Sarah Aerni's Blog

A bigger town called New York City

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:49:53 -0800

My weekend in New York City with Ryan was amazing! It was great to spend time with him, but also great to see the city that I had visited during interviews, but not really had a chance to see fully. I was also able to add a new experience to my graduate school repertoire, taking a midterm in a hotel room!

A little town called Providence

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 10:46:32 -0800

I was not terribly happy about leaving the bay area, but I figured once I got to Providence I would feel much better. Well, once I arrived I felt a bit confused about what I was doing, and why I was doing it, but I must say things have been looking up significantly since then!

I'm leaving on a jet plane

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:14:22 -0800

I'm leaving tomorrow for Providence, and while I'm really excited about the opportunity, I'm feeling EXTREMELY anxious. I had a great few weeks leading up until today! I got a chance to go home, the NLM meeting seems to have gone smoothly, and Serafim won a great grant with Balaji which the lab had a chance to celebrate. In the end, though, I am mostly sad that I can't take Ryan with me! I know it's important to expand my horizons if I hope to end up in the academic field, but I am not sure how well I can handle being away from Ryan for so long!

Reflections of a former first year graduate student

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:09:13 -0800

I can proudly say my first year of graduate school is done, and I think I have accomplished everything I need to, from courses to advisers. I must admit this year has been a bit of a roller coaster. I've gone through ups from getting a fellowship and joining a lab to the downs of being confused about my purpose overall at school and if I really have the right plan for myself. All in all, it seems I am having a normal experience, but I do feel WAY less sheltered than I did in college.

In the land of GIANTS!!

Tue, 08 May 2007 17:36:06 -0800

Okay, I didn't go to a baseball game (but I really wanted to)! But I had my cousins come visit, and, well, they are giants! My cousins Daniel and Adam came to town, and we all flew down to LA together, my mom's birthday was on Monday!

RECOMB, aka my 1 year UCSD reunion!

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 17:05:51 -0800

Graduate school has some weird things, which I'm sure I have mentioned a few times. Retreats are strange enough, basically a few days where you leave, during the work-week, and do nothing but talk about science, meet more scientists, and miss work and class with people in your departments. Conferences are the same thing, except on an international scale!! People miss work from all over the world, in order to talk science, show results, and network.

Stanford AI Lab Retreat (wow, nerdy!)

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 01:20:11 -0800

Yeay! Retreat number two! Retreats are so fun, for those of you who have not gone to one. They are full of presentation, ways to get to know your classmates, labmates and professors on a more personal level. Of course you also get to hear about all the crazy and amazing research you didn't even know was going on!

A bike named Penelope Cruiser

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:23:46 -0800

I am feeling EONS better since last week! On Saturday I had a chance to go to the bike store as well to finally get a bike helmet. While I was there I also wanted a basket to carry my bag and laptop, and then I realized...the bike I was riding was DEFINITELY too small (my knees hit the handlebars when I ride it)! It's a hand-me-down from Vincy, and she is TINY! Even the seat feels too small!

All good things (like spring break) must come to an end

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 23:10:39 -0800

On Monday I got some work done, a haircut, and promptly lost my cell phone. That last part is pretty crummy. On the plus side it gave me a reason that prevented me from doing anything on Monday night, instead I just stayed at home and did work. On Tuesday we had lunch, then headed back to the bay area. It rained and snowed on the ride up AND I hit not one but TWO tumbleweeds, at which point I gave up and let Ryan drive. He, on the other hand, got a ticket for speeding, so I felt really bad that I wasn't driving! We'll see what happens.

You know you're at Stanford when: you can do your finals from Los Angeles

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:02:03 -0800

Spring Break is upon us, and it has been very strange but full of BIG NEWS!!!!! I am getting accustomed to having a different outlook to what vacation will be, a good time to finish up my research!

Let's all remember why Stanford is so great!

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:46:58 -0800

I finished my BMI211 final yesterday, and I have to say, this was a toughie! I had fewer courses this quarter, but I still managed to commit my time in such a way that made it a struggle to make it through the whole quarter with 8 hours of sleep every night (this was a luxury I afforded myself on weekends).

Viva Las Vegas!

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:16:05 -0800

Last weekend we went to Las Vegas for Susy, J.J. and Marc's birthdays! It was pretty fun, but unfortunately I got less work than expected done, and so I had to do overtime for the rest of the week, and I predict for the remainder of this quarter!

Trapped in snow!!!!

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:27:14 -0800

Ryan, Noah and I had planned on going to Kirkwood for the weekend (Saturday-Sunday) and had a room booked, for which Marc joined us. We got a 1 bedroom and got to Kirkwood in time to go skiing on Saturday! But as the clouds started rolling in we had little idea that we would be trapped there until MONDAY!!!!

Presidents' Day: my new favorite holiday!

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:04:35 -0800

A three-day weekend? Dare I relax, or will I live to regret this next week...we shall find out later this week...we all know the definition of procrastination...you're just screwing yourself, right?

Can someone define busy for me?

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:07:56 -0800

WOW WHAT A CRAZY FEW WEEKS! I've started to really think about the life as a graduate student, and I now realize that I have no clue what other people do with their time. My describing my life as busy is totally meaningless, but I suppose I can lay it out for you in terms of the last 5 days.