How I spend my days

On a day to day basis my life is busy, but seemingly a bit static. I'm in 15 hours, all of them science except a German Literature course. My classes are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Monday, Wednesday, Friday I work. I have two "jobs". First, I am an undergraduate teaching assistant and I teach 3 laboratories this semester to students who are not Biology majors. This is my third semester doing this and I LOVE it. I love my students, I love teaching, and I love biology. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

My second "job" really isn't a job. I'm a research assistant in a genetics lab here on campus. I have a project that I work on under the guidance of a Professor. I absolutely love that lab, and I'll probably mention it often. I love it because of the opportunities it gives me. Possibly going on to graduate school means being in a lab is a MUST. Also, IF I could get my name onto a published paper, that's what the whole song and dance is essentially about. My lab might be publishing soon, but I'm not sure if I'll be on this paper or not. I've only been with them since August. Right now I don't spend enough time in the lab, but my project is just beginning to take off, so once it does I'll hopefully have more and more to keep me occupied. I don't get paid hourly for my work here, or actually I don't have any income from the lab directly at all. I applied for two scholarships/grants and was fortunate to receive both of them. One is an Undergraduate Research Award given by KU, allotting me money in the Spring to conduct my research. The second is actually an NIH (National Institute of Health) Grant, which is pretty exciting. It will cover research in both this Spring and Summer. Together the awards sum to $8,000. This is serious cash meaning they expect serious work. And I'm looking forward to it. This Summer I'll be working in the laboratory full time, hopefully conducting "very important scientific research".

Outside of classes and work I'm generally "free" in the evenings and ALL WEEKEND. However, most of this time is spent thinking about studying. Not actually studying, just intending to and consistently finding something else to do. On a regular basis, that something else is running. Last year I got it in my head I wanted to start running after a friend of mine had me run with her in a long distance relay (more on that some other time). After the relay, I went on to run a half marathon here in Lawrence. This year I'm hoping to take it up a notch and kick out a full marathon. I've been training since December. Last week I knocked out an 18 mile run, but it was all inside on a tread mill.... that's not quite the same as the hilly streets of Lawrence! With the weather improving, I hope to get out and about very soon.

In other small areas of my day to day:
Yes, of course I attend KU basketball and watch all games. Normally, actually, I get my long treadmill runs out of the way right in front of the TV. I run and KU bball wins. Perfect. I took part in the camping groups, camping in the field house before the games. Recently also I arranged an intramural basketball team with friends and hope to have a soccer team in the Spring.