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exsequar'Ello loves!
I am safely returned from Salt Lake City. Today was a little miserable only because I couldn't afford to feed myself. Um. I had a complimentary donut at the hotel for breakfast, $2 peanut M&Ms and the complimentary cookies on the plane for lunch, and didn't have real food until about 6 PM. At which point I was literally dizzy and was so hungry that licking plain mayonnaise off my finger was like heaven. IT WAS KIND OF BAD. Hopefully there will be a paycheck waiting in my mailbox tomorrow so that that does not occur again. o.O
Ahem. Anyway! Yes, home safe. The conference was pretty awesome. I went to a whole morning of talks about different approaches to studying and treating Alzheimer's, and it was absolutely fascinating. Everything I learn just confirms that this is what I want to work on. Happily, there's a guy at Michigan who's a frickin genius and is tackling the Alzheimer's problem from a number of perspectives. I really really want to work for him. *crosses fingers* My biochem professor, Mehl, was at the conference with us and when I told him I was going to Michigan and that I wanted to work with Dr. Gestwicki (whom Mehl knows from conferences), he said that if I'm going to pick anyone at Michigan it should be him. He even offered to write a letter to Dr. Gestwicki recommending me! So that only reinforces my determination to work for him. Yay. :D
My poster went very well. I was one of probably about 100 posters that were up for 2 hours in a big room. I talked to like 10-15 people and had some good conversations. It's so fascinating to see the range of perspectives people bring - one guy (who was so charismatic and nice that after he left I just kind of blinked after him for a while, hee) sympathized with the difficulty of the specific synthesis I did because he's struggled with it himself, while another guy pushed and prodded me on the physical chemistry details of my project, and a girl just couldn't get it until I broke it down really simply. It gave me a lot of practice in explaining my project in a number of different ways, and it was a great experience. Another awesome random thing was this girl who dropped by who graduated from my college four years ago! And she even worked for the same research advisor! She's just about to get her Ph.D. from Texas A&M. It's crazy how much we had in common - we shared tales of Mehl in Advanced Biochem, and it turned out that she had studied abroad on the same program but in Scotland. It was so much fun to talk to her! She was lovely.
I also had a lot of fun hanging out with 5 fellow F&Mers. We had some tasty meals, particularly one at Blue Iguana which is a Mexican place that Jeremy recommended to me (as he's originally from Utah). Speaking of Jeremy, I get to see him tomorrow for the first time in over two weeks! :D I'm excited.
Ever since my mom said she's committed to sending me to Dublin in June (!!!! :D) I have been thinking all the time about my Dublin loves. I thought a lot today about what it felt like that day I left. Holding and crying with Paddy and Lou. Breathing in Dara's comforting scent for the last time. Lying on my bed in Niall's arms, crying quietly. Kissing Kate's tears from her cheeks. Conor and Mark and Niall running up the street to say goodbye just before my bus left. Clutching Niall's hand and weeping for the entire 20 minute bus ride. My flight getting canceled and spending my entire evening in the hotel room calling Dara and Niall and Kate and saying calmer goodbyes. It was the hardest day of my life, but there's a sort of bittersweetness to it, because there were so many people who felt pain at my leaving, who cared that I was not going to be in their lives anymore. And now I get to go back to them, have the breath squeezed out of me by dozens of warm hugs, and feel so very loved again.
I simply can't wait. :)
I am safely returned from Salt Lake City. Today was a little miserable only because I couldn't afford to feed myself. Um. I had a complimentary donut at the hotel for breakfast, $2 peanut M&Ms and the complimentary cookies on the plane for lunch, and didn't have real food until about 6 PM. At which point I was literally dizzy and was so hungry that licking plain mayonnaise off my finger was like heaven. IT WAS KIND OF BAD. Hopefully there will be a paycheck waiting in my mailbox tomorrow so that that does not occur again. o.O
Ahem. Anyway! Yes, home safe. The conference was pretty awesome. I went to a whole morning of talks about different approaches to studying and treating Alzheimer's, and it was absolutely fascinating. Everything I learn just confirms that this is what I want to work on. Happily, there's a guy at Michigan who's a frickin genius and is tackling the Alzheimer's problem from a number of perspectives. I really really want to work for him. *crosses fingers* My biochem professor, Mehl, was at the conference with us and when I told him I was going to Michigan and that I wanted to work with Dr. Gestwicki (whom Mehl knows from conferences), he said that if I'm going to pick anyone at Michigan it should be him. He even offered to write a letter to Dr. Gestwicki recommending me! So that only reinforces my determination to work for him. Yay. :D
My poster went very well. I was one of probably about 100 posters that were up for 2 hours in a big room. I talked to like 10-15 people and had some good conversations. It's so fascinating to see the range of perspectives people bring - one guy (who was so charismatic and nice that after he left I just kind of blinked after him for a while, hee) sympathized with the difficulty of the specific synthesis I did because he's struggled with it himself, while another guy pushed and prodded me on the physical chemistry details of my project, and a girl just couldn't get it until I broke it down really simply. It gave me a lot of practice in explaining my project in a number of different ways, and it was a great experience. Another awesome random thing was this girl who dropped by who graduated from my college four years ago! And she even worked for the same research advisor! She's just about to get her Ph.D. from Texas A&M. It's crazy how much we had in common - we shared tales of Mehl in Advanced Biochem, and it turned out that she had studied abroad on the same program but in Scotland. It was so much fun to talk to her! She was lovely.
I also had a lot of fun hanging out with 5 fellow F&Mers. We had some tasty meals, particularly one at Blue Iguana which is a Mexican place that Jeremy recommended to me (as he's originally from Utah). Speaking of Jeremy, I get to see him tomorrow for the first time in over two weeks! :D I'm excited.
Ever since my mom said she's committed to sending me to Dublin in June (!!!! :D) I have been thinking all the time about my Dublin loves. I thought a lot today about what it felt like that day I left. Holding and crying with Paddy and Lou. Breathing in Dara's comforting scent for the last time. Lying on my bed in Niall's arms, crying quietly. Kissing Kate's tears from her cheeks. Conor and Mark and Niall running up the street to say goodbye just before my bus left. Clutching Niall's hand and weeping for the entire 20 minute bus ride. My flight getting canceled and spending my entire evening in the hotel room calling Dara and Niall and Kate and saying calmer goodbyes. It was the hardest day of my life, but there's a sort of bittersweetness to it, because there were so many people who felt pain at my leaving, who cared that I was not going to be in their lives anymore. And now I get to go back to them, have the breath squeezed out of me by dozens of warm hugs, and feel so very loved again.
I simply can't wait. :)
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Date: 2009-03-26 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-27 04:32 am (UTC)