Teaching Faculty Wannabe

@sgaw10 I am so sorry. I think I remember you talking about your parents, especially your mom's, misunderstanding of grad school and the finances that come with it. I think what your family needs to learn is that you are an adult now. You have your own life. You can't stop everything for them and they should get that. I am sorry they don't and make you feel guilty, especially during the start of grad school which already has multitudes of stressfullness in of itself. I wish I could provide a solution, but I don't think there is much you can do per se but be honest with them. Once you do, then your family has to change. You can't change them, sadly.

Check out this website: https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/ There are other websites that have tips and recipes on meal prepping. I hope this helps!

Taking a gap year was worth it! I went into the internship I am doing now refreshed and ready to work!

Nope, but I believe last week I got an email saying to fill out the info for my internship in a Google Form. Did you get that?

Does anyone who got the award have advice to give to those that were not recommended, but have the opportunity to apply again? What do you think made your application stand out?

Nope ?‍♀️

They had a seminar for the Full Fellows (or maybe everyone, not sure) I believe last week and they said that they are trying to confirm people this week, but it seems like it is taking longer than they thought. We should be getting a letter or something in the mail from them confirming the fellowship. Additionally, I think they are supposed to send out an email when they are finished with the confirmation process.

Nope. I am thinking it will show up next week, i hope.

Well, the thing about engineering is how interdisciplinary all of it is. They are all connected in one way or another. However, of course, you will learn specific and different things in each one. So, when you are trying to decide on what you want to do, first think about your interests in general not based on the engineering fields, themselves. Then combine those interests to see what engineering fields fit them. You will have to look into the fields themselves to see what they focus on more and decide from there which curriculum you like better. For example, I like biology, chemistry, polymers, most materials science, biomaterials, math, and some physics. I like them all on their own, but especially like them together. When I combine them, I could either do chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, or materials science/engineering. However, I chose materials science/engineering at my undergrad degree because I liked the focus it had on chemistry, physics, and materials. However, I have decided to choose biomedical engineering for my PhD because it has more of an empathize on biology, polymers, and biomaterials while still being to focus on materials science, and chemistry. I never chose to do chemical engineering because even though I could combine all of my interests in this field, the work in it was too focused on the chemical side of things rather the materials and biology sides (which I like more). I also didn't do mechanical engineering because it had too much physics for my liking. I hope this helps and make sense. It is kind of like putting a puzzle together. Good luck!

Sending good vibes and love! Hopefully one day it will feel worth it!

I am so sorry about your parents, especially your mother, for not understanding. I hope one day they do!

I think you did the right thing. I told someone I liked them a semester and a half before both of us graduated from undergrad. They were in the relationship at the time (I hadn't known because I wasn't super close with them, but had talked with them many times and taken many classes with them AKA we were in the same major). Two weeks before graduating, they kissed me when we were both really drunk (our classmates were out drinking together to celebrate the semester before graduating). FYI, they were broken up with their partner at the time. That was the worst thing they could have done because my feelings got deeper but they weren't ready to be in a relationship (although, they got back together with their ex a few months later, ugh). It took so much time to get over them, and we kissed one last time after that night as a stupid goodbye, I guess. So, what I am trying to say here is that it was good that you didn't string him along. The timing doesn't seem to be right for the both of you, and it was good that you acknowledged that instead of ending up hurting each other more in the end. I am sorry you are in so much pain right now, but I promise you it will get better.

I think this is great! Your post is inspiring me to do the same before I start in August. For me, I think I am going to had another category: Communication. This can connect with Professionalization in the sense of presenting at conferences, and writing research articles. Personally, I want to learn how to present to crowds with varying amounts of knowledge of my topic. I think it's important to be able to relay information to people with different backgrounds, but especially to the general public. Scientists have a hard time trying to make the public understand their research and the importance of it, and that's definitely a skill I want to work on while doing my PhD. Additionally, another category I would think of adding is Volunteering. I plan on doing outreach programs with my department and college. I am not sure if you find this important for your goals, but it is something to consider. I am not sure if you are really overthinking or overly complicating things, but just be prepared to not accomplish everything you want to accomplish since being a grad students is a very time-consuming task. It is a good thing to keep in mind, and you shouldn't beat yourself up for it if some things don't happen like you want them to. Getting a PhD is not about becoming a perfect researcher--that's impossible, but it is possible to try your best, learn a lot, and use those things you learned to grow as a researcher and as a person.

Same!

@ray92@cjmagsGood luck to you both!