I had a Skype meeting with my undergrad thesis advisor today to talk about various things -- details of a new project we're starting together, talking over the final edits of a poster I'm presenting at a conference, etc. At the end of our meeting, we talked about the level of involvement he should have with my various projects going forward since I'm now starting a PhD program across the country. We jointly decided it's best to keep in touch about what each other are doing since there's such a high degree of overlap, both a) to prevent situations where we do the exact same work on accident, and b) because talking through ideas with someone else in the field is always good! But obviously the frequency and depth of our contact will be much reduced.
I can't help but feel sad. This is the latest in the process of walking out of my last life stage and into the next. First there was moving and leaving friends/family/SO behind, then there was getting acquainted with my new lab and labmates, and now there's becoming less and less involved with my old advisor. It's starting to feel "real". This week, I have new grad student orientation and next week I start classes.
I'm having tons of fun in my new city, I'm excited about the direction my research is going, I like my new friends, I can't wait to meet the other students in my cohort, etc etc etc. But I can't help but feel all weepy about everything I left behind. :(
How lucky you are to feel weepy. How beautiful it is that you do. Imagine how awful your undergraduate years would have been if all you feel is joy at getting away from it all. Good memories of happy satisfying times will always be tinged with a little sadness because they are past. The sadness is a way of honoring the memory, deepening its meaning. Those same memories that are making you weepy are exactly the experiences, connections, and relationships that made you strong enough to take this next step of going TO something new and important, not just running away from a dark place. Does that make sense?But I can't help but feel all weepy about everything I left behind. :(
Word. No one else in my field is doing research their first year of grad school, just me. Is immediately jumping into research the norm for neuro's?
Yeah, most cognitive science & psychology PhD programs have required first-year projects so you can jump into research right away. I'm also pretty lucky in that my undergrad thesis work is very related to what I want to research in grad school so I have three or four ready-made followup studies I'm getting started on that sort of lay the foundation of future work I want to do.
I feel you. When I was finishing up my high school schooling there was one teacher who actually made an impact on me. We never really communicated until she learned that I was doing exceptionally well at community college and on my way to UCLA. At which point she started to invite me back to the high school to speak to the students about paths they can take and how being in remedial classes doesn't prevent you from doing well post-high school (I was in the learning disabled group/classes partly due to crippling anxiety/depression, part I didn't give a fuck and part misdiagnosis) So, being able to relate to others who might be in my situation and/or similar and to encourage them to do better for themselves post-high school was super empowering. I felt so sad when she retired and those speaking occasions were no longer held. Sucked majorly.
Here's an imgur link for you: https://imgur.com/gallery/wvUyP
and here's another one: https://imgur.com/gallery/se8H1KE We seem to be doing the online equivalent of meeting someone in a bar because they've had a crappy day, and buying the person shots. =) For the heck of it, let's get OP drunk so they can forget their worries for a few hours. Here are some more: https://imgur.com/gallery/KayVMs4 https://imgur.com/gallery/9Uy1qg0 https://imgur.com/gallery/tfVcxx2 https://imgur.com/gallery/brbW4yu https://imgur.com/gallery/xJFofDR https://imgur.com/topic/Aww/Ba89Maz
caeli is gonna get drunk on "aww" then.We seem to be doing the online equivalent of meeting someone in a bar because they've had a crappy day, and buying the person shots. =)
You'll be happy to know while Pikachu isn't real, Pikas are and they love flowers. True fact actually. Pikas will pick and store poisonous flowers to eat later. The poison acts as a natural preservative.
Even though we're trying to get OP drunk, we'll still watch out for OP, and make sure OP gets home okay. I'm walking up to the bar and buying some more shots. https://imgur.com/gallery/pBlElRn https://imgur.com/gallery/oQUPDB4 https://imgur.com/gallery/BhV0sZc https://imgur.com/gallery/3yvjEKK https://imgur.com/iDdLj8A https://imgur.com/gallery/4GVMdrS https://imgur.com/gallery/bbtjiKn https://imgur.com/gallery/fOlgoeN https://imgur.com/gallery/GZWESu1
Wait, here are some more people coming into the bar to give you support. Here are some of their pictures: https://imgur.com/gallery/thPinbf https://imgur.com/gallery/Qulpldh https://imgur.com/gallery/QcsnBpH https://imgur.com/gallery/2cdWziW https://imgur.com/gallery/xBtTFTf https://imgur.com/gallery/ts8fp https://imgur.com/gallery/uZtjXxp https://imgur.com/gallery/AqLvXJh https://imgur.com/gallery/puueG Okay, I'm going to stop inviting the animals into the bar now. Let us know if you need more shots, OP.
It looks like someone took the POP! Toys statue and cut the top off of the head to put in soil. I'm pretty certain the heads are hollow, so it shouldn't be that hard to do. In fact, I might try it myself.