My Lab Choice

The last two weeks have been rather uneventful; school, eat sleep, etc. I am wrapping up my third and final rotation this week. As such, it is time for me to choose a lab to do my dissertation work in (where I will spend the next 5+ years). I’ve made it pretty evident which lab I hope to join but had to jump through the hoops. Last Friday I officially asked Dave and Jane Richardson if I could join their lab. It took them less than a millisecond to answer in the affirmative. We had a great discussion! It will be an exciting, albeit a very challenging, 5 years. In laymen terms, and a rather crude analogy, I am going to be resolving a clear picture from a low-resolution rendition of the picture. Of course this simply means I will be attempting to improve methodologies of low-resolution x-ray crystallography protein structure building and refinement.


The reason for the Bill Nye picture: So, one of the hoops that I had to jump through is to turn in a sheet upon which I request my first a second choice for the lab that I want to join. As explained above, I had already discussed joining the Richardson lab, so there was no reason for a second lab choice. Naturally, I had to think of something smart to put on this official document. After much consideration, I chose Bill Nye.


I did finally go on a date Saturday. It was pretty low-key. We walked to TGI Friday’s then went back to her dorm where we talked a tad bit longer. It was a great date; since we walked to the restaurant we had a lot of time to talk. She is an electrical engineer undergraduate who likes reading and taekwondo. There is going to be a second date, where we will actually do something other than eat.


I have gone to a few basketball games here at Duke. The student fans are notorious for being crazy and loud. After going to a few games I can confidently say they have nothing on Utah State fans. While the students here are loud, the students in the Spectrum, where USU plays, are just as loud but USU has a lot more students that are at the games. Having said that, the Spectrum is not Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Duke plays. Cameron is most definitely sacred basketball ground.


The quote for this week comes from Neal A. Maxwell

‘We can learn that at the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in!’