And then there was a graduate school!

Well... I have officially decided on a graduate school! I will be going to:

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY



I am super excited. It will be a lot of fun. The university is located right on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is a fun college area--but very different from anything in this part of the United States.

Further, I have decided on a professor to work with and will be starting my research work June 8th. His name is Jeff Capadona. Check out this link: http://www.devicelink.com/mpmn/archive/08/05/002.html It will give you a basic idea of what he is trying to do. Or you could just google his name too...

In general, I will be working on generating polymers to improve device compatibility of electrode arrays. (ie. arrays that are inserted into the brain to allow a way for scientists to translate thought into motion (for people with strokes and such)). I am WAY excited about this project. It is almost the perfect project to match my interests. Further, the professor is very personable and I see myself having a good relationship with him throughout the duration on my Ph.D.

I will most likely be moving to Ohio the first weekend of June... Scary... But so exciting! So if you are around me and want to see me before I leave...you have about a month and a half!

Grad School Search and MORE!

Okay, so now that I have a brief moment, I wanted to take a minute to update the blog. Things here have been so crazy! I have beeen going from graduate school interview to grad school interview. It has been very educational, and I am definitely getting a feel for what cities and schools I could/couldn't be at. But in general, here is the breakdown:

Denied:

-University of Washington

-University of California, San Fransisco

-University of Texas at Austin


Accepted:

-University of Utah

-Washington State University

-University of Maryland

-Brown University


Interviewing/waiting to hear from:

-Arizona State University

-Case Western Reserve University

-University of California, Irvine

-Northeastern University

I am so torn as to where I should go--but in a month I will definitely be able to tell you a more definite answer! Ha ha! (Though any and all input is always appreciated...).



In other news, I came back from another trip to CA fairly recently. Check out the slide show for more details and etc. It was fun to be able to see San Fran again. It is definitely a fun city to visit. Though a 14 hour car ride trip there...I definitely would not recommend it.

The Two Month Update!

So um...it has been awhile. I think it would be an understatement to state that I have been merely "busy". Ever since I have graduated, things have been crazy! But for simplicity, let's just do a reader's digest version of my life in the past few weeks.

First... I am officially graduated. My diploma came in the mail a few days ago. I was so excited! I didn't even take it out of the envelope. I mean, would you want to risk damaging a paper that cost over 15,000 dollars? ...Yeah, I didn't want to either.

Second, I am now working full time as a Lab Technician at the lab that I worked at as an undergraduate. It is really fun! The job has allowed me to further know that I want to research for the rest of my life.

Third.. I am starting to hear back from graduate schools! The outcomes so far:
University of Utah: Interview
Case Western Reserve University: Interview
Washington State University: Accepted with ~45,000 dollars assistantship/year
UC San Fransisco: Denied
UT Austin: Denied

So far it is about half and half. Which I was expecting. So we will see where I go! But I am still waiting to hear back from six more schools...

Okay, now for the picture update! I was lucky enough to spend the week after Christmas with my roommate (Kerianna) and her family (:o) ). It was a lot of fun because not only was it a vacation to a warmer place, but it was also a nice way to celebrate graduating. Below are some shots from the adventure!

First up: A beach shot! Yep, I spent my winter holiday on a beach in "warm" weather. It was way fun! This is a shot of Kerianna and I being our mischievious selves (some things never change...right?)


What California trip would be complete without random-ness that occurs in the car on the way to destinations? Gotta love the fish faces!

I went touring around San Fransisco with 4 native Californians. I am glad that they humored me enough to take a few tourist photos. This is me in Chinatown. (And for the record, this is one of the places where I have never felt so white in my life!)

Ah! I loved this shot. I guess I am a fan of the silhouette shots.

Our high school musical shot...beach style!

Okay, so this picture has a long story behind it, but in short. We went into this chinese "herb" store. But in all actuality, we decided it smelt like rabbit food. This is a picture of some of the stuff they were selling (which was around 75+ dollars a pound). Do you see the hesitation in my face?

Overall it was a WAY FUN trip! I am so glad that Kerianna and her family let me come down and see the coast and visit with their family.

I will be making my way back to CA this weekend to bid Kerianna off as she leaves on her LDS mission. And then it is a bout with grad school interviews. I hope that I am able to get at least one at a warm school....right now, my chances of getting out of the cold are slim to none!

Christmas: South Weber Style

Well, for starters, just in case you missed the memo... I am officially a college graduate! Yay! It feels weird, but nice at the same time. Now it is off to work until I head off to graduate school. Until then, I am also going to be living at my parent's house in South Weber (go me and being too cheap to still live away from home!).

Below are some random shots from the holiday fun-ness. Wyatt helped make the Christmas cookies. While my dad, on the day after Christmas, spearheaded a chinese cook night. Yum!

Christmas: Salt Lake City Style

Undoubtedly my last big college adventure happened yesterday night. Due to Kerianna's good planning, we happened to land four tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle/Orchestra Christmas concert. The concert was okay, not exceptional. The feature singer was the guy who sings "Through Heaven's Eyes" on the Prince of Egypt. I am sure the performance will be on PBS sooner or later, if you want to check it out.

After the concert, we decided to go around and look at the Christmas lights on Temple Square. The only problem? About 2,000+ people from the concert thought it would be a good idea too. None the less, the large amount of people made it easy to find someone to take our picture! :o)

The first shot, Kerianna and I. Kerianna and I agree... This shot is pretty darn amazing (and that we are so cute!)

Okay, so despite our many adventures all semester, the Boys, Kerianna and I have never all been in the same picture. Needless to say, that is no longer a problem. Don't we all look so cute?

Another shot of the four of us. I personally like the first shot of the four of us better. But Matt said that he likes this one better. I guess they both have their pros and cons.

Matt and I. There is a long story behind this but as Matt puts it: "I am just happy to be standing next to him".


This semester has been incredible. I will definitely miss being an undergraduate student. Classes are officially over (which still hasn't "set in"). I take my finals within this next week and then move home to face the real world. Almost all of my graduate school applications are done.....I should be hearing back from those in the most near future. We shall see where I get in! (Although if Kerianna has her way, it will be UCSF or UC Irvine). Ha ha.

Thanksgiving: College Style

A few friends and I came to the conclusion that since we all ought to know how to cook by now (this being our 4+ year in college), we decided to have a faux-Thanksgiving dinner. We had all the traditional components of this dinner, except chicken instead of turkey. Our rational for this was that we didn't want to get all "turkey-ed" out...but I think it was so that we could all be able to stay up and party (ha ha).


This first picture. Kerianna, Matt and I. We promised Matt we wouldn't post this on facebook...but I never said that I wouldn't post it on my blog!



Now I have this bad habit... I like to pick at desserts. Jo just happened to snap the picture right when I took off my small bit. But do you see that fabulous pumpkin pie action?? That's right. I made both of them.



The big group eating dinner!



Cort and I.

The College Change

Woah. I guess I have changed while being in college.