Cornell and Beyond

About Me

Me in Sum

I am a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am a Biological Sciences major, concentrating in Neurobiology and Behavior. I was undecided until my sophomore year, as I tend to have an eclectic range of interests. However, I couldn’t be happier with my choice. When it comes to choosing a major, my advice is pick something that a) you’re interested in AND b) you can excel at. Don’t choose one based on what you think your parents/grad school/future employers might think. Also, take your time. I took full advantage of the time Cornell gave me to declare a major, and I’m glad I did. If I hadn’t I might be a very unhappy physics major right now.

I’m in the Cornell Tradition, which means I work and do community service, and in exchange get summer internship funding and loan replacement. (Sweet deal!) It’s a really great program and has allowed me to get involved in the school in a number of ways. I’m in the Student Advisory Council, and actually am Chair for this year! It’s very exciting, and I hope that we really get a chance to do some worthwhile stuff! I will of course shamelessly use my blog to promote whatever activities we happen to be running.

I’ve worked A LOT during college, at a variety of things. I’ve cleaned mouse cages, called alumni, and done lots of research. It’s been fun, but most of all it taught me major time management lessons. I’m still learning though. Nobody’s perfect.

I’m a supervisor at the Cornell Annual Fund, which means I help run the calling room and the behind the scences action. Good pay and you get to work with friends. Did I mention we were recruiting? I’m also working at the Learning Strategies Center, tutoring for Intro Bio and Genetics…
I’ve been known to abuse adverbs in my writing, snooze my alarm over 5 times in the morning and talk in a slightly annoying voice to animals. I like to cook, although I consider myself still blossoming.

My Life according to Just the Facts

Some of my favorite classes taken at Cornell, both science and non-science alike.

Chem 207-General Chemistry: I will only say that the legend that is Professor Paul Chirik made this class exciting, challenging and hysterical.

Psych 101-Introduction to Psychology: A Cornell classic.

Psych 265- Psychology and Law: One of the most socially relevant, engaging classes I’ve had here at Cornell, and that’s saying a lot.

Phys 214- Physics III-Optics, Waves and Particles: Not the most fun but absolutely one of the most challenging classes I took, as it was an Engineering Physics course. (Top program in the country, btdubs.) I got the final exam and took the approach to answer only what I knew for sure in my first go round. End result was that I wrote about 2 lines of work in my first go round. In a 20 page exam. Disheartening, but not that atypical of Cornell and I’m still proud of my efforts in that class.

BioNB 221: Introduction to Animal Behavior: It was team-taught, which meant we had a bunch of lectures from a bunch of different professors in the department. Think of a wine tasting, except instead of wines imagine engaging leaders in the field and instead of tasting imagine absorbing all the amazing knowledge they had to offer.

BioGD 281-Genetics: I’m going to get some flak for this choice, but I really enjoyed actually learning the concepts. Even the dreaded lab section wasn’t that bad, and I actually have a lingering fondness for those silly Drosophila melanogaster. Although not when they infest my house in the summer.

Engl 281- Creative Writing: Who knew poetry was good? Do yourself a favor and go read some stuff by Nazim Hikmet.

Anat 10103-Techniques in Neuroscience (Bristol University): I really enjoyed this class because I finally got to see how amazingly relevant neuroscience is as a discipline.

Hart ?- Study of Art History 2: I got to learn about how art historians date, attribute and detect forgeries. Imagine using mass spec on art! This class also gave me an increased appreciation of all the museums I visited in London.

Chem 251: Introduction to Experimental Organic Chemistry: I’m not a big fan of Organic in general, but I really loved how I actually learned the “why” behind my experiments. I will admit I was partially traumatized by the practical but I did in fact survive.

Other Classes I Took: Intro Biology, French, Intro to Western Civilization, Intro to Indian Meditation, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus (just the word ’saddle’ makes me queasy), Introduction to Neurobiology

Other Bristol classes: Memory, Social Psychology, Avian Biology, Ecology and Behavior

Current Schedule:

Honors Research, Biochem Tutor, International Relations, Molecular Basis of Human Disease, Molecular Neurophysiology, Evolution, and the cherry on the overloaded schedule: Wines. You know it’s going to be a good class when the announcement on the blackboard website starts out “Beware Overpourers.”

My Future…Eep!

I am in the midst of applying to MD/PhD programs, which means I’d like to go into biomedical research in an academic setting, in Neuroscience to be exact. The process is terrifying and exciting at the same time, and I’m taking it day by day.

I took the MCATS this summer, and besides being designed to demoralize the most accomplished student, it also contributes to elevated stress levels for about a month straight, if that’s even possible. However, I’m done with it, I did fine, and I’m not thinking about that beast again.

I’m in the midst of completing my applications, and I can’t wait to have them all sent off and done with because 1) time is the enemy in this process and 2) I just want to breathe a little, even if for only a few days.

Note to Readers

Please drop me a line if you have any questions! I love Cornell, so I’m all for telling you everything you ever wanted to know about it. (And stuff you didn’t even realize you wanted to know.) However, I’ll be honest with you in my answers so don’t worry about getting a completely biased viewpoint. I mean any viewpoint is going to be a little biased, but if you ask me for example “Is Cornell a small town? Does that make it difficult sometime?” I’ll try my best to give a well-rounded and honest answer that I would stand behind if anyone were to ask me. (I.e. Yes. And yes. But I still think it’s a perfect place to spend your college years.)

Also, if you’re just perusing the site and feel I could substantially improve it in any way, let me know! Every self-indulgent impulse makes blogging gratifying to the blogger (the online equivalent of loving the sound of your own voice) but in truth I’m doing this to help you, the bewildered prospective college freshmen. So help me help you. And let me know what you want to know about.