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Published: November 26th 2010
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Desolate trees
See all the birds in them? Hello world!
Story #1: Well, it's me again...that procrastinating graduate student in Lansing. Things have been very interesting here. First off, how can it really almost be Christmas time? I still can't believe it. With all of these proposals and committee forming and teaching and graduate classes, the time has just flown by. The beautiful fall leaves are now almost gone and the trees are left barren. I snagged a picture of one today with a bunch of birds in it though so you can get a feel for what it looks like. It's weird because every day I wake up, I think of Poland. Last fall, my flatmate and I took off to Poland to go explore and it was an eye-opening experience. While we saw some gorgeous architecture and enjoyed cheap european cuisine, we also saw horrors from World War II and heard grim stories while exploring the grounds of Auschwitz. It's such a weird feeling to wake up every day here and think of it. I drove to one part of campus the other day called the Manly Mile and the Graduate student apartments also looked like the entrance to a concentration camp - flat, desolate, and
full of bare trees.
Story #2: The Imposter Syndrome and the Disappointed Advisor. Well the Friday before the NSF proposal was due (November 19th) was not a good day. It started with a meeting at 11, then a meeting at 1:45, then another meeting at 5:30, all with my advisor as we went over my three NSF proposals. The first two were not so bad, but by the time we hit the last...well...just picture a 6'6'' guy rubbing his head and saying "what is this" and you get the picture. Nothing worse than a disappointed advisor on a Friday afternoon! I felt defeated so I left my office and called a friend. Their advice: Kari that stinks. Come watch Silver Bells with us. So I headed downtown with them and saw the lighting of the tree and the fireworks over the capital building. I didn't snag any shots, but check out a cool picture here (all rights reserved to Mario Q.):
. The Christmas music definitely made me feel better, even if I returned to my home that night and started working on my NSF proposal again.
Story #3: The Final Football Game. It was a sad day on November 20th only because it was the last home football game. And it started off slow and we were losing for so long. But then things turned around and in the third quarter, we were suddenly coming back. The crowd was getting louder, the Purdue Boilmakers were being bullies, and we were suddenly coming back. And before we knew it, we were ahead and because of an interception, a blocked punt, and a touchdown run by the quarterback. It was awesome!! And such a great way to end the season. Then I returned back to writing...
Story #4: A Friend Thanksgiving. As Rach calls it, a bunch of us got together the weekend before Thanksgiving and had a big dinner together since everyone (but me) was heading out of town. We all cooked something, met up at Mark and Siris, talked, played some football, and just enjoyed a relaxing afternoon as we ate some great food! It's nice to have little get-to-gethers like that just to refresh the soul a bit and enjoy being here in Lansing.
Story #5: NSF IS SUBMITTED!!!!!!!!! Well after a couple months of reading articles, late nights in the Natural Resource building with just the sounds of the cleaning crew around, all of my proposal are finally submitted and done. No, the works not quite done since I have a couple little things I could apply for, but the BIG things are done. Now I just have to wait for four months until I see whether I get funded by EPA or NSF. Fingers crossed. After I submitted my proposal on the night of November 21st, I had to start studying for a stats test on Monday so I didn't really get to celebrate. But on Tuesday night, a BUNCH of my friends (about ten of us including me) went for a drink at Crunchy's then out to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was awesome and I loved having so many people around to share it with!
Story #6: Life after NSF & Thanksgiving. Well now it has been about five days since I have submitted my proposal and I'm so surprised how much spare time I've had. Yes, I have a LOT to do, but I actually have time to do laundry, cook, clean, and relax. It's also nice to have a Thanksgiving break. It's a little hard since most of my friends left, but I made my very first fritata which was awesome and tastes really good! And I went to a volleyball game with the one friend that did stay and watched the Spartans beat the Wolverines. And then I had Thanksgiving with a lab mate and her friends. It was really nice! And now I am watching Christmas movies, hanging out with our new fish, getting ready to make some corn chowder, and working on some homework before I start my new job tomorrow. It's only for about a week and perhaps not the best timing, but a little extra cash is going to be really nice! Well better go accomplish something now.
Happy Holidays and only three weeks left of my very first semester in graduate school. Yay!!
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