Meme and ranting

[tarigwaemir]

Ad Mundo Exteriore,

Au Bon Pain croissants are delicious.

The biology midterm looms ever closer above my head. I'll set myself back to studying soon, but before I do, I wanted to post this meme, taken from gblake. (It would have been from kaydeefalls but she didn't post up a link to the page where she got the month descriptions.)

From http://www.livejournal.com/users/mindlesswh0re/4070.html:

SEPTEMBER:
Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves sports, leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

Not bad. "Systematic" is an especially good description. And don't ask me how I can be sympathetic but not kind. I just am.

Oh, I've gotten tired of saying this repeatedly to everyone, so why don't I make it clear now? I am not a premed. I was surprised to find that some of my closest friends, namely tryogeru and aetherangelette, didn't know that. Plus, I've had to repeatedly give the same spiel to the random people I meet here explaining exactly why I'm a biochemistry concentrator but not a premed student. I mean, has anyone ever thought where the biochemistry professors came from in the first place?

I know the burst of exasperation seems a little sporadic, but I'm just annoyed because my biology textbook assumes I'm premed and has long passages on genetic diseases, which make me nervous because I haven't read them and they may turn up on the exam. -_- That, in turn, has reminded me of Sunday night, when a random girl I didn't know sat next to me at dinner on Sunday night and, after I explained the whole biochemistry-but-not-premed status, wanted me to explain why. (She was a government concentrator. It figures.) I mean, she wasn't annoying or anything like that, but it bothers me that the not-premed status requires an explanation in the first place.

What happened to all the people who said, "I want to be a scientist," when they were five? ;_;

There's an unusual stigma about pursuing careers in academia, even though half the student population will eventually do exactly that sooner or later in their lives. Not so much in the more "abstract" fields like mathematics or physics. Maybe I should just go into earth and planetary sciences. My freshman advisor has a Ph.D. in geology, even though he's now in the biology department and teaches classes on anatomy and vertebrate evolution.

...Tari

Comments

[gblake.livejournal.com]

Hm, do biochem people do stuff with studying organ rejection in transplant recipients? Or is that covered by another field?

Oh, also, did you get Panther yet? Still need it?

[troisroyaumes]

I haven't exactly gotten Panther yet, but a friend of mine has discs, so as soon as I get back to NY, I'm planning to borrow. (Considering I don't really use my laptop right now, it's not that urgent.) Thanks for the offer though. ^_^

And as for transplants, yes, biochem people do study organ rejection. Of course, biochemistry covers a whole variety of other things too. To be specific about it, organ rejection would fall under immunology, and actually, one of my (premed) friends is planning to go into that field.

I think there's someone at the medical school doing research into transplants and recognition of foreign tissue. I could look into it if you want.

...Tari

[solidark.livejournal.com]

What happened to all the people who said, "I want to be a scientist," when they were five? ;_;

Probably the same as happened to me. They were told by their parents that this is nothing you can make money with ^^;; OK, I admit that certain scientific directions are more likely to get you a job than others but for example I always wanted to be an archaeologist when I was five, changing to anthropologist when I was about twelve but this are not careers my parents thought you should pursue if you are a middle class student without lots of money in your family so I gave up and studied business administration instead. It was the biggest mistake of my life so far. Good thing I noticed before it was too late. Now I'm back at school, learning business English and proper Spanish. But I still wish I hadn't given up on my dreams just because everyone told me to *sigh*.

Um... sorry for the whining. It's just what happens to people who wanted to be some kind of scientist or at least researcher when they were five... ^^;;;

[erevunyoka.livejournal.com]

go academia!! it's okay if I want to lose myself in some ivied halls somewhere for the rest of my life....right?? :) hey look, keep explaining it to people but don't kill anyone. and remind yourself its okay. believe me, i understand though. what the hell is an american studies major with a concentration in art history and a random fascination with physics and astronomy going to get me? a teaching position.

[delentyevox.livejournal.com]

well, we're all biochem (though we're wavering) concentrators here, and none of us is premed. so come down the hall and chill! :)

[troisroyaumes]

Yay! We have to stick together--it's a premed world out there. >_> <_< I don't really have anything against premeds...I'm mostly just whining on the spur of the moment. ::sighs:: ...Tari

[tryogeru.livejournal.com]

I knew you weren't premed....::pout::

O.o

[aetherangelette.livejournal.com]

::whistles:: science is alll the same to me...=D

::hides somewhere deep:: do well on your bio midterm =D~

[troisroyaumes]

Did you get my emails by the way? ::curious::

...Tari