Change of Plans

My first semester of graduate school is officially completed.  And I am proud of myself.  This is never in a million years where I thought I would be.  In fact, I remember promising myself that I was DONE with labs and science one bad day in my old lab...

But here I am, one semester down in my Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Masters or Ph.D program.

I absolutely LOVED my classes this year.  Biochem 1 was AMAZING.  We spent a lot of the time relating processes we were learning about to diseases and treatments... Really exciting stuff that fired me up! 

The lab part was not my favorite... I felt I never really got a grasp of what it is we were doing!  That is until our last 2 rotations.  Those professors went over what we were going to be doing, gave us a protocol, and helped us along the way.  Although we are grad students, we're not definite lab whizzes! And every lab/protocol is very different.

Today I met with the 3 PI's (Professional Investigators) or Lab Professors and discussed rotations that I'll be doing with each of them in the fall.

My first one will be in a well established lab, with multiple project options available.  There are 8 others in the lab, including 2 grad students: a second year and a fourth year who plans on graduating in May. The second rotation will be with the CUTEST professor ever! In fact, I really can't believe she's a science professor... Maybe it's a joke the department is playing on me... But anyways meeting with them got me SO excited about joining a lab and getting "my" projects. Projects I determine when and how they're done.  I'll know the goals and I'll figure out the paths to get there.  Bring on Lab Picking!

Again, these were not my plans.  But neither was finding the most wonderful "never-in-my-wildest-dreams" kind of man either.  I think when I was planning my future I did so with the expectation that I wouldn't find a good guy and that I shouldn't consider it.  Since I never really imagined a prince charming, I never imagined a happily ever after either... Kids, community, house, family...  So I should fill that void with a rewarding career.  Now, I have a man who has proven (over the last 3 years) to be a man of honor, integrity, and who loves the Lord and pursues Him first and foremost.  With him, new options of my future open up.  I am going to get married! The Lord willing, I will be a mom!  I am going to be part of a family that can represent Christ and his Church!  

Lately, I've been at not only a peace that passes understanding, but a delight and pure rich joy!  It scares me when I step back and see that there are many goals I didn't accomplish; There are many roads I've turned away from.  But again, with those losses, there are new roads filled with truth and light and love.

I'm proud of one semester of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY!