I came to Chicago in 2014 for graduate school, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I had never lived away from home (suburban GA) or even knew anybody in the Midwest. Despite all of that, I genuinely felt like Chicago was meant to be my home, at least for a little while. And I was right! I …
After high school, I knew that I wanted to take my general classes at the local community college and that I didn’t want to take on any student loans. As a first generation student, I didn’t know how FAFSA worked, and applying to a big school was intimidating, and expensive. If community college worked out, …
When I was an undergrad, I swore that I would never work with animals. A few years later, and I am working with mice almost daily. Although I never planned on working with mic, I’m glad that I chose to join a lab that does some behavioral experiments. How do you know working with animals is …
How do you choose a paper for journal club? For some bizarre reason, I volunteered to lead 2 journal clubs this week. They both were on the same day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Although I’ve improved at public speaking, I still get really nervous. Something about standing in front of …
Do you want to improve your science writing skills? In science (& most fields), one of the most important skills involves communication. Writing succinctly, and clearly, is key to having a conversation with your audience. The better they understand your ideas, the easier it will be for you to “sell” your work. Whether it’s an essay, a …
Do STEM fields care about black/brown lives? As scientists, do we talk about racism, sexism, homophobia at all? Or are we invisible, even in academia? I recently wrote about the Pulse shootings in Orlando, FL, and how the attack on the LGBT community tore me apart. I spent a lot of days mourning over the …
Last Sunday, an armed man opened fire at Pulse, a popular gay club in Orlando, FL. His decision to open fire cost 49 beautiful people their lives, left 53 others physically injured, and has deeply wounded the LGBT community. According to CNN (and other outlets), this is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United …
