Orientation
Posted 10:54 AM, September 26, 2006, by ntilmansI'm doing a poor job with this whole keeping the blog up to date, but it's been a very hectic week. This week was orientation. Every department seems to have a different orientation schedule. In our case we had an initial wine and cheese research presentation session with the faculty last wednesday and another more "clerical" session thursday. Where's the photocopier, where do I pick up packages, how do I avoid infecting myself with super-bacteria and where do I go if I do - that kind of thing.
We got a huge amount of paperwork, a binder, emails, pamphlets, keys. We went through security to get a prox-card which will allow us to get access to Beckman where most Biochemistry department labs are located. I have the slight complication of having no rotation yet.
I missed my meeting on monday so I don't have an official home for the first quarter here. Initially I was supposed to meet with Jim Spudich, the graduate student advisor in the department, at 2:30 on Monday. This didn't happen. We then sort of met during the orientation session on wednesday, making plans for a real meeting for the following morning. Unfortunately Jim Spudich has caught a nasty flu and he's been out the past several days. I've been trying to set up a rotation on my own, and that's going relatively well. I'm thinking of going with a lab working in a field that to be honest, I never really saw myself entering. I'm told this is good, that rotations are there for exploring new areas, making mistakes, being wrong. I hope so and fully expect this will be a great experience, but nevertheless I'm a little worried about the whole situation. It's not always comfortable outside the comfort zone.
In other ways orientation has been great. Our class has really started to come together as we basically remembered everyone from interview weekend. There's only seven of us and we will be in all the same classes together so we'll be able to keep each other up to date with notes and about what's happening in other labs. The biochemistry department graduate students have decided to form an intramural football team, so we'll have plenty of group-bonding experiences there too.
Really in general, the department is extremely welcoming. My only worry now is how to get back into work-mode. I've been on vacation all summer for the first time since high school and I could stand to have more of it. There are always things to do around the apartment; general cleaning, getting my bike perfectly fit, laundry, grocery shopping etc. It's been relatively relaxed so far because I don't have to put in hours in the lab yet or work on classes, but this is graduate school so I'm fully expecting the workload to surpass undergrad, therefore leaving less time for doing all those little things necessary to keep the days flowing smoothly. Not to mention physical activities though football will be useful in that respect for a few months.
As with everything, this will take some adjustment. Before I know it I'm sure I will be seamlessly juggling all the chores of single-living with lab work and classes. Or at least not dropping the ball too often. In the end, I look forward to all of it.
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