Orientation

I had orientation at school this week. I'll spare you the boring details and just say this: I'm very excited about my program. There seems to be a lot of opportunity to explore various tracks within my field.

The program I'm entering is a Master's program in Cell and Systems Biology. There are various tracks within that department, and as a Masters student, I get a unique opportunity to sort of get a taste of each. Some of the categories include: genetics, cancer biology, cellular and molecular biology, biology of aging and a few more that escape memory at the moment (memory was not one, although that would be funny.)

The first course in the program is a whopping 8-credit class that gives an overview of each of these subjects and prepares students for rigorous labwork. While taking this course, we're expected to do a couple lab rotations and start the process of deciding which lab we want to work in. Given that we only have 2 years to complete and present our thesis, I estimate that we should really have our mentor picked by the end of the first semester, although I don't know if that's typical.

Anyway, point is, I'm pumped. I've already seen a few impressive labs, so I feel confident that my rotations will be exciting and educational. I'm not nervous about the coursework at all, mostly I just want to have my mentor picked soon, so I can start digging in and working on my thesis. My only fear is that I will have to stay on a third year, when I really didn't mean to spend that much time in Texas.

Is it nerdy that I can't wait to get my textbooks, so I can start reading?