualify for entrance into an engineering Ph.D program, you are required to take an entrance exam. So you take the GRE II right?? NOT! You take an exam that actually focuses on material that you've learned throughout your engineering curriculum. Why not do that for entrance into the graduate program itself? Maybe I have all these questions because I'm bitter about taking the exam twice... Either way, I refuse to let a 3hr exam rain on my FIVE years of engineering coursework and experience. GRE...lets' GO!!!

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Taking a Breather

I actually created my first blog in 2006. How many posts did I write from that time till this point?? -- let's try zero. Why? -- because I had no time. So now I'm finally starting, and I still don't have time, but I had forgotten how much of a relief writing out my feelings could be. I just came back from the podiatrist, who said I have plantar fascilitis, i'm studying for a midterm that takes place in 2hrs, I'm taking the GRE this Friday, and trying to resolve an issue that I have no information about. Writing....yea, I'm loving this right now. There is so much going on in my life right now that I don't even know where to begin. So I'm not...at least not for right now. I probably should be the dedicated student and review some more for this wonderful history exam. I'm so excited that I have started though. Now I have motivation to continue! Stay tuned... : )

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