Yesterday, dazed and confused after thinking about yeast in the back of my mind for five consecutive days, I took a nap on the bench by Paramecium pond. It was divine. The geese are nesting, for starters, which means fluffy babies in the next few weeks. (Between the geese and the new raven chicks, I am unusually invested in bird…
Category: Labs
Concerts and Cell Bio
Another Friday almost done! If it seems like my blog posts are getting later than later, it’s because for the past month or so, as part of my final project for my ethnomusicology I’ve been going into Boston to volunteer and observe an El Sistema music education program at a local charter school. Because this is a public platform, and…
Winter Returns?
On Sunday, we had a little snowstorm blow through Wellesley: Just days ago, Wellesley looked like this: Ah well, spring is around the corner. At least, it needs to be around the corner because outdoor track has begun! Saturday’s meet at Coast Guard was COLD and WET and WINDY. But we had a great meet and placed third overall. Multiple…
Science and the Symphony
There is a robin singing very intently outside my dorm room. Unusually loud and unusually long, the song slips up and down a major third. The carillon bells are also playing in the background, and I can’t help but think the bird is singing along its own accompaniment. It’s a nice, peaceful ending to an otherwise jam-packed week. Since my…
Boston and Beta Galactosidase
It’s been a particularly eventful Friday at the end of a long week. I just got back from Boston, volunteering with an El Sistema program as part the final project for my Ethnomusicology class. As I mentioned the other week, El Sistema is a Venezuelan-born music education movement that aims to use power of playing in an orchestra to shape…
On being kind (to yourself)
Hello again everyone! I’ve been trying to keep the blog upbeat with all the fun things happening in my life, but to be honest, this is probably the most challenging semester I’ve had yet at Wellesley. It’s wearing me down a little, and there’s definitely been some self-doubt involved. But before we have a little heart to heart, I thought…
Independence, illness, and lots of lab
One of the things you inevitably learn in college, outside of the classroom that is, is how to take care of yourself when you’re sick. It’s one of those things that comes with independence. You have to make the calls for yourself: do I go to class today or not? You’re staring down the rows of cold medicine at CVS and…
A new semester of sciencing
It’s Friday afternoon, and you know what that means… this girl right here has officially wrapped up her first week of classes! This semester, I’m taking some pretty intimidating science courses (Organic Chemistry and Cell Bio, I’m looking at you). But my lab advisor gave me some good advice that I’m trying to stick to: “Don’t worry about what everybody…