Crown of Glory » School

Poor Performance in School

Neci Baby — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:03:29 +0000

As of this week, I have been a PhD student for 5 weeks and it has NOT been easy. This semester, I am taking a core course which provides exposure to fundamentals of all of the disciplines represented by six advanced programs that the College of Medicine offers (Structural Biology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Cell Biology/Cystoskeleton, Cell Biology/Transport, and Signal Transduction). So far I’ve completed the Structural Biology module of the course and the exam was last Monday. I actually received my test results a few hours ago and I did poorly (not the lowest in the class, but I could’ve done a lot better). I’m not feeling too down about my test because I know what I did wrong and I did not study as much as I should’ve. Additionally, I was under an immense amount of stress worrying about money and how I was going to eat everyday and how my bills were going to get paid. I had gone more than a month living here with no income! It’s very sad that there were no reliable resources to assist me (and others in the same situation). I finally received my first check Sept 12 and it was missing nearly a week of pay because of “technical errors”, but I was happy to receive it nontheless. My next exam is October 6, so I am definitely going to try to work more diligently to ensure that I understand all of the concepts. Hopefully, I’ll find a reliable person(s) to study with.

The Groove of School

Neci Baby — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:09:22 +0000

Unbelievably, I have only been in school for 3 weeks — it feels like it’s been a couple of months! Right about now I’m starting to regret the ~1.5 year break I took after receiving my undergraduate degree. I would have been waaaay better off if I had not done that because I am having THE hardest time getting back into the groove of school. At the job I was working at before I started the PhD program, I pretty much knew the ends and outs of what I needed to do on a daily basis. When it was time for me to go home, I went home and didn’t have to even think about the job again until the next workday. Usually, I was so tired when I got home that I would take a nice long nap and then wake up and casually watch TV or surf the net or even read some good fiction. But with school, I have to actually study in my free time. What-a-bummer. And mind you, I’m spending about the same amount of time I would in a full-time job in the classroom (8:30am – 5pm), so when I get home guess what? I am tired just like I have always been. And is some biochemistry book supposed to keep me up? lol! No, it hardly does. Maybe I’m just being lazy??? So I end up waking up ~12-3am after I’m rested (I woke up at 4:30am a few mintues ago) and doing what I can before the day starts. I know that it’s not very efficient at all, but I didn’t even have a chance to ease into this. It was just like BAM!

The Beginning of my PhD Program

Neci Baby — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:50:58 +0000

During the past week, I finally moved into my new residence in Gainesville, FL and this past Thursday I finally checked into school for orientation.� I guess I’m kinda excited to start school since I’ve been out for a little over 1 year. My first course (a 2-3 weeks lab) begins on Tuesday and my core courses begin August 25.

Recharging My Batteries

Neci Baby — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:59:58 +0000

I have been in Miami, FL for about a week now recharging my batteries. I wouldn’t say that it is a vacation exactly, because I have been consumed with work. What I would say is that it is the first time that I could devote 100% of my time to Ciabranel D.A.T.A. (it probably will be the last though since school is starting mid-August–hopefully by that point, everything will be running like a well oiled machine, and all the legal kinks have been worked out).

Since my expertise in computer programming/database design/web design was all pretty much self taught, I have started some online tutorials to get some official training. I am very proud of myself that I was able to learn many complicated processes on my own! After I finish these series of tutorials, I will seek certification from an educational institution…but I’m not quite there yet. There are other pressing items that I am dealing with right now, namely the move that I’m preparing to make. I should be back in Tampa, FL on 08/01, at which point I have 1 week to pack all of my things. I also have a meeting with a potential client next week as well, so I am preparing documentation for that meeting. All in all, all is well!

I am Soooo Overwhelmed

Neci Baby — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:39:09 +0000

Hey readers! I would like to announce that at this very moment I am blogging from my new PC. It feels so great to finally have a computer that fits my needs! A lot has been going on, so I thought I’d write a post to summarize everything:

I had my 10th retight done yesterday. The next time I get my hair done, I’m going to have to travel 2 hours to get there (due to my upcoming move). For all of you constantly searching for Johadeni Nappi’s website, it is still under construction. As promised, I will continue to post their contact information (Address: 1638 9th St N, St Petersburg, FL 33704, Phone: (727) 823-9899).

Over the weekend, I travelled to Gainesville, FL (where I’ll be moving to) for the 3rd time searching for an apartment. Thankfully, this time was successful and I’ve located my future place of residence! Next step is coordinating the actual move for the first week of August.

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Today is the first day of my last week at my current job and I am so ready to move on. An interesting situation has been brewing and let’s just say that I need to get my software copyrighted ASAP!

I have more potential customers who are interested in my product. That means that I’m going to have to work at superspeed to get my business site, paperwork, pricing, etc. up and running. It’s going to be a LOT of work but I’m looking forward to it.

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I am going home to Miami, FL this upcoming weekend to drop off my puppy Chino (I’m not taking him with me when I move). Sure I’ll be sad but I think that’s the best I can do for him right now. When I move to Gainesville, I need to focus on getting situated with everything. Besides, my parents love him and they have a huge yard for him to run around in.

I think that’s about it. I’m trying to be quick because I do need to go off to work soon. TTYL!

Beginning My Journey to the Ph.D.

Neci Baby — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:00:50 +0000

In a�previous post�I talked about the fellowship that I was awarded, but I did not discuss too much about what it was for. I will be entering a 5-year doctoral program this fall to study Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences. My long term goal = researching and resolving health disparities among minorities (i.e. hyptertension, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, etc.). In addition to the Mcknight Doctoral Fellowship, I recently learned that I was nominated for the National Science Foundation Bridge to the Doctorate Award and I received it! I feel truly blessed and highly favored that money will not be an issue for me while I’m in school (it will be tough enough as it is). I will be moving to attend the university in a little over 1 month. Unfortunately, I am still in the process of finding a place to live once I get there, so I’ve been very busy as you can imagine.�I had also wanted to use this blog to capture journey to attaining my Ph.D., so there will be plenty of updates.�

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