My job/work/school/life

My first class of the new semester starts on Tuesday and I have a strong desire to write at least one intriguing post about science-y things now, because it feels as though I've not written about that in awhile, and I might not get much of a chance once classes get rolling. It's strange that I don't actually write about science that much because it's a bigger part of my life than most other things I write about. Except my family. Nothing is a bigger part of my life than them.

I think I'll just give you a brief run-down of what I do at work/school because I realize most people don't exactly know what 'being in grad school' entails. And honestly, it can be something very different for each student. And then if I'm inspired to venture out to more topics after this, I will, but probably not in this post.

Currently I am rotating in the Neurosurgery clinic, under the direction of Dr. Matt Howard, at the University of Iowa hospital. In my grad program, students do 3 rotations in different labs in their first year to get a feel of research in different areas and then by summertime they usually choose a lab/are offered a real position in a lab. And that becomes "their lab."  Well, for me it's a little different because, I have to be honest, I came to Iowa specifically to work in Dr. Michelle Voss's lab. She came from University of Illinois, which was my #1 grad school choice because I loved the work from the lab she was a part of. And her new lab here is perfect for me. It's the Health, Brain and Cognition Lab and we use a variety of techniques to delve into the effects of exercise on the brain and how we can use exercise to maximize our cognitive abilities. We are specifically interested in exercise's effects during the aging process into older adulthood, which is a huge issue right now as the proportion of adults over 65 is increasing at a very fast rate. Ultimately, we'd like to find the best ways to slow the aging of the brain and capitalize on the abilities of the brain throughout all of life.

So while the overarching theme of my "job" is to work in that lab, I am now doing a second rotation in the Neurosurgery clinic so I can learn the ropes there and understand how to interact with patients because one of the projects I'm working on is a collaborative effort between Michelle's lab and Neurosurgery and I will eventually be interacting with patients (in a research sense. I won't be treating them or anything). As a student in this lab, I attend meetings at 7 am Monday and Wednesday and then spend the day either learning new techniques from other people in the lab or reading and working on projects on my own. I have to read a lot of papers that explain techniques I don't yet know or that discuss new theories that we can incorporate into our research. I often have to compare across papers to get a broader idea of the research topic and compile the important pieces into arguments or outlines. I'm also currently learning how to analyze fMRI data (an imaging technique) and developing an iPad app that is a cognitive test we'll be able to use with patients. So that has been a great experience so far- I'm learning a lot about technology and I realize that sometimes it's my friend. And sometimes it's really not.

Basically all of this means that my time is split between the two labs, in a rather independent fashion (meaning go where I need to be when I need to be there and the rest of the time work on my own) which is awesome sometimes and overwhelming and uncomfortable other times. Freedom is great, but it can be frustrating because it requires me to actively plan my day so that I can get as much done as possible, without other people guiding me at all times. Honestly I think that's the aspect of my job that has helped me grow the most so far. Because as it turns out, in life, people don't tell you exactly what to do every second! Who would've guessed that?? (probably all of you because you've already discovered it and I'm the one at the back of the pack)

Anywho, my new classes will all start within the next two weeks so my days will be full of running around to classes, studying for said classes and working in lab when I have the chance.  I think it's going to be a crazy and very exciting semester.  Here's the list of classes I'll be taking:

Medical Neuroscience (it's a med school class...eeeeekkk!!)
Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience (focusing specifically on memory. Heck yes!)
Seminar: Cognitive Psychology (this class will teach me a few programs that we often use for designing experiments. So I'm psyched for that. Psyched. Get it? Yeah, I'm hilarious, just accept it ;)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, the functional imaging technique we use in our lab a lot, meaning this course will be directly applicable to my research. Again, heck yes)
And then a weekly seminar course for our program...during which I will have to, probably during spring, give a presentation on my rotation. I'll admit it, I'm a nerd....because I'm kind of really looking forward to giving that presentation :)

Now I really better get to bed or I might fall asleep during that 7 am meeting tomorrow!

At some point, I'll be writing a post that is basically a bunch of musings inspired by this great book I just finished called The Happiness Hypothesis. Now that was a feel-good popular psychology book if I've ever read one. And I have. I've read a lot of them.

Until then......tak for reading!

Taking a risk. Don't make me regret it.

Here's a warning, what's coming up is embarrassing. For me. But it's really too good not to share. I trust all of you with take it in good humor and not hold the lame-ness of past Rachel against present or future Rachel.

I'm home this weekend and was lucky enough to stumble upon this fancy green journal that I write in about once a year. I don't purposely write on the exact same day but the yearly entry usually occurs right before I go to school in August or January. So basically right now. This journal is kind of awesome because there are only about 8 entries and yet it contains so much of my life. I re-read all of the entries every time I find it, of course. And I'm thoroughly enjoying some of the ridiculous things past me has said. Most of it is about school and how in my wildest dreams I get to do research with "exercise, mice, cognitive functions?? something like that!" And what do you know...that's what I do now! (minus the mice)

Anyway, the real part that I just have to share is this juicy tidbit, which was written in Aug. 2010, a few months after my long-term relationship had ended and I was enjoying the single life again.  Seriously, don't judge. But you may laugh. And yes, it's directed to a future boy. I guess I'm an optimist.

*insert paragraph of partially-insightful comments on life and love and being independent*

"So boy...wherever you are right now...know that I am looking forward to meeting you. But for the time being, I'm riding solo (remember that song?...it's a big hit right now) and I'm loving it."

Oh past Rachel, you crack me up. Thanks for that.

Along those lines...here's another good story for the books. My mom told me the other day that she was cleaning out our beautiful big desk and she found some old Clark Christmas letters. While reading through them she found this:
(I'm paraphrasing....I haven't read the actual letter yet. It's hidden amongst the Christmas decorations currently.)
"Rachel is now in first grade. She has quite the personality. She came home on the first day of school and said 'Mom, I'm having boy problems.'  We said, 'Oh really? What's going on, Rachel?'
She replied "Ryan keeps trying to kiss me and he won't stop calling me hot lips!!"

I don't quite know why I was so distraught about this situation. Apparently I thought 'hot lips' was an insult?  Anyway, all of our family and friends were privileged enough to hear that story so I thought I better entertain you with it as well.

Happy Saturday night :)

Paying for pain. Or art. Or both.

I guess it was last fall that I started thinking about getting this tattoo. Prior to that I never really pictured myself actively seeking out someone to stick me with a needle...multiple times. And if I ever did, I imagined the result would be a really cool looking dinosaur or neuron (neither of which are totally out of the question, by the way), but here I am...23-years old and I just let some guy ink my foot...nay, I paid some guy to ink my foot. And I'm not at all upset about it.  Actually, it feels very normal now to have it be a part of me.

The tat:
It's the danish phrase "mine helte", which means my heroes, and in between the two words is an infinity sign. Originally I wanted my last name somewhere in the tattoo as well (I'll straight up admit I love my last name and it seemed like a really good way to connect to that part of my family), but that was all a little too complicated for the size I wanted so I simplified it.

The backstory:
When I was in Denmark I sent some postcards home to my family. One of them was a picture of a dad, decked out in a normal business suit and a tie....and a cape. And he was flying. Hence, he was a super hero. It said
"fa, du er min helt."       =       "Dad, you are my hero."

Ok, I'll admit the original postcard was in swedish. Because I had bought it in Sweden. But Denmark is closer to my heart so I just switched it.

Initially I wanted that phrase, written into an infinity sign, because I always want to remember how he and his love transcend this life and even though we no longer have him here, he was, still is and always will be my hero.

Well, in the simplifying of the design I realized that I wanted it to be about my whole family, because I cannot express how much they mean to me and how grateful I am for the way we have all dealt with this year together.  So now the phrase is plural (my heroes) and my hope is that it will always remind me where my priorities lie--- with the people I love and doing things that will make them proud and show them I love them.

Every single time I've looked at my foot in the past few days (I had it done last Thursday) I've literally thought "holy *********, I have a tattoo!!"  But each time it makes me smile and I have to tell you, I didn't even cry while I was getting it!! I maybe did sweat a lot. Actually, yeah I really did sweat a lot. Mostly my hands. And the foot that was being inked. So that was weird. But I may have been trying to impress someone so I think that was what kept the tears at bay. I will say that it was a bit of an adrenaline rush...but don't take that to mean it didn't hurt. Because it did. It totally did.

And on another, and completely unrelated, note, I've already treated myself to a slightly ridiculous amount of new music this year. Maybe that should've been one of my resolutions: buy lots of awesome new music. Because then I'd feel not only totally justified but also really successful with how many songs I've bought on iTunes just this week. Here's one of my faves:  (it's from the soundtrack of a favorite movie as well)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JA25au7Itw

I have a few other amusing stories from this week but this is already a pretty action packed post so I'll leave it be for now.

Happy first full week of 2013 :)