one more miracle

Anyone on my flist intrigued by all this Band of Brothers flailing but hasn't gotten around to watching it yet? Borders is having a 50% off sale on the DVD set! :DD Use this link to get a promo code. Valid TODAY ONLY at the website, so hurry! /sales pitch

Seriously, if you've got any inclination at all to see this, DO SO. It's been life changing for me, pretty much literally, but it's also just an exquisite experience of art and humanity. I promise you won't regret it. :)

♥

On an entirely different note, I just got a super sweet compliment. My post-doc just told me that she thinks I have "good hands", and that it's something she noticed while I was rotating here! I was slightly boggled, because honestly I think I have rather clumsy hands sometimes! As a scientist, having "good hands" is invaluable - it determines whether your experiments even work, many times, and ultimately whether the results are reliable and useful for publications. So as far as compliments go, that's a really really awesome one, and an excellent confidence booster. :D

I CAN HAS MY IPOD!!!

I had no hope whatsoever, but because I would hate myself if I didn't, I went to the bar that I was drunkest at on Friday, and asked if they had my iPod. AND THEY DID!!!!!!!!! WUT! This does not happen in real life! :DDDDDD I HAS MY BABY AGAIN! I christened it by listening to It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's A Deathwish at top volume on my way home. I AM SO HAPPYYYYYYY!!!! :D :D :D

My emotional dependence on this little piece of technology is a little ridic. On my walk home, I wanted to listen to music, but COULDN'T, and I almost cried. BUT NOW I HAS MY BABY! Bweeeee.

Today I also spoke to an awesome professor who was here to give a talk from the University of Rochester about my project, and he had some great ideas. Now we're on a completely different tack! Hah! That's what happens when you have NO IDEA about the field you jump into, and then talk to an expert. But we're learning! It's good! I'm excited!

I'm also fucking exhausted. My head is throbbing. I'm gonna do some reading, then SLEEP.

I HAS MY IPOD!!!! :DDDDDDDDD

I LOVE Michigan. I love it. The professors, the students, the research, the campus, the program, the resources, the city. EVERYTHING. I would be hard pressed to give you a concrete negative (other than it's Not Seattle, and even that's a mixed thing) and if you'll remember my reaction to UCSF, that was kind of the opposite thing (lots of negatives, mediated by a few important positives).

So, in short, I am going to enroll in the Chemical Biology Doctoral Program at the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN!

:D :D :D

The more I find out about this place, the more boggled I am by my (near-instant!) acceptance. Most of the kids here this weekend were just invited out, the decisions will be made next week, but I got a straight up acceptance with an extra fellowship to boot! Apparently they saw something they REALLY liked in me, which is flattering and awesome, but does not quite compute! This place is fucking top notch, and the Chemical Biology program is a special butterfly even within that environment. My grad student host said that CB kids are the "cream of the crop" and basically have no trouble getting rotations in whatever lab they want. It's really really exciting to be asked (nay, begged!) to join that group of incredible people. I just hope I can live up!

Today's been a very long day (this is my first moment to breathe) but very rewarding. I had interviews with 6 professors and met lots of students at the lunch and things. Every single one of the professors was nice, gracious, welcoming, and ridiiiculously smart. The research going on here is just extremely high caliber. The man whose work most intrigued me on the website is an enthusiastic, brilliant, slightly manic guy who explained is research in an extremely clear and exciting way. I would LOVE to work with him. The girl assigned to usher me around works in his lab too so I got to ask her all kinds of questions. She said he's very involved in the lab, walking around once a day to check on things, which means a lot of contact even though he's got 10 students. He also knows my biochem professor at F&M (Dr. Mehl) and thinks he's awesome. His work is totally groundbreaking Alzheimer's research and I would love love love to be a part of it.

The other professors all had great work too. I could actually, honestly see myself working with all of them. Some more than others, but considering I only met 6 out of 42 (42 professors to choose from for 10 incoming students! Amazing.) I think that it would be no problem at all to find a perfect fit for myself. The sort of thematic focuses of the program are very much areas that I'd love to work in, so all of that is extremely encouraging.

I am SO pleased. I can absolutely see myself living, laughing, loving here. I'll be so close to all of my extended family, and the cost of living means that my very generous stipend will ensure a very comfortable lifestyle. I am so glad that UM itself makes those things only fringe benefits, instead of the main reason for coming. I've just really loved the atmosphere of the department and the program. All of the students seem totally, genuinely happy, even the 3rd and 4th years. They all love Ann Arbor and the work they're doing and are very happy with their choice of UM. I couldn't ask for more.

*BEAMTWIRLS*

I've been accepted to the University of Michigan Chemical Biology doctorate program!!!!!

:D \o/

I applied THREE DAYS ago. THREE DAYS. I literally sent it in Saturday night. The woman who called me said this in her email:

"It was great talking to you on the phone. As I mentioned during our conversation, the committee was so impressed by your application that we are ACCEPTING you in our program.

*BEAMTWIRLS* Now UM's going to pay to fly me out and put me up for a weekend in March so I can meet all the professors and students and look at the school.

Like. WHAT???? YAY!

ETA: I have ALSO received an invitation from University of Washington to come visit in February! They defer their final decision until after you visit and they assess your fit with the program. I repeat: YAY!!!!

Now I'm just waiting on San Francisco!

*bounces!*

So you guys remember that essay I wrote about my research experience? It's been chosen to be published in the school admissions materials!!! :O This will be pretty much my first published writing, how exciting is that?? *TWIRLS FOREVER*

Also, I got my new phone!

A+++, TODAY. :D