Merry Christmas!

Have fun, and stay safe! Don't do anything I wouldn't do... ;)

Thoughts on Pursuing Graduate School and Beyond

The other day one of my good friends sent me a link to an article in Science titled "The Myth of the Well-Rounded Scientist". Combining this with the Erick Carreira letter that surfaced a few years ago, it's not hard to see why so many people are dissuaded from pursuing a graduate education in certain STEM fields.

I don't really see this culture changing anytime soon. At top graduate institutions, there are always people on the outside who are willing to put in the effort it takes to perform at the highest level. It's somewhat analogous to the supply of illegal immigrants for low-paying jobs: wages are low because there will always be someone who's willing to work for such a low wage. The criticism for these cultures mainly seems to come from those who are not very experienced about the workings of those involved.  Sure we can all sit back and be appalled at the situation, but until those who are in those situations muster enough support for change, nothing will happen. (Because apparently most people think that yelling in the comments section on Yahoo is going to change the world.) As long as we choose to pursue a graduate education and are willing to work as hard as necessary to obtain that coveted Ph.D., graduate school will continue to kick your ass.

This is of course not unique to graduate school in a STEM field. We see young lawyers who are just starting out working non-stop. Of course, they can just be fired if their work isn't up to standard. In the medical field sometimes there are ridiculously long shifts. This dedication to craft is immense in areas where results and productivity are of utmost importance. Until the majority of the population has undergone these experiences and feel like there are not people on the outside willing to step into those shoes, it would be mostly unproductive to scream at other people and be outraged at these things.

Of course, I'm just an undergrad, so what do I know?

BRB

Something about applying to grad school/fellowships

Goodbye Facebook!

It feels so free not to have a Facebook :)

Sparkling Green Tea?

This past Friday at 99 Ranch Markets I tried something called "sparkling green tea". I thought it was a bad idea, so naturally I tried it to see how it would taste. It looked like regular green tea, but it really didn't taste very much like green tea. It tasted kind of like carbonated liquid green tea mochi, which doesn't sound very good and certainly doesn't taste very good.

I should probably not try these random foods/drinks from Ranch...

This is Apparently What They Show on TV These Days...

The other day in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania I saw a commercial for moonshine. It reminds me of how redneck this place is...

 

(Not the actual commercial...)

These guys make all sorts of fancy fixings, ranging from their standard moonshine and apple pie moonshine to moonshine salsas and BBQ sauces. Fancy, huh. I'd try to get my hands on some of that apple pie moonshine, but maybe once I get back to California I'll see if I can find it.

Also, they don't have a distributor in PA. Imagine that...

A New Penn State Football

I've been watching Penn State football for a long time-since around the 1999 season, and rarely miss a game today. I went to my first two home games (Navy and Temple) these past couple of weekends for the first time since 2009 (once again Temple I believe). It's a new era under Coach O'Brien, and some things I saw at the game definitely an adjustment from what we've all been used to. Notes and observations:

• There are now names on the back of the jerseys. I've seen them on TV but seeing the in person at Beaver Stadium was definitely new.
• Since when was it normal to play Eminem in a football game? 
• The student section no longer seems to follow up "We Are...Penn State" with "Thank You...You're Welcome"
• Speaking of the student section, it's been moved from the sideline to the south end zone. I have no idea when this happened...
• Also, liven up a bit, crowd-it made me sad :(

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Gun Game Server!

I'm in a gaming clan (Military Clan), and we recently opened up a new Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare server with the gun game mod. Basically how it works is that you have to get kills using a series of weapons in a specific order. We've modified it to make the weapons progression slightly more difficult (especially by moving the pistols towards the end) and removing level-stealing through humiliations. It's a nice change of pace from the regular TDM and SnD modes.

I Think US Airways Sucks

Of course most US-based airlines suck, but my recent trip seemed to take the cake.

In my opinion, Philadelphia is one of, if not the, worst airports in the country. A transfer at the airport was a 25-minute walk and a shuttle. On the shuttle, we drove past a bag lying outside on the ground. This bag, which had previously fallen off a luggage cart, had its checked tag on and was being soaked in the rain. After our shuttle passed the luggage, another luggage cart passed the bag and didn't pick it up.

Nice.

Brazil Days 7, 8 and 9: The End

I got a little busy with relatives visiting, group meeting stuff, research, and beginning the grad school application process. So...

Day 7 (July 12): Leaving the Amazon

In the morning we went and visited the local rubber man. Currently most of the world's rubber production is in Malaysia since the trees were exported out of Brazil and production is cheaper there. Throughout the morning he scratched trees and collected the rubber. To make his various items (ranging from wallets to gloves to condoms), he would layer the rubber sap on the molds one at a time and dry them over a fire. After a short while we went around the area to sample some local wild fruit and to just wander around a little.

Collecting sap from the tree (Click to Enlarge)

Drying the layers (Click to Enlarge)

To finish the morning we went to the local school, which children arrive using a school boat. The first thing I noticed was the soccer field next to the school-even by the river, soccer is a huge part of the life.

Soccer field at the school (Click to Enlarge)

The school itself consisted of about 10 rooms, and the school served many people. Young children attended classes during the morning, teenagers attended during the afternoon, and adult classes were in the evening. There were a few computers but for the most part the education was pencil and paper-based, which is a refreshing departure from our internet-dependent society.

The local schoolhouse (Click to Enlarge)

After returning to our lodge, we had lunch and prepared for the journey back to Manaus. It was sad to leave such a beautiful place, but all good things do come to an end. After arriving in Manaus in the mid-afternoon, we hung out in town until dinnertime, when we were taken to the airport. In the airport, check-in for a flight usually doesn't begin until about 2 hours before the flight, and since we had a 3:30am flight, we had to bum around the airport for several hours. After checking in (and 2 gate changes within 15 minutes of departure), we boarded the 4-hour flight returning to Rio.