School is in...

Classes have begun and a routine is swiftly forming and since we are four weeks in I think it is safe to tell you about them!  As I mentioned back in April it was difficult to even find classes to register for but we finally did and I thought I knew what to expect as the week before classes start was drawing to a close... I was wrong!

On the Wednesday before classes started I received an email telling me that the Woody Plant Physiology course I was registered for was canceled, I was only registered for this class, Graduate Survey of Biochemistry and some research hours (I have to have nine hours a semester to maintain my assistantship and no other classes would seem to fit with these two).  I knew I needed the Biochemistry (much as I wished it had been the canceled class!) so I scrambled to my adviser to see what to replace this class with.  We decided to replace the Woody Plant Phys with just plain Plant Physiology (I haven't had this since Sophomore year and knew I needed a brush up) and the research hours with Graduate Professional Development (a general introduction to life as a Grad. Student).

The Biochemistry is proving to be one of the biggest challenges just because of the vast amount of information presented.  Thankfully this course is designed for students who have never had Biochem before but it has kept me hopping because we meet four days a week and there are quizzes every Monday over the previous week's material.  The amazing intricacies of the creation surrounding us usually amaze me but even more so now as I learn a tiny portion of the chemical processes that make life around us possible.  The irreducible complexity of the world around us extends down to even the formation and folding of proteins.

Plant Physiology is proving to be a much needed refresher on the details of how plants work.  I am remembering a lot as we go but this professor is also going into much greater detail than I remember from my Sophomore class!  Technically the class I am enrolled in is intended for undergraduates, in order to earn the Grad. component hours we have an extra class meeting every week in which we are learning how to present and critique scientific articles.  Background research for my project involves reading lots of scientific articles so I look forward to learning how to read them with a more critical eye.

Graduate Professional Development is turning out to be my 'bunny class' of the semester and boy am I thankful to have one!  In this class we have guest lecturers every week who inform us about different aspects of Grad school and where we can find information.  So far we have had lectures about our responsibilities as Grad. students, how to prepare for teaching your first class (for teaching assistants), and what academic conflict resolution looks like.  There are NO tests!  We have to write a one page critique of each presentation and participate in class discussion, Love It!  I now know where to find a lot of information... I just need to go find it!

I am sharing a grad office with other students, like at Western, however I am rarely the only one in there, unlike Western.  I am enjoying getting to know my office mates and they have been extremely helpful, but I admit it has been odd being the only white person in my office.  There is one other Caucasian woman on our floor whom I have gotten to know fairly well but we are definitely our number in this program. I have been amazed at the diversity in this program, in my office alone there are representatives from Mexico, Argentina, China, India and Azerbaijan.  My world is definitely getting bigger!

Sorry no pictures!  I hope to get some good pictures of campus and what I have been working on soon!