Heyyyyyyyyy. It’s been a busy few months…maybe several months… …maybe the whole year? Anyway, I’M BACK! I am a little disappointed I didn’t publish a blogpost last month (October), buuuuut at the same time, I was really struggling with my mental health, and so my blog was not very high on my list of priorities.…

I had wanted to write a third rendition of “Qual Prep”, however, things got way too busy to take the time to do that. It is now one week post qualifying exam and I couldn’t be more relieved. I had thought I would feel happy, excited, and/or accomplished following my qualifying exam. But the truth…

I told y’all there would be multiple iterations of this… I can’t believe I am already at the point where I can say, “I will be taking my qualifying exam next month!” Time moves so fast. It’s hard to keep up. I have been feeling like I’ve been in a really good place. After returning…

It is officially August, which means that I am officially a third year PhD student!!  Our newest cohort of students arrived today, and it has me feeling all the feels. I am excited to get to know these new students and watch them grow into the amazing scientists I know they can be. I am…

Earlier this month I went away to North Carolina to spend a week with my extended family at the beach. I remember months ago being so nervous to ask for this time off and worrying that it would impede my work during this critical summer of preparing for my qualifying exam. It ended up being…

I started writing this in May…it is almost July…but you know how life gets…so let’s pretend I finished writing this and uploaded it sooner… It is officially May, which means that it is officially qualifying exam season!!! Which sounds crazy for so many reasons… For one, I won’t even be taking my qualifying exam until…

Life has been a little bit crazy in all the best ways lately. I keep telling people that I am at the “perfect level of stress” right now (referencing the Pressure x Performance graph below)  Between March and now I’ve presented my yearly seminar, completed three 8+-week long experiments (setting up more ASAP), volunteered with…

Yesterday I had my first ever thesis committee meeting! For those of you a little less familiar with the grad school/PhD process, after you officially join the lab you will be doing your thesis research in, you select three additional principal investigators (PIs)/mentors to serve on your committee. These are people who have knowledge in…

Like I say on my About page, I am a Toxicology PhD student…among other things 😉…and my weekend spent hiking in the Adirondacks to knock some High Peaks off my list and experience the total solar eclipse highlights that 😊 I am so lucky to have my own personal Adirondacks tour guide with expertise in…