07/26/2021 | Still in the middle of office room makeover but the work never stops!
May 6th, 2021 // I know I’ve been extremely MIA these past few months (I went off all social media because of all the things that were on my plate). A lot has happened between March till now. As the spring semester wraps up (serious where did the time go??), I started to take note of all the things I’ve accomplished this semester:
- Published my first paper!!
- Made serious progress towards my project (and second paper)
- Wrote a 50 page behavioral review (currently going through editing before I can send it off for publishing)
- Have 3 conferences lined up in May to present at (unfortunately they’re all back-to-back one week after the other)
- Bought a house?? (I know right, so much *adulting*)
- Got my COVID vaccine!!!
And there were some minor things as well: My lab got two new graduate students this year and as a senior grad student, I know how isolating grad school is in general as well as during a pandemic. So I started two new lab cultures to foster more inclusiveness: Thursday wine&whine nights, and Wednesday study nights at the campus library, both which have been going great. Oh, I also decided to take on and mentor 2 undergrads this coming summer/fall semester so I’ve been brainstorming a lot of cool new experiments and projects for them to learn and do!
Through all of this, I learned how important it is to 1) take care of your mental health, and 2) prioritizing work/life balance, and 3) just making very intentional goals for my grad school and personal life. I’m really looking forward to this summer when I can finally take a small break and go on a road trip with my besties!
On that note, how are you guys doing? How did your semesters go so far? Also, good luck to everybody who is studying for their finals!
03/14/2021 | This month I’ve been trying something new - lately when I go back in my journal to reflect on my past month, I’ve been noticing that I’ve been write all my negative thoughts and never the highlights of my day. So I decided to start a new notebook where everyday I write just one highlight of the day, each day, no matter how small or how big. The goal is that a month or a year from now, or when I finish the notebook, I’ll look back and remember all the good and all the progress. It’s kind of my way of gratitude journaling.
Zoomester Studyblr Challenge (that I once again fell behind on):
Day 5: Tag 3 studyblrs that you love seeing on your dashboard
I always love seeing @cancerbiophd, @tiredbiostudent and @myrtleandberry on my dashboard! And oh so many more people!
Day 6 - Tag yourself!
- ten am. iced coffees. always in a hurry. golden hour aesthetic. remembers the little details. loves old movies.
- midday. mom jeans. picnic dates. thrift-shopping. pinterest. low-key insecure. obssessed with photography.
- eight pm. netflix. cuddles warm sheets. indoors life. loves singing but can’t. sweats. never sleeps.
Day 7- Some of your music faves right now
- Maria - Hwasa
- Sunny - Boney M
- Out of Order - Michl
- Novocaine - The Unlikely Candidate
- Cruel World - Active World
Day 8 - International Women’s Day! What’s your take on feminism?
I believe that for a society to work and progress, all genders need to have equal rights and opportunities. Therefore, yes, I am a feminist.
Day 9 - Write something that you’d like to tell yourself.
“Stop being so hard on yourself Tulip.” - Tulip
Day 10 - Tag someone whose aesthetic you love seeing on your feed.
I really love seeing content from everyone I follow, and everyone who pops up on my dashboard!
Day 11 - What’s something that you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t got the chance to do so?
A long-distance train ride vacation!
Day 12 - Are you more into plant or flowers? What’s your fave type?
I like vegetables and herbs? I have a little garden growing, and I really love the smell of basil!
Day 13 - Tell us the most eye-opening book you’ve read.
Right now, in celebration of Women’s History Month, it’s definitely “Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men” by Caroline C. Pérez
Day 14 - What are some of the reasons you love yourself/should love yourself?
I think we’re so hung up on everyday that we forget to look back at all the progress, all the growth that we’ve gone through. So one think I’m proud myself of is for all my growth, both personally and professionally. For the growth in becoming more resilient, for learning to care and investing in myself.
03/04/2021 | I have a presentation tomorrow morning, and this is absolutely not me chugging 6 shots of espresso in the evening to get my very-last-minute presentation together. And this is also not me procrastinating by scrolling through my dashboard. [clearly I like to live on the edge]
Zoomester Studyblr Challenge: Day 2 Chosen Major: In undergrad, I majored in Genetics and minored in Japanese and Public Health (with emphasis on biostastistics). I changed my major a lot in my first two years of uni until I realized that Genetics was my passion.
Zoomester Studyblr Challenge: Day 3 Studyblr challenges: This is actually my first ever studyblr challenge - and you can tell I’m not very good at keeping up with it everyday (oops).
Zoomester Studyblr Challenge: Day 4 My research: I study glial cells and their role in nervous system regeneration using an invertebrate model. My research is interdisciplinary and falls under developmental biology, neurobiology, and regenerative bioscience!
03/01/2021 | In the past, when I’m working from home, I used to get easily distracted and end up doing a lot of things that were not my main focus of the day. These days, I’m trying to be more mindful - when my brain starts to wander, I just gently make a note of it. Whenever there is something bothering me (like things to add on my grocery list or some other task), I just write it down on a sticky note so I can get back to it when I’m done with my current task. Physically making a note of what’s distracting me allows me to expel it from my mind instead of the thought constantly circling around while I’m trying to work. Sometimes, between my 5 minute breaks, I can quickly accomplish some of my lesser distractions (i.e. plug in my phone, or check in on my pet) and just get rid of that distraction and out of my mind. Working from home is a challenge, but every small thing we can do to minimize distractions is always helpful.
Zoomester Studyblr Challenge: Day 1
Introduce yourself: So it’s been forever since I’ve actually ever introduced myself on here (have I actually ever introduced myself here??). Hello, I’m Tulip! I’m a 3rd year PhD student and I study the glial cells in the context of neural regeneration. I’ve never done one of these studyblr challenges before, so here goes nothing (I also can’t promise I’ll be able to keep up with it everyday). I’m looking forward to meeting new people in the studyblr community! Drop by and say hi~
11.06.2020 | 2020 was the real imposter. This is probably the most colorful diary spread I’ve ever done, and honestly I’m digging it. I actually did this while I was up watching the elections as a form of doodling therapy, and it really helped dealing with the stress. I hope you guys are taking care of yourself. Hang in there everyone - 2020 is almost over!
09.14.2020 / Came back to lab to see all these decorations in my office space! Our lab has a tradition of decorating the lab space of those who passed their qualifying exam, and this was really nice to see! I’m probably never going to take the banners down. To be honest, last week had been really about recharging before I jumped back into work!
09.12.2020 | Pets of studygram~ Meet Naru, my little bunny. He likes to distract me from studying by acting all cute and constantly wanting my attention. He has a thing against open laptops. 😂Do you guys have pets? Do they also distract you from studying?
09.08.2020 | I’ve been waiting to post this for a while. A lot of you guys may have been wondering why I took a mini-haitus until today and that’s because I had a really really big exam (aka my PhD candidacy exam) I was prepping for >5 months and I wanted spend my time focusing on that, especially in the last two weeks before my exam. And yesterday, I took my exam and I PASSED! All those months of stressing, feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and doubts pilling up on whether I could actually do it disappeared in an instant after hearing that I passed. It was the best feeling I’ve had in a long time since starting grad school!
Anyways, back to the actual picture: some of you may know that I like to write about my goals and intentions at the start of every month and reflect on how I did the previous month. This month (for me) is all about recharging, refreshing and rebooting. I thought it would be nice to do an old-school classic WindowsXP theme. This desktop setup (especially the files) kinda sums up how my mindscape is right now. This theme was really inspired by AmandaRachLee’s recent youtube video so I don’t want to take credit for coming up with this myself.
I hope you guys are doing well, and also get a chance to recharge a bit too this month!
08.29.20 // This weekend, I started to slowly collect all those sticky notes off my desk and walls and cataloging them into my notebook. A lot of you have been following my journey towards preparing for my PhD candidacy exam from my posts. I’ve been prepping for this exam over months, and here I am one week away from my exam. No matter what my results may be (and I pray that I pass and become a PhD candidate), I know that this time was a time of both academic and personal growth.
08.20.2020 // First day of Fall semester and I holed myself up in the library to understand the statistics behind RNA-sequencing project. Send help.
08.11.2020 // I know I haven’t posted original content in ages, so here’s me trying to remedy that. My university’s libraries opened this week (in limited capacity) so I’m taking full advantage of the fact that the undergrads are not back yet to study in the libraries again. I have less than 3 weeks to review all my material for my candidacy exam so I definitely feel the crunch time pressure. I also forgot how freezing libraries are and I regret not bringing a jacket or blanket. [ig: guavadays]
07.23.2020 // I dabble in a lot of things when I’m procrastinating on my grant writing. (apparently a common trait in procrastination that I got from my old research mentor Dr. E who would build things in the lab instead of writing his grants)
Lately I’ve been cleaning out my apartment, and I’ve been holding onto this wine bottle from Prophecy because of the beautiful label done by Victo Ngai (she’s my favorite artist - I even wrote a whole essay on her work when I took Art Appreciation in undergrad). Part of me wants to buy all of the Prophecy wines so I have all her artwork. Anyways, I figured I could just take the label off and recycle the bottle (why I had not thought of that earlier I have no idea). Unlike my dad who does like to collect the bottles, I like to collect beautiful graphic illustrations on said bottles.
And yes, I know the quote by J.R.R Tolkein is slightly wrong; I actually chose to write sell instead of see because of the spread revolving around the “goddess of fortune”. it was totally intentional...
07.17.2020 // I totally accidentally almost went AWOL again! I’ve been pretty busy with lab work and writing these last few days. It’s T-1 month from my quals and I officially feel the crunch time pressure. This week I did a lot of late-night studying, and covered a bit of stem cell biology in planarians (freshwater flatworms) and their muscular system. I’m building my way towards learning their nervous system in depth (maybe mid-August?). I’ve also been catching up with some of my friends that I haven’t seen/talked to since the lockdown. I’m super thankful to having a great support network with all my fellow graduate students. ♫ Birch Tree - Foals
[ig: guavadays]
07.11.2020 // Some spreads from my creative writing hobby. I basically ended up recycling some of my watercolor doodles that didn’t work out like I had intended, but they give a fresh look to my writing.
07.09.2020 // Just some cottage-core vibes from my study “picnic” outside. I focused all my energy last week and early this week on finishing up my written proposal. Since I’m waiting to hear back from my PI about the draft, I’m back to studying again this and next week. ♫ Maria - Hwa Sa [ig: guavadays]
07.07.2020 // A coffee-inspired spread of me reminiscing about how much I miss coffee-shops right now, and an old picture of coffee from my favorite local coffee shop. ♫Get What I Came For - The Phantoms
[ig: guavadays]