Grad School *Bling*

My advisor spoils me...

This is an extra little office/lab that my advisor has for me and another student of his. In the future, the piano may be useful to our research, but for now, it certainly keeps me entertained while waiting for stuff to run :)

In a nutshell, I've been incredibly blessed with an advisor who is very hands-on, spends a lot of time with me (even on the little stuff) and cares to be a good teacher. I can't begin to express what a difference that has made in the past few weeks as I have been adjusting to my new role as a graduate student. Amidst the chaotic whirlpool of differing opinions regarding courses, research, graduation requirements, fellowships, and how to be a successful grad student in general, it is a god-sent just to have someone be on my side and give me direction.

More importantly, research is fun again. No more having to deal with big, clunky, bug-riddled crystal-recognizing systems (my undergraduate research project). My advisor has me starting small and simple. The slate has been wiped clean; I feel like a freshman again, excited to know what is waiting just around the bend...

The Undisciplined Blogger

Of course, right after I finish preaching about the importance of journaling and reflection, I plunge into the depths of grad-school-busyness and am never to be seen again....

Well, hopefully that's not entirely true. So, now that I have survived my first set of problem sets, here is the mandatory "Settling into San Diego" post -- also known as the "What's Been Happening" post or the "Mundane Details of My Life" post. Hm. Perhaps bullet points will make this seem less forced:

• My new roommates watch Project Runway. Needless to say, we are all getting along fabulously. Two of them work; the other is a fellow CSE grad student from UW.

• To my surprise, I've already found a church here that I am quite fond of and beginning to call home. It is ironic as I was never able to do that for all the years that I was in Seattle (despite my adoration for Pastor Earl Palmer and regular attendance at UPC).

• The ocean meets the sky to create infinite shades of blue. It is beautiful and completely mind-blowing and looks exactly like in the movies, except I have swallowed much more sea water than I would have liked. The weather is always mild, sunny, and breezy, and the palm trees seem to whisper... "quit grad school. go to the beach." It is a sin to wear closed-toe shoes.

• The UCSD campus is home to about 25,000 students, seemingly 90% of which are asian -- and very fashionable AZNs, might I add. The campus is not nearly as beautiful as UW's, but I guess the extra sunshine makes up for it.

• The CSE building is brand new, equipped with all the latest technologies (including the famous biometric vending machine), and looks fairly normal from the outside. But don't be fooled: the interior looks like a case of "the sterile hospital" meets "tween-Disney." I'm talking dirty-white hospital-like tile floors with bright orange and turoquise walls, and purple couches sitting on random patches of dark green carpet. And lots of awkward empty space. Whatever happened to elegance and class? UW South (as UCSD is commonly called in CS lingo) still has a lot to learn from Hank Levy.

• Did I mention that there's a completely hideous, 23-foot, stone BEAR that sits on the lawn in front of the CSE building?

• The boyfriend came to visit this weekend (yes, already! as the model boyfriend should). We went to the beach and ate tortillas, like true San Diegans.

• Though Seattle always gets dogged for its weather, it has much more character than La Jolla. La Jolla is the boring, rich kid who always dresses nicely. Seattle is the kid that your parents don't want you hanging around...

• I miss the Ave dearly -- all of the coffee shops and cheap exotic food places; even the weird eccentric people that roam from day to night. I also miss the quad, the red-brick, gothic-styled buildings... the cherry blossoms, and being able to wake up 15 minutes before class and booking it down to Mary Gates Hall. I'm living in "paradise", but Seattle is still home.

More later...

Road Trip

How much can you cram into a Corolla? (A post dedicated to my 2.5 day journey to sunny Southern California)

By a miraculous feat of tetris-like space manipulation, my dad and I managed to fit everything I would need for the next five years in the back of a four door sedan -- without blocking the rear window view. Among the items shown above are: a bed frame, two bookshelves, a year's worth of summer/spring clothing, all the shoes a girl could possibly need, a floor lamp, cookware, a printer, complete reportoire of hair/make-up/body products, the ever essential purple-color-themed bedding package, and seemingly enough CSE textbooks to last me through another degree (but probably not by a longshot)...

Start address: Richland, WA 99352
End address: San Diego, CA 92122
Distance: 1,302 mi (about 21 hours 44 mins)

Hello World, v2.0

Journaling has always been an important part of my life - from pretty-in-pink princess diaries, to gossip-filled, rage-strewn notebooks, and finally, to claiming a little piece of cyberspace to call my own. I think life is unique and precious, and that the details should be respected - the good and the bad.

I began this blog a couple of months ago with the idea that it would be purely technical and devoted to my research progress in grad school. But then I arrived in San Diego, and was greeted by warm sunshine, open waters, and new friends. I think the next five years will be a very special and exciting time in my life... and if I ever make it out of here alive, I'll want to have a copy of the transcript, detailing more than just the research :)