Letter Home from the Dorms: Midterm Progress Report

Hey Guys! Just checking in again from The Colorado Blood Cancer Institute.  We had another meeting today at the residence hall where our RAs suggested we write you another status update letter. I understand that you guys are investing a lot into my progress and experience here so I’m happy to keep you posted on my shit! Pop yourself open a cold one and read on if you wanna know what’s going on with me!

 A few things have changed since I last wrote. I’ve made some upgrades to my dorm room to make it feel more homey.The mass produced furniture still exists in the room, but I was able to add some of my flair to spice things up!

 I keep my door open at most times and my room is always catching people’s eye as they walk by. Basically what I’m saying is that I’m the coolest kid with the flyest style on the floor. I’ve developed the reputation of the free-spirited hippy guy that listens to Yanni while wearing a brightly colored pashmina scarf and roams the halls in the middle of the night scrounging for hot pockets to the tune of party music. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to most of you with any knowledge of my pre-institute exploits. I still keep my music loud, my personality on my sleeve and my flair in your face. The RA’s have even gone out of their way to place this warning sign on my door:

 The previous letter home was more of a scheduler/procedural to fill you in on what I’d be up to. This letter is more of a midterm progress update as well as a more detailed explanation of my long term program.

 THE REALLY GOOD NEWS: I totally fucking rocked my bone marrow midterms. Totally ACED them. I’m no stranger to being at the top of the class, but these exams were really important. I basically just tested out of a huge portion of the program. There would have been a whole lot of really hard classes and labs that I would have had to take had I not done so well on these tests..so I’m kind of sitting pretty at the moment.

Despite the fact that I’m a leading student, I am still just new-meat frosh around these parts and I will still have to take my underclassmen lumps. I’m about halfway through my initial ‘boot camp’ phase. This first phase of the program is designed to kick our asses initially and then to taper down in intensity once we complete our necessary goals. I won’t lie, it’s starting to get pretty demanding. The program is starting to take a toll on me physically and emotionally. I won’t get too gross with the details, but I’m developing some painful sores in my mouth, I’m having trouble maintaining the stamina to perform basic daily tasks and I’ve even come close to collapsing from physical fatigue a few times. It’s a pretty rigorous course load…. but don’t worry, I can totally handle it (with a lot of help from my buddy down the hall, if you know what I mean!!)

The really hard stuff will be over at the end of February and my life will lighten up considerably by the beginning of March when I’m allowed to MOVE OFF CAMPUS.

That’s right, I’m doing so well that they will be letting me out of the dorms in a couple of weeks and I’ll be able to roam around town like an upperclassman peacock! I’ll even be able to pick up a part-time work study job that will develop into a full time gig within a few weeks.

As for the program’s future: I’m looking at about 6 months of pretty intense classes and homework. It’s a block system that will keep me on and off campus at an irregular schedule. Basically I’ll have to pop in for a two hour class in the middle of the week, then come back a few days later and repeat for a few weeks at at time. I’ll have some breaks, but these blocks will continue on for about six months and it sounds like the workload is going to be reasonably intense. There will be days/weeks where I’m so busy that I won’t be able to really get out and live the life that I want/was used to, but I’ll totally find a way to make it work. I’ll have an actual physical schedule laid out for me and plenty of advisors that will help me maintain a decent balance with my life and the program. Vacation planning, random adventures and major physical activities will have to be structured around my program schedule.

After six months things get waaaaay chiller. At that point I’ll basically be a grad student intermittently working on his thesis for about two years. Sure there will be periods of mild research, but I’ll be living a much more normal life until I get my degree. The program will still be a major part of my life, but it won’t be TOO consuming.

SUMMARY:

 I’m crushing my initial program and it’ll be done in early March when I get to move off campus. Then I’ve got six months of hard coursework to complete and then two years of grad-student level research….then I graduate with flying colors and use what I learned in the program to make the world a better place. Yeah most people enter these programs to just better themselves, but being here has made me realize some things about myself. This isn’t just about me. I have the ability, will and motivation to use everything I’m learning in here to benefit the world as a whole… and I WILL. I didn’t just enroll in a program, I enrolled in a new way of life. I’ve already got some pretty cool ideas for my postdoctoral work!!

Oh, one more thing!  It’s parent’s weekend here….except the weekend lasts about 2.5 weeks. It’s very nice having my mom here to help out and keep me grounded. She’s not even embarrassing me all that much! 🙂