As I started my final year at Utah State, I reflected on the time I have spent here at Utah State University. Six years ago from the beginning of this semester my mother and I came to visit USU. We met with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). We found that they offered many accommodations that would make it possible for me to attend college. We then went over to the Department of Plants, Soils, and Biometeorology. Without expecting it, the head of the department ushered us into his office to tell us about the Horticulture degree. We were impressed with the experience and I was excited about the Horticulture degree. I wanted to attend Utah State!
However, I was worried about the cost and the brains. I certainly didn’t have the money and thought that I didn’t have the brains. With a little apprehension I applied. I was accepted and received a scholarship that paid my tuition for eight semesters. There were other resources that I used to pay my fees, books, and housing. It seems that my first concern about receiving a higher education was taken care of. But was I smart enough? That could only be answered by actually attending college.
Five years ago from the beginning of the current semester my parents and my sister, Jonna, moved me into Richard’s Hall. My mother reminds me that she had a very hard time driving away and leaving me on my own. I took it easy that first semester taking only ten credits; two of which were all but over the first week I was there. I diligently attended my classes and completed my assignments. However, I found that I had a lot of time on my hands. So, I actually read a novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, during that first semester. I have never have had time since to read anything other than text books during a semester. The second semester was a little more busy with 14 credits. Those first and second semesters, with relative ease, I received straight A’s. I thought; ‘This college thing is not as hard as I thought it would be.’
I was content being a horticulture major as I entered my second year. I had general biology that year and that changed everything. The first week I was panicking because the professor was going a million miles an hour, teaching things that I had never been exposed to. That Friday I was in my advisor’s office asking if I should drop the biology course and take a lower course. Even though she saw that I was panicking she had confidence in me; she knew that I had the tenacity to tackle this class even if I didn’t. So I kept the biology class and learned how to really study. That was the year that I found the library; the best place to study on campus. I took the first exam and received 98%. I was thrilled! I called my mother who was vacationing in St. George to tell her the exciting news. That first exam gave me the most confidence I had had to that date. It was truly the turning point in my academic career. Later that year I changed my major to Biology.
My third year I took genetics and ecology. The combination of those two subjects made me realize that Biology was not the major for me! Ecology was not relevant to what I was interested in. Genetics taught me about proteins that replicated, translated, and transcribed DNA. This fascinated me! These were molecular machines, cool. It wasn’t enough to know what these proteins did; I wanted to know how. I came to find that Biochemistry addressed the how. I was so excited that I changed to Biochemistry.
The summer after my third year I took two classes; human management and calculus 2. My math teacher that summer was a very special person, Bryan Bornholdt. We quickly became good friends who both enjoyed the outdoors. We inspired each other! He introduced me to cycling. A year later we completed a 206 one day cycling race called LOTOJA on a tandem bicycle. I also met Sean Johnson at the University of Utah where he was a pot-doc. He was to become a faculty member at USU in my department. I didn’t know it at the time but Sean would change my academic life forever and thus my future. He gave me a simple project to gather information on a protein complex that he was interested in researching when he moved to USU. I gathered information throughout the summer; I had no idea what a lot of the information meant.
My fourth year was a difficult one. This was the first year that I lived off campus; I had to cook for myself. I was taking three very difficult courses; organic chemistry (lecture and lab), physics, and statistics. On top of that I was taking two research credits from Sean. I also was going through changes in my personal life as well. Summed up, all this was too much. I was doing terrible in physics and had to withdraw. I even went to see a doctor in Salt Lake to ensure everything was alright. However, after I dropped physics the year went by pretty smooth. Unfortunately, I did receive my lowest grade of my undergraduate career that semester in statistics.
That spring I applied to and received a $7,500 year long undergraduate research grant. The first part of the research period was spent on a project with two other students creating a web based program called PIGS (Protein Gathering Information System). Although the students that I was working with were computer science majors and new programming, I had never been exposed to it. This got me interested in programming and I realized what a powerful tool it could be in my research.
My fifth year was a time when I was growing intellectually as well as personally. Possibilities for my future became evident as I did my research. I preformed very well in school despite a demanding schedule. I took biochemistry and loved it; I knew more then ever that biochemistry was the major for me. I was asked by the instructors for biochemistry 1 and 2 to be the undergraduate teaching fellow. I accepted to be the undergraduate teaching fellow for biochemistry 2 as I enjoyed the material and teaching style better.
After my fifth year I spent the summer getting into programming, specifically programming in Python. I created a suite of programs deigned to aid in building protein models. I found that I enjoyed programming as long as I was creating programs related to structural biology. I also took the general GRE in preparing for the graduate school application process.
As I close this entry, Fall 2008 semester is also coming to a close. It has been an interesting semester to say the least. I am super busy even though I’m only taking 10 credits. On top of classes I am applying to about eight graduate schools, applying for a BIG NSF grant, and doing research in the lab. It will be nice when the semester is over but only school will be done; everything else will still be present, especially research.
As I review the past I realize how blessed I have been here at Utah State. When I began college I was worried about financing; scholarships and grants have not only paid for school but has left me with money to spare. I was worried about my physical disability, the DRC has been great in providing accommodations and I found that most of the time, my disability was simply not an issue. I was worried that I didn’t have brains, apparently I do. But is it me that has made it this far? Of course not. The blessings that I’ve received have come straight from heaven. Everything I am I owe to my Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.
This Thanksgiving was awesome! I went to my parent's home for two days; got to Sandy Wednesday and went home Friday. Wednesday night my dad, my friend, Chris, and I went bowling. I bought some bowling shoes; considering I've gone ~10 times this semester already, I thought it'd be a good investment.
