Today's mystery behind the seemingly terrible-indicating title is that the inspiration of it comes from a waffle. Yes, I mean it. Breakfast today was at the V-dub with Jing and Brandon. Same old, except that today we tried the dining hall's waffle. Let me tell you that it was the most amazing waffle I've had. The waffle alone was perfect, vanilla flavored and sweet, but of course we had to drizzle it with some syrup and whipped cream. I'll leave it at that, though, before I get you hungry.
Other than that, today was another day in the life of a Summer@Brown student. The walk up to class was hot and a nice warm-up for the day, as usual. The objective of today's lab was to re-do our electrophoresis work, but this time more precisely. We went through all of the day before's steps and protocols, transferring enzymes (which were liquids), and centrifuging. Luckily for us, the length process and waiting involved allowed for some time to just relax and talk with other classmates before we had to get back in action and get the mixed solutions into the wells in the gel and send electrical signals through them. Till this moment, I still wonder at how all of the moving, transitioning, and movement detecting with the UV light just happens, but it's sure something to awe and think about. In other words, I find the work interesting. Aside from the lab, though, today initiated the beginning of our gene therapy for disease assignment. Luckily, this will be our early-notice final, but on the other hand, it will require research, time, and that effort. I'm currently thinking about researching eczema and possibilities for gene therapy, but because it's not as well investigated (for gene therapy) as other diseases, it will be a more difficult and scarcely researched one. I'll have to catch up with my instructor, Jody, and make sure I can work something out with it and better understand the situation on it before fully diving into it.
Aside from the experiment and upcoming research, lunch was different today, as we had it at Soban. As Brandon has mentioned, it's not as great, like the one in the Bay Area over on the West Coast, but it was Korean food, and I looked forward to it. My BBQ Korean Pork and Fried Beef Dumplings were pretty decent and the group and I were able to make exceptional time of it there. Again though, after lunch, Jing had proposed going to another informational session. Brandon was reluctant, but yet again, headed for the dorms, while Jing, Benjie, and I navigated to Morris Hall for the Time Management session, another interesting sit-down with college students. We picked up some of the common things such as prioritizing, but in the end, the session group went straight into college life, high school to college transitioning, and admissions questions. By this point, I should be an expert in this criteria, with all of the talks we gratefully had the opportunity to have with the admissions officers, but tad bits of additional information don't seem to hurt.
After the session, I headed to my dorm, where I couldn't decide on what to focus on doing. I went back and forth from planning the rest of the day, putting things away in their place, and beginning to do research for my gene therapy project. While I was going back and forth, I decided I'd have some fun re-doing the room and switched the bed and the desk. The bed is now in front of the closet and the desk right next the window (love that natural sunlight). It's a neat new look, but that's the least of concerns for today.
After dinner at the V-Dub (we went because of the waffles; like I said, it was awesome, and I personally would not at all mind for more, but unfortunately it wasn't a dinner option...) we headed off with, newly met, Jing's roommate to the Talent Show. I was excited to see cool performances and sure enough, I found myself to be one the loudest clapping, "Wooo!-ing", and enthusiastic audience members in my area. The acts ranged from a traditional Chinese dance, acoustic musical performances, a Katy Perry's Dark Horse dancing performance, and even solving a rubric in under 2 minutes. Being the enthusiastic audience member I was, I cheered on everything. I especially had an interesting time listening to the judges, "Simon Cowell", "Selena Gomez", and "Mario Lopez"'s comments- having them as guest judges was genius and pretty funny too. Following thetalent show led to an unexptected meeting with Kevin at the entrance of the Keeney Quad, where he and Jing's roommate continuously conversed about colleges. It did, however, come to an end as we all went our own ways and settled in our dorms for the night.
I was feeling excited thinking about connecting with my family at home by videochatting. Though I was, and still am, adjusting well to college life, I wanted to get back in contact with my loved ones at home and called everyone up for it. BAM, within a few minutes navigating with technical difficulties, I was able to talk to my beloved family back in the Bay. Joy slowly crept up on me and within the first few minutes, I was bursting with such happiness from reconnecting with them. I saw my amazing sisters, cute nephews and nieces, and of course my beloved parents. I probably went on and on about how I really enjoyed visiting Dartmouth and all of the wonderful things about being in Summer@Brown, but I'm glad that they're all ears when it comes to family. As my older sisters, I had them tease me here and there, but who doesn't love that bonding you get from it? I loved it, and everything moment of talking with them. Just the simple fact that I saw them reinvigorated me, and to be honest, I very unexpectedly happened to get slightly emotional towards the end. One thing I always keep in mind, though, is being strong. I've learned it from my sisters, who are some tough cookies, but nonetheless, it is one of the most powerful strengths one can have. Unfortunately, though, I somehow slipped passed upon my alarm and didn't check-in with the RA (ours was out, so we happened to have not him, but someone else) and due to it, had to get written up. I know, I know, I should be more careful and be more attentive, but who can't say it hasn't happened to anyone. It should be the least of concerns- we're all human. Even so, I don't regret missing out with the fambam one bit.
Tomorrow, most of us are headed to Boston (Flashback Friday!!!!!!). Being back up there again seems like it'll be fun, so I'm hoping to make the most/best out of it and touch bases with one of our previous frequently visited stops. I'll probably get some souvenirs to take back home, but of course, I'll be out and about exploring, one of the norms I think I've developed out here being on this trip. In addition to the entire day in Boston, we should be back in the evening for some time to spare on campus right before time leads up to (drum roll), Waterfire! This has definitely got to be one of the most unique aspects of Providence. I actually heard that last year there was a Salsa Festival for it, but have yet to find out what the theme of tomorrow's event will be. If it happens to be something Latin, I'll be so down for it, as I haven't encountered much Latin culture in my time here. In either case though, today has been a wonderful today and tomorrow should be a new tomorrow. Another page down, another page to go!
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