The last couple days have been crazy! Let's review:

Last week I got my first interview invite.... to Johns Hopkins! I was so excited, I wanted to faint. I couldn't believe it. Freshman year of high school, I did not envision myself being a biology major, accomplishing as much as I have academically, having all these amazing opportunities likes studying abroad and researching this summer, and certainly didn't see myself applying and actually being competitive for some of the schools on my list. It's crazy how life happens.

Monday was my birthday. I received two cakes, one from my apartment-mate Rachel and one from Brittany. I had a test in my hardest class. Although I had spent a lot of time preparing, I was surprised by 1/3 of the test being on material he hadn't covered or told us to know (I was later told he covered it the lecture AFTER the test.) So clearly I was not in a good mood. I hit the library as soon as it opened and then had class straight from morning until 7pm. I hardly got to talk to anyone. On the way to dinner with Kelsey and Brittany, I got a call from my dad saying my birthday present was tickets to the Sharks v. Penguins hockey game on Saturday. I was screaming my head off somewhat inappropriately for being in public. I was so excited because the Penguins are really good and won the Stanley Cup last year, and I really dislike them because of all the hype. And the Sharks were amazing last year up until the playoffs and they are pretty decent this year. It was going to be a great match up, but when Kelsey and I looked for tickets months ago, they were all either sold out or too expensive.

Kelsey and Brittany took me out to East Asian cuisine. I had chicken dumplings which were unusually spicy and really good steak satay. All the food was very different. It wasn't an Americanized East Asian, it was very traditional. Kelsey had some salad we spent the majority of the time trying to figure out what the heck was in it. We went back to their apartment for CAKE. Then I came home, thinking about how I should have been at the library studying.... oh well.

So Friday, I had the ABRCMS conference in Phoenix. Thursday after class, I drug Kelsey and Brittany to the mall because I really disliked my old suit and I really adhere to the principle if you don't look good, you don't feel good. I really wanted something that would fit me more comfortably and looked sharper. I really just wanted a jacket and was surprised at how much they cost. You can get a suit for $200, but a jacket is $150+? I finally found something a little less formal but it fit me well- herringbone slacks and a black, silk shirt. Then, we went to dinner. I went to bed at 1am because after having a crazy week with tests, birthday, and presentations, I hadn't printed my boarding pass, packed my purse, figured out how I was getting to and from the airports, or anything. I'm not usually this unprepared.

After getting exactly 2.5 hours of sleep (coming off a week where I'd had maybe ten hours combined sleep), I sprung up and got ready. I had to pack my purse carefully. The dilemma was that I had to carry everything that I'd possibly need for an entire day trip where I'd be sleeping, the temperature would be changing, and I'd need to freshen up, yet small enough that I could carry it all day. I'd arranged for a taxi to take me to the airport. You live and learn these things. After doing it, now I know how to call ahead and arrange for a taxi. I was really down after everything went so smoothly I realized I was at the airport 1.5 hours early for a 6am flight.


I arrived in Phoenix and took another taxi, where I figured out that system as well. I got to see my friend Ruth! I also hung out with Oneil, also from summer research. We were sad the rest of our crew wasn't there. I'm considering adding one school to my list as a result of the conference, but instead, it was good to go around and get more specific information about the schools I applied to (like a summary of the weather.) However, going there has made me even more up in the air about where I want to go. In addition, they gave me some good advice about interviews and just generally what to look for when I visit a school. Once again, this conference focused on minorities. It was sad to see some of the schools begging for African-Americans to apply. Maybe instead of starting at graduate school, they could start by having high schools try to graduate more blacks and then universities. From there, it should be a given that there would be a large pool of qualified African-Americans that would be competitive for positions in graduate school, instead of trying to lower the standards for graduate school in order to recruit more diversity now.

For lunch we had a guest speaker who among her many accomplishments double majored in African-Art and some engineering field, medical school, Peace Corps tour, started two businesses, was on People magazines 50 Most Beautiful People list, and was an astronaut in space. The most I can say is, "When I was in Dublin..." and she said "When we were drifting through the Aurora Borealis..." I did a few more hours of networking and before I knew it it was time to head to the airport. Martha came to pick me up (she lives two hours away from Phoenix.) I was so excited, I hadn't seen her in months! We drove around and around Phoenix looking for a place to eat dinner. We eventually stopped at this Chinese restaurant. It was the most run-down place I've EVER seen. I mean, there were bars on the windows... of a restaurant. And to get to the bathroom you literally have to weave through the middle of the kitchen. I got to the bathroom to realize there was no window in the window space, just a rug over it blocking the wind from the outside. The bathroom had only a hook latch for a lock. The toilette paper was hung on a loop of wire. To wash you hands there was an old bottle of watered down Joy dishsoap and now towells. When Martha and I ordered a drink, she brought 2 cans of Sprite and two glasses, no fountain drinks. However, the food was really really good. There are pictures, but at this time I had been awake way too much, and my body (including my complexion) felt the effects. In the picture, I look old. I went to the airport and got on the plane. Kelsey and Jesse picked me up in San Jose and I came home and crashed!

Saturday was game day! When I found out about the game, I went online and ordered a Sharks shirt and had it overnighted. In all my time here, I hadn't invested in any Sharks-wear yet, but I thought now is the time. I didn't really think about the game until like three hours prior and then I started getting really really antsy. When you are sitting at the game, it's like you almost don't believe it. The HP Pavillion is walking distance from campus, and imagine 17,000 people consolidated to a few blocks radius, the police shut down the streets because there is so much foot traffic. Everyone is really excited (or maybe just really drunk) and the mood is contagious. We had really great seats in the 15th row. Apparently they serve wine at hockey games. I'll upload the picture on Picasa, they give you a tiny plastic cup full of wine, and put a lid on it. When they handed it to us, Kelsey and I looked at eachother laughing. It looked exactly like a urine sample that you would give at a hospital and it was so comical that they would put a lid on it.



The game was amazing. There were three fights and the Sharks won 5-0. There were a few lone Penguins fans bold enough to wear a jersey. It seemed unreal. I never thought I'd be sitting watching the Sharks and the famed Sydney Crosby!