First day of the semester

[tarigwaemir]

Stanley Hall on the Feast of Ste. Monica

First day of classes today. This semester I'm a GSI (graduate student instructor), so I need to attend 9 AM lectures. >_> Fellow GSIs have decided to meet a half-hour before the next lecture to discuss section logistics, which means making it to the building by 8:30 AM. I suspect I'll need to whip my sleep cycle into shape for this course. Oddly, I didn't have trouble staying awake during lecture, probably because I was busy taking scrupulous notes. All on material that I learned in, well, middle school, but I refuse to be caught off-guard by questions. ^_^

I also enrolled in a graduate seminar on systems biology. Fellow labmate is also taking the course, as well as kaydeefalls' ex. Ahaha. I wasn't exactly surprised, but it was a little bizarre nonetheless. I'm fairly excited about the course; it'll be covering network properties and graph theory, which means I don't need to take a math class on the subject.

Currently still in lab doing RNA isolation. I'm feeling pessimistic about my samples, since I didn't anticipate that much variation in growth rate. Oh well. I had a streak of good luck last week--perhaps the minor demi-deity of academia heard my entreaty and offer of sacrifice--but I feel like I'm already back in the failure slump. Blah. If my latest transformation attempt was successful, perhaps I'll have some glimmer of hope.

Wow, my journal entries have gotten to be so boring. I've been meaning to write up posts about my previous weekends but I really can't seem to find the time to sit and write. Maybe I'll put in a short day on Monday and take the opportunity to catch up.

Yours &c.

Comments

[equivalent-t.livejournal.com]

Attending 8 AM lectures here. *raises hand* It's not hard to do because I'm an early riser anyway, but man, doesn't it suck? But at least all the new guys at the lab got into it.

Hope your RNA isolation goes well. Hey, to look on the bright side, maybe you've hit on something unexpected that wildly influences growth rate variation!

[troisroyaumes]

8 AM lectures should be banned from all universities! I like getting up early but am incapable of it if I haven't had plenty of sleep (ideally 9-10 hours, which happens only once a month). I envy your ability to wake up in time. ^_^

The isolation went well, though I'm still pessimistic. Well, the source of the growth rate variation is fairly obvious--they're all deletion strains--so I doubt I've discovered anything new, but at least now I know that the growth rate is highly variable so I can run a more controlled experiment next time. (Luckily, this is just a pilot run. ^_^;;)

[kaydeefalls.livejournal.com]

Heh. I was wondering when something like that would happen.

[troisroyaumes]

Ironically, I haven't seen him at all since last...October? Different departments, different sides of campus. But the course is being taught by his P.I. so I wasn't exactly surprised to see him there. Still, very odd! I had trouble remembering his name at first and hoped that I wouldn't have to resort to calling him "[your real name]'s ex" to his face.