Today is my last first day of graduate school.I sort of wish I had a new pink backpack with my favorite cartoon character. That would totally be appropriate for the law school, right?
Aug 24, 2010
Aug 18, 2010
back to school
In a little less than a week, I will start my last semester of graduate school. Nevermind medical school, I never have to take another class at The College again! Of course, being the sheer dork I am, I might take microbiology... or Spanish... or underwater basketweaving... just because I want to.
Of course, in theory, I have wanted to take all of the classes I've taken at The College. I signed up for undergrad and graduate school. I must have wanted to take these classes, right?
Sort of.
I made a good decision in undergraduate to explore all the options for careers I thought I might love. When I realized there were simply too many things I thought I loved, I picked one and went to graduate school. It wasn't a well informed decision, and it turns out, I don't actually love health policy as it is usually practiced.
But you live and learn, and I'm doing my darnedest not to make an uninformed decision about medicine now. After all, two years of graduate school can be pretty gross, but four years of medical school and at least three years of residency sound terribly dreadful if I were making the wrong decision this time!
Of course, in theory, I have wanted to take all of the classes I've taken at The College. I signed up for undergrad and graduate school. I must have wanted to take these classes, right?
Sort of.
I made a good decision in undergraduate to explore all the options for careers I thought I might love. When I realized there were simply too many things I thought I loved, I picked one and went to graduate school. It wasn't a well informed decision, and it turns out, I don't actually love health policy as it is usually practiced.
But you live and learn, and I'm doing my darnedest not to make an uninformed decision about medicine now. After all, two years of graduate school can be pretty gross, but four years of medical school and at least three years of residency sound terribly dreadful if I were making the wrong decision this time!
Aug 10, 2010
small victories
I've been working as a research assistant for the Schroeder Center for Health Policy for the last six months or so. I have assisted with studies that range from local school health curriculum evaluations to questions related to federal Medicare policies. While I don't have much to show for my work besides huge Excel data files and lots of grant queries, I'm happy to say that I'm officially a co-author on a technical report!
The report is an evaluation of an elementary school curriculum that attempts to integrate physical activity into academic subjects. Unfortunately, you cannot read the report, because the data and results are proprietary. The results were simply returned to the Center's client and cannot be accessed by the general public. In fact, you cannot even read my name on the cover of the report, "Assessing Physical Activity in the Classroom in the Wellness Integration Program"..... but I promise, it's the third (and last) blurry name on the cover! My superiors did the truly difficult work of designing and interpreting the study, but I assisted with data collection, cleaning, and programming. Pretty cool!
The report is an evaluation of an elementary school curriculum that attempts to integrate physical activity into academic subjects. Unfortunately, you cannot read the report, because the data and results are proprietary. The results were simply returned to the Center's client and cannot be accessed by the general public. In fact, you cannot even read my name on the cover of the report, "Assessing Physical Activity in the Classroom in the Wellness Integration Program"..... but I promise, it's the third (and last) blurry name on the cover! My superiors did the truly difficult work of designing and interpreting the study, but I assisted with data collection, cleaning, and programming. Pretty cool!
Aug 7, 2010
face lift
I've updated and changed the layout of this blog, because Blogger added a bunch of new cool options. As a heads up though, Mark and I have been thinking about starting a new blog together. Maybe we'd actually write more on it if we do it together!
In the mean time, I'm switching gears a little. It's funny that I started this blog almost exactly a year ago to chronicle trying a bunch of new things and meeting goals. The funny thing is not that I haven't accomplished hardly any of them; it's that I've realized that so many of them aren't that important to me. Maybe this blog has helped me sort out which goals-- which versions of myself-- are actually the important ones. I think that's valuable even if it wasn't the original goal. So I'm going to get rid of a bunch of the labels that I previously had and focus on the things that are really important.
And speaking of really important things, Mark and I got engaged on June 19th! We've had a great time being engaged for almost two months now, and we are looking forward to getting married in the spring. Thanks to all our loving family and friends for encouraging and supporting us and our relationship! And just so you know, due to Mark's school track, my plans have changed. I actually have 2 years (instead of 1) as of now until I begin medical school (hopefully). A whole other year to amuse myself!
PS. Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon of our summer adventure to Florida and such.
In the mean time, I'm switching gears a little. It's funny that I started this blog almost exactly a year ago to chronicle trying a bunch of new things and meeting goals. The funny thing is not that I haven't accomplished hardly any of them; it's that I've realized that so many of them aren't that important to me. Maybe this blog has helped me sort out which goals-- which versions of myself-- are actually the important ones. I think that's valuable even if it wasn't the original goal. So I'm going to get rid of a bunch of the labels that I previously had and focus on the things that are really important.
And speaking of really important things, Mark and I got engaged on June 19th! We've had a great time being engaged for almost two months now, and we are looking forward to getting married in the spring. Thanks to all our loving family and friends for encouraging and supporting us and our relationship! And just so you know, due to Mark's school track, my plans have changed. I actually have 2 years (instead of 1) as of now until I begin medical school (hopefully). A whole other year to amuse myself!
PS. Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon of our summer adventure to Florida and such.
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