#i hope i can get in a biomedical sciences degree in university next year

[mysecretboringlife]

I AM NOT A HERO,

I AM A SCIENTIST.

Carlos the scientist, my idol

[pinkpastels113]

Talk Numbers To Me

Rating: G

Word Count: 3,326

Pairing: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

Summary: In which Chloe gets help from her mathematical genius.

End B/C. One-Shot. Fluff. Tumblr prompt.

Read on ao3 or ff.net or below.

Prompt from anon; hope you all like.

Chloe shuffles her papers, kicking her feet in frustration at the numbers swirling in her head. Her hand flies to her hair, the pencil tangling in its strands.

“You okay there, Chloe?”

She looks up, sees Stacie blink questioningly at her from the microwave, and gives a tentative smile. “Yeah, just...” she sighs. “Homework.”

Stacie nods, retrieving her dinner burritos and closing the microwave door. “Do you need help?”

Chloe bites her lip and looks back down at the sheets of homework staring back at her from the kitchen table, its once clean blank lines now covered in blurry grey smudges. She doesn’t want to be of any inconvenience. “Nah, I’ll be okay. Thank you though, Stacie.”

“Are you sure?” Stacie grabs for a napkin before making her way over, “Because if it’s science, I can definitely help you out.”

Chloe carefully detangles her pencil from her pounding head, laying it back down onto the wooden surface. It’s not science, but something in Stacie’s tone of voice has her intrigued. “Oh?”

Stacie pulls out a chair, sits. She sets her styrofoam plate down onto an area not littered by mountains of paperwork and reaches for the one directly in front of Chloe. “Yup. I double major in Chemistry and Biomedical engineering. Which pretty much covers all the sciences that you could possibly take in your second senior year.”

Chloe raises her eyebrows, impressed. “Wow. I didn’t know that you double major, Stace. That’s amazing.”

Her fellow Bella just shrugs, eyes quickly scanning the page. “Eh, it’s alright. I love science anyways so it’s no big deal.” She then pauses, presumably figuring out that the subject of Chloe’s dilemma is most definitely not the one of which she is an expert in. “Oh, this is math.”

Chloe groans just at the mention of the word, tilting her head back to the fluorescent light of the kitchen ceiling. “Yeah, math. The worst form of torture in the entire world.”

Stacie just chuckles, shaking her head, “Only to people who don’t understand it.” She then stands, clutching Chloe’s topic of frustration between a thumb and forefinger. “I would love to help you out, Chloe, but I think someone else may be better at explaining this for you. She is a math genius after all.”

Chloe gets out of her chair as well, brows furrowing curiously as she trails behind the tall brunette, only then realizing that they are making their way to the living room, where the sounds of the tv can be heard, signalling the presence of the rest of the Bellas. “Someone else? Who else could be better at math than a Biomedical engineer?”

“Someone who actually studies it.”

And before Chloe could even ponder over which Bella would possibly want to subject themselves to the torture that is freaking mathematics, they have reached the entrance of the living room, and Stacie has called out the answer.

“Hey, Beca!”

What?

Chloe gapes, completely taken aback as she watches the unrequited love of her life look up from the screen of her phone at the mention of her name. “Yeah?”

Stacie waves the paper in her hand even as she continues to stalk forward. “Chloe needs your help with some math. I said that I would, but I just figured that a double math and physics major such as yourself would be a much better and viable option.”

Understandably, Chloe is not the only one in the room to have no previous knowledge of this news, or the only one to be completely shocked by it. Fat Amy turns away from the tv to quirk a disbelieving brow. “Double major? Shawshank? Math and Physics ?”

Chloe couldn’t help but agree. She knows that it’s wrong and impolite to underestimate a person’s abilities on what he or she could or not do, especially when said abilities are in academics—after all, they are all still in college—but Beca ? One of her best friends in the whole wide world, not to mention her secret crush/obsession/favorite person/love of her life and possibly all the lives she could possibly have hereafter—if she believes in that kind of stuff, which she kind of does, especially if it pertains to a possibility of her getting together with said love in one of those lives in the far future—with whom she had been pining for—especially at the times where it had been particularly difficult and tiresome—seemingly since the beginning of time? Beca, who would always tend to blow off school until the very last minute; Beca, who would rather spend time fiddling with her music in her room all by herself with just her and her headphones rather than indulge in books or people or anything not involving of her mixing board unless someone—usually Chloe—had to physically drag her away from the screen of her computer to go hang out? Beca?

Shouldn’t she have known everything there is to know about Beca in all these years—albeit technically that only includes two, but sometimes she really just feels like they have known each other since they were kids—that they’ve been friends? Teammates? Roommates? Family?

Beca rolls her eyes, stretching her arms in front of her chest to pull her body into a proper sitting position on the side of the couch. She locks and tosses aside her phone. “Yeah, I couldn’t decide which one to pick so I just decided to go for both. You guys didn’t know?”

Chloe finally finds it within herself to blurt out something that does not include her incredulity of the small brunette being capable of taking the most ruthless and tedious majors that there could possibly be in all the majors one could take at Barden University, “No, Beca, we didn’t.”

Jessica, Ashley, Flo, and Cynthia Rose collectively shake their heads in agreement.

Lilly just blinks, and Fat Amy’s lone brow stays exactly where it is.

Stacie snorts, Chloe’s paper dangling casually between two perfectly manicured nails against her side as she crosses her arms, shifting her weight onto one foot, “Figures. I suppose you all didn’t know that I am a double major too, did you?”

Six of the Bellas’ attention spotlight on the slightly indignant brunette, gasps and shouts of surprise and amazement instantly tossed into the air, Stacie’s explanation of the functionality of Biomedical Engineering immediately a follow up, but Chloe barely notices, because she is too busy having a silent exchange with her co-captain still situated on the couch.

She widens her eyes. Is this true? Are you being serious?

Beca nods, smirks. Hell yeah I am.

Chloe tilts her head, pouts. Why didn’t you tell me?

Beca shrugs. Didn’t find a reason to. She then rubs the back of her neck, looking suddenly sheepish and uncomfortable. And it’s not like it’s a big deal.

Chloe frowns, shakes her hands about. It is a big deal to me ! She then gestures between the pair of them. We’re friends, Becs, we are supposed to tell each other these kinds of things!

Beca tips her chin to the front of her chest, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and then peers at her shyly through her lashes. Sorry, Chlo.

Chloe’s heart melts, her feet immediately carrying her forward, and she lowers herself onto the couch cushions next to Beca, taking extensive care to not sit on her phone. She offers a soft and forgiving smile, before pulling her best friend swiftly into a hug. Don’t be sorry, Beca. She presses a kiss to her cheek. It’s okay.

Beca’s body relaxes, and somehow Chloe understands that the small brunette is relieved of the fact that Chloe is not mad or judgemental or flighty about how she is a double major in both math and physics. Chloe wonders if that is the reason why Beca hadn’t told her—that she had been afraid of her reaction—and if that is the reason why she had put on a brave face in front of the Bellas.

Beca always pretends like everything is fine and ineffective to her well being when she feels extremely self-conscious. She likes to put on a hard shell and proclaim the attitude of a “badass” to balm over her real emotions, to put on a show of I don’t care and whatever to mask over the I do care and I do feel.

Chloe gets the feeling that if it hadn’t been for Stacie—who’d most likely just stumbled across the discovery by accident—none of them would have known, until possibly graduation, when someone questioningly points out the lettering of her certificate, the duality of her degree.

Beca is bashful, self-conscious, secretive , of her abilities and status as a mathematical genius.

Chloe puts her lips to Beca’s ear. “Help me with my homework, please.”

She feels her best friend shiver, pull away, her beautiful stormy blues shy and reluctant as they flit across Chloe’s face, search between her eyes, and Chloe just sits and stays and waits until she says yes.

“Okay.”

Chloe beams, her arms unconsciously going around to surround Beca’s back for another embrace before she pulls away, and she stands up and makes her way over to Stacie, a bounce in her step as she taps the tall brunette—who’s now making fun of herself for being the “hot one” of the group—on the shoulder to get her attention, smiling gratefully when she turns and notices and hands her paper over.

“Thanks, Stace,” she says, winking to signal the double sentiment of her gratitude for both the help and the revelation of the information, grinning widely as Stacie comprehends and nods.

Hazel greens flash quickly and meaningfully to the slight brunette in the room, “Anytime.”

Chloe lets her return to her conversation with the rest of the Bellas, spinning around to purse her lips questioningly to ask Beca where it is that she wants to go.

My room.

Chloe leads the way, making a brisk detour to the kitchen to gather up her things, and she speeds up the stairs and skips down the hall, letting herself into the double bedded bedroom Beca currently shares with Amy.

“So why’d you choose math?” She decides between the bed and the desk chair, going for the bed.

Beca takes the chair. “I dunno,” she shrugs, “Just wanted to, I guess.”

Chloe sets the papers down onto the bedding, and makes herself comfortable. “You must really enjoy it for it to be a half of your double major, Becs.”

Beca gives a noncommittal hum, crossing her legs and wiping her hands onto the dark denim.

“And what about Physics? Any reason why you wanted to study that as well?”

“Oh,” Beca glances to her mixing board, “That’s just for sound engineering. It really makes it easier to find and test out the best places for a good mashup, and it’s really just useful for the recording and production of music.”

Chloe makes a small noise of understanding, following her line of sight briefly before going for the subject catalysing the shocking news of that evening. She picks up the first sheet of her homework, smoothing it out before offering it enthusiastically forwards, “So, math genius, you wanna let me know how it’s done?”

Beca grins, one hand caught between her thighs modestly as the other one reaches for the paper, “Sure, Beale. Good to know that you’re actually in need of my help for something.”

Chloe pushes back her hair, blinking at her in confusion, “What do you mean?”

Beca hides her face behind the frustrating sheet of paper, “Nothing. Just that you always seem to know exactly what you’re doing. Everybody always seems to go to you for help, never the other way around.”

Chloe’s heart flutters in her chest, and she has to push it down before it can go all swoony over the likely unintentional romantic admission. Later. “I don’t always seem to know exactly what I’m doing, Beca. I usually just wing it, and hope for the best.” At Beca’s disbelieving but playful scoff, she leans forward to bend over the top half of her paper, revealing Beca’s face, “And I’m here now, aren’t I? Math has always been a subject that I can absolutely not deal with.”

Beca rolls the tip of her tongue over the fronts of her teeth, “Only cuz nobody but nerds like me actually gets it. Still doesn’t establish the fact that you’re no less amazing and brilliant at everything else you do.”

If Beca had been Chloe’s girlfriend—if she had been dreaming that she is—Chloe would have lunged forward and kissed her senseless.

Settling for biting her lower lip anxiously to withhold the urge, Chloe gestures to the paper in her hands. “Well? Do you know how to do this?”

Beca looks like she’s just been snapped out of a daze. “Oh yeah, totally.” She spins around in her chair to reach for her bag, unzipping it and pulling out a tiny whiteboard from the utmost layer, as well as an Expo marker. “It’s kinda easy, actually. I can explain it.”

Chloe giggles at the materials in her hands as Beca turns back around. “Aw, that’s so cute!”

Beca glares, laying the whiteboard on one side of her lap and the paper in the other. “Shut up. It’s just convenient.”

Chloe mimes zipping and locking her lips and throwing away the key, but the smile on her face is irreplaceable.

Beca nudges open the cap of the Expo, letting it drop softly onto the floor at her feet as she rereads the question. “So, it says that this Marco dude needs to figure out where his stupid ball is gonna land if he throws it over the top of a building, so we have to make a graph.”

Chloe laughs, already comfortable with the familiar way Beca seems to make any situation less intimidating, “Do you talk to yourself like that when you do your own math?”

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Chloe lays a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her amusement. “Carry on.”

Beca shakes her head, apparently having gotten very invested in her knowledge of math despite being self-conscious of it, “Jesus, Chlo. Anyways,” she brings the tip of the marker onto the whiteboard to draw two perpendicular lines, “Here’s the graph—” she draws a rectangle to represent the aforementioned building, along with a dot at the y-intercept, “—and here’s our dude.”

“Ooh, can we write down Marco,” Chloe interrupts, bouncing in her seat and pointing to the blank and boring dot.

Beca gives her a look, before sarcastically heeding her request. Five letters were squished against the side of the y-axis with an adorable arrow, “There. Happy?”

Chloe blows her a kiss, “Very.”

Beca sighs, dramatically, before continuing on, “So as I was saying, there’s Marco, and his ball is—” she scribbles down a number next to the side, “Thrown from this height, and we need to figure out—” she dashes a parabolic line towards the situational ground, “Where this —” she makes another dot, labelling it “splat”—much to Chloe’s delight— on the x-axis, “Is.”

Chloe nods vigorously, chin in her hands as she shifts closer to the edge of the bed, her butt just barely situated on the mattress now as she leans closer for a better look, “Yeah, totes.”

Beca doesn’t seem to notice her new proximity, on a roll now that she has gotten started, “And they have given you the formula so now, considering the fact that gravity is a thing and negative distances are not—” she copies down the formula and writes down what the variables represent for her right under, “You just have to plug all this shit in to get the answer.”

“Ohh,” Chloe says, getting it, but it falls on deaf ears as Beca seems to automatically plug in the figures for her, crossing out variables and scribbling down altercations as she goes along, and Chloe’s jaw drops, as seconds later, she has come to a conclusion.

Beca scribbles down “20 feet” and circles it victoriously, a small but satisfactory “Aha” escaping her lips as she holds the whiteboard up to the light. “There, I got it.”

A sudden wave of heat pools low in her belly, and Chloe gasps as she tries to make sense of the unexpected spike of arousal at the sight of the wide and unrestrained and confident grin painting across Beca’s lips, at the sight of the happiness and satisfaction sparkling within stormy blues, and at the sight of the pink and musically talented tongue clenched between Beca’s teeth, as if used as an anchor to her excitement of getting another math problem right.

Holy heck, Beca Mitchell is hot when she does math.

Chloe must have made a distracting sound, because Beca suddenly jolts, as if just then realizing that she is not alone, pink flushing into her cheeks as she lowers the whiteboard, her uncontainable grin fading into a sheepish smile, and she meekly hands the answer over.

“Sorry,” she says, fidgeting uncomfortably in her chair, eyes downcast to her feet as she watches them scuffle nervously against the floor, “I just got so excited. I don’t know what came over me, Chlo, I—” she visibly swallows, “I hadn’t meant to just finish your problem for you.”

Screw it. It doesn’t freaking matter that Beca is not her girlfriend.

Chloe pushes the whiteboard aside and grasps the arms of Beca’s chair, yanking it and the person in it towards her waiting mouth, and she kisses her best friend/secret crush/obsession/favorite person/love of her life/mathematical genius square on the lips with as much fervor—if not more—as the moment previous in which she had desired to dole out when Beca had inadvertently complimented her as an amazing and capable and kind individual in and of itself, and she groans, her feet spreading to accommodate the chair between her legs and her brain kicking into overdrive to accommodate the gasp fluttering into her mouth.

Beca freezes, her eyes still presumably wide open as Chloe nips against her lips, and Chloe is just about to pull away and chart the situation up to another uncontrollable heat of the moment when she feels the small brunette reciprocate, arms wrapping around her neck and lips pressing closer, and Chloe slides her hands down from the arms of the chair to tuck between the cushion of the seat and Beca’s thighs, lifting her up and into the air before prompting dumping her in her lap, and she giggles as Beca huffs at the ease of which she has completed the action.

“Show off,” Beca grumbles, her minty breath a mournful absence as she pulls her mouth away to kiss the angle of Chloe’s jaw, “This is exactly what I had meant.”

Chloe tilts her head to allow Beca more access, “Coming from the person who had just figured out the answer to my mathematical problem in just a number of seconds, I think you are being irrational, Beca.”

Beca laughs, her nose nuzzling into the side of her neck affectionately at the pun, and Chloe’s heart pounds, her fingers immediately going to scramble her papers off the bed and her body further onto it. “That literally calculates up to zero creativity, Chlo.”

“Whatever,” she says, adjusting herself amongst the blue sheets and rectangular pillows, “I’m not a mathematical nerd, unlike someone I know.”

“Mm,” Beca reconnects their lips, her fingers playing the ends of Chloe’s hair, “Speaking of, are we gonna finish your homework?”

“Later,” Chloe tugs at their clothes, her tongue darting out to trace the seam of Beca’s wide and unrestrained smile, “We can do it later. Right now I just want my hot and secretive mathematical genius to talk numbers to me.”

---

I rushed through this in the span of four hours (not nearly long enough for me to make grammatical and detailing errors) so I hope you all enjoyed it despite my laziness :P

Also, if you’re the anon who gave me this prompt, I hope I did you justice, and that I hope you liked it despite any intentions that you had initially had at the suggestion of this prompt (I know I did, but oh well, what’s done is done, and I’m honestly just happy that I am finished lol).

Let me know what you all think! :))

[the-trans-otter33]

Sanders Sides The Martian AU

Note: I used canon information from the original The Martian characters so jobs, education levels, and other facts could be accurate to the story. It will remain this way just for the sake of accuracy. All original character info can be found on The Martian Wikia and all credit is due to Author Andy Weir, creator of The Martian

----------

Introduction Post

JULY 7TH, YEAR 2035

----------

Roles:

Commander: Thomas Sanders

Doctor: Patton McManus

Pilot: [Major] Roman Cone

Computer Specialist: Logan Locke

Navigator: [Dr.] Remus Cone

Botanist: [Dr.] Virgil AsheFord

EVA Specialist: D. Dain Dechard

----------

Character Info.

April 24th, 1993, 42, Thomas Sanders- Thomas was the first to be chosen for the Ares III mission. He graduated with honors from the US Naval Academy with a Doctorate in oceanography. After the navy, he entered into CalTech's Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences before joining NASA and taking trips to the SpaceX Station. He takes a lot of time to speak at public gatherings and conferences, encouraging others to achieve their dreams as he did and living life to the fullest. Thomas has dedicated his recent months as Commander to making sure his team bonds and remains safe, oftentimes treating them like family or adopted sons. Thomas is NASA’s first openly gay commander and is proud of it and his 22 year long marriage with his husband, Daniel.

Appearance: Thomas Sanders is 5' 10" with a healthy body. He is not lean nor pudgy, being in a somewhat perfect balance in-between. Sanders wears a classic brown undercut with no ability to grow facial hair, much like Patton. His eye color is brown and he enjoys staying in old and new uniforms more than regular clothing.

January 15th, 2001, 34, Patton McManus- The youngest member of the 7 person crew on Ares III, Patton McManus is not someone to be trifled with, especially when it comes to his intelligence. Due to his young age, he finds himself underestimated a lot of the time, and not listened to. It was no surprise to him and his parents though when he got accepted into the Yale School of Medicine, receiving the Norma Bailey Berniker Prize, and his extensive training in Aerospace Medicine as a Captain in the United States Air Force Reserves. He joined NASA in 2029, increasing his training with a Masters Degree in Biomedical Science and was the second person chosen for the Ares III mission. Kind, caring, and generally just a sweetheart, Patton hopes to lighten all spirits on the mission and hopes to bond closely with everyone on board. Dr. McManus hopes that one day his 4-year-old son [from a past relationship] will follow his views on the world and grow up to help people just as his father does.

Appearance: Patton McManus is a soft healthy, 6' teddy bear. Dr. McManus is ginger, his hair always messy with untamed short curls. Freckles spot his face around his nose and under his eyes. He's a bit pudgy around the middle, having close to a dad bod [even though he has no kids]. He cannot grow any facial hair and wears round glasses with thick light blue frames, matching the color of his eyes. Patton tends to wear light-colored polo's and khaki's if he can but jeans work out just fine too. He is also almost always seen with a grey jacket tied around his waist or his neck resting on his shoulders.

June 4th, 1995, 40, Roman Cone- Roman was the third person to join the Ares III Crew, immediately getting along with Commander Sanders and Dr. McManus. Before joining the crew, Roman spent eleven years in the United States Air Force. Originally trained as a fighter pilot, Major Cone worked his way up to the USAF Test Pilot School. Continuing to keep up high marks and great performance he quickly gained respect from his peers and commanders. From a young age, he knew he was destined for NASA so he gained a bachelor of science in astronautical engineering at USAF Academy. At NASA he also became an MDV/MAV Specialist. Witty and outgoing, Roman enjoys taking up all the attention in the room, often doing dramatics to do so.

Appearance: Roman Cone is a sight to see, standing at 5' 9". He is more on the muscular side, though nothing near Dain's level of muscle mass. Major Cone is dirty blond, sporting a magnificent pompadour, never seen without it perfectly done, he has long sideburns that transition from blond to brown the more he grows them out. Roman tries not to let them grow into mutton chops but sometimes finds them there anyway. Surprisingly Roman enjoys sweatpants and baggy shirts more than anything fancy or dramatic. Roman's eyes are light green.

November 3rd, 1998, 36, Logan Locke- Logan graduated at the young age of 16, winning in NASA's largest hackathon a year later. Afterward, Logan moved onto MIT for dual undergraduate degrees in math and computer science. While starting graduate school, Mr. Locke started a private software company in the hopes of becoming a software engineer and CEO. Though his plans changed suddenly when he came into contact with a SpaceX executive who was impressed by his work. His decision to join NASA was later founded when she helped develop software that would later become an integral part of the Hermes operating system. With that knowledge of the Hermes, he wiggled his way into the Ares III crew, being the fourth one to join as the System operator and Reactor Technician. Logan found himself seemingly alone among the crew due to his introverted lifestyle along with his inability to "take a joke" [said by Roman after joke about MIT]. His emotionally repressive behavior got especially worse when Remus joined a few days after, mocking Logan for his OCD. These habits and behaviors seemed to only start getting better after meeting Ares III Botanist Virgil AsheFord, who shared some of these traits. Locke never includes his thoughts though when anyone bring up parents or family back home, no one knows why.

Appearance: Logan Locke is a lanky 5' 8" nerd. Wearing rectangle-shaped glasses with white half frames. Logan has thin cheekbones with a thick chin strap beard connected with a black goatee. His hair is slicked back but not as tightly nor as long as Dain's and without curls in the back. Logan's eyes are dark blue shade, often matching his professional outfits. Mr. Locke often wears button-down shirts or polos with a blue or black tie running below his belly button. he usually tucks his shirts into his pants, which are almost always jeans held up with an always new looking leather belt. he also wears what Roman calls "old man shoes" though he is quite proud of their permanent shininess. Logan actively chooses to not work out, instead, he just makes sure to eat as healthily as he can.

June 5th, 1995, 40, Remus Cone- Remus was the fifth person to be chosen for Ares III. Remus was invited to join the crew through NASA and the European Space Agency after being located in Germany for several years. Holding two master's degrees in chemistry and astrophysics. Remus has also earned a doctorate in chemistry from spending six months on Antarctica. Remus has published dozens of papers in international journals to pass time. Dr. Cone felt the need to assert himself with the family name after his brother Roman upstaged him constantly in college. Remus is fluent in French and German, often using those languages to swear when visiting his brother in the USA. Remus has a knack for being a trouble-maker around almost everyone he meets, making messes mostly on accident due to his childish clumsy nature. Dr. Cone is only found being serious when there's work to be done, the dedication to his job is one of the only things bonding him with the rest of the Ares III crew.

Appearance: Remus us a 5' 10" pure blond man. he is often found wearing unmatched clothing that some would call ugly af [but he likes it that way]. Sporting a low hanging man bun, his hair just might be the most yellow thing at NASA HQ and on the Hermes, but it's completely natural! To go along with his man bun, Remus has a majestically neat handlebar mustache. Remus resembles his older twin brother Roman a lot with his light blue eyes and wide chin. Baring a bigger nose than Roman though. He also cannot grow any other facial hair. Remus isn't as muscled as Roman, being a bit round in the middle but tries his hardest to remain interested in working out. Nowadays his interest is kept by working out with his gym buddy, Dain.

December 19th, 1999, 34, Virgil Asheford- Virgil had spent eleven months already working at NASA when he was chosen for Ares III. Originally attending the University of Chicago, Doctor AsheFord moved to Northwestern University to earn his Ph.D. in Plant Biology and Conservation with an emphasis on hydropedalogy and environmental engineering. When joining NASA, his work focused on hydrologic flow paths and sustainable water resources management within Earth's Critical Zone. Virgil spent the next two years in the peace Corps engineering sustainable agriculture and water irrigation systems for developing nations. Afterward, Virgil applied to the NASA Astronaut Candidate Program and was ultimately selected. Throughout his life Virgil has had a constant battle with his depression and anxiety, growing more introverted over time. His interest in Botany helped him through the battle he has fought so hard to win. Despite over complicating many different thoughts, solutions, and ideas, Virgil often finds the outcome satisfying and without flaw. Emotional repression from before and after his little sister's death made him hesitant to accept his part in Ares III until he met Computer Specialist Logan Locke, who also dealt with emotional repression. The two instantly bonded due to being different from the rest of the team as well as their inexplicable ability to fall into intensely deep existential crises.

Appearance: Virgil is a 5' 6" pale, thin man. He is healthily thin despite eating a lot [his fast metabolism runs in the family]. Virgil's hair was dyed crow-black before being selected for Ares III but is naturally brown in a Faux hawk style. Virgil usually has short stubble lining the bottom half of his face, never letting it grow longer than 1-2.5 millimeters long. Virgil regularly applies eye shadow around his eyes, earning him the nickname Plant Raccoon from Remus. AsheFord can always be seen wearing dark if-not-black clothing, unless in his NASA jumpsuit or his Ares III Mars EVA suit [he hates that it's mainly white and orange]. Virgil also wears many different types of boots, specifically requesting some from NASA for the Ares III trip to Mars. he takes extra time to make sure they are neat, clean, and shiny each morning, something he now does with Logan.

[Deceit] February 3rd, 1996, 39, D. [Dain] Dechard- The last member to join the Ares III crew, yet welcomed with open arms. Dechard often says little white lies to the crew and others around him to rile them up when he's bored and wants some action. He has a severe disliking towards his first name, so he tells people to call him Dain. The crew is always theorizing what his real name is. Dain was first brought into NASA by his father, a Rocket Engineer, and was immediately interesting in becoming an EVA Specialist so he could travel into space for Ares III. Before specializing in EVA, Dain had been a NASA Mathematician with an associate's degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D. in Mathematics. From the age of 18 to 34, Dain was in College constantly to earn these degrees and never gained any friends because of it. Dain promised before leaving for the Ares III, that he’d keep in contact with his 9-year-old niece.

Appearance: Dain is a 6' 4" lean [ripped] gym rat. He's got slicked back ink-black hair with lines of grey coming in at his temples due to years of work and school. The back of his head is riddled with curls coming from the ends of strands. Sporting a lighter coal-black Van Dyke goatee [and quite proud of it too] he also has scars riddled across the side of his face from chin to forehead. More scars can be found throughout his body in an inconsistent pattern but suspiciously only on the right side of him. Dain's eyes are dark green and he tends to wear joggers and shorts along with skin-tight shirts. While his gym buddy has an ugly sense of fashion, Dain has no fashion sense whatsoever.

----------

Not-the-boys cast:

The administrator of NASA: Teddy [Theodore] Sanders [No relation to Commander Thomas Sanders]

Director of NASA Media Relations: Annie Montrose

Director of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Bruce Ng

Head of Mars Operations: Venkat Kapoor

Flight Director for Ares III: Mitch Henderson

NASA Analyst/Satellite Coverage: Mindy Park

Physicist: Rich Purnell

--------

TAG LIST

@ladylokilove

@girl-of-1000-fandoms

@thatswhat24

@ifrickenhatedeverythingaboutthis

@ahoskarose-76

@marshmallowmischief

@notyourbeesknees

@awkward-child-of-satan

@sanderssidesbuddybois

Feel free to request to be on the tag list and send asks about something you’re curious about within the story! Your asks will strive to be the main drive for the story!

[getbook]

What is MBBS?

MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) course is 5.5 years college degree with 4.5 years obviously study and 1 year of obligatory entry level position in different fields of medication. The course is partitioned into 9 semesters in which one will increase a diagram of different MBBS subjects like life systems, pediatrics, natural chemistry, and numerous different subjects during the entire course.To make sure about affirmation in this course, one must have a base score of half or above in 10+2 in science subjects with English as an obligatory subject. Admissions to this course can be acquired based on placement tests score like NEET and others.

MBBS expenses change contingent upon government and private universities. With normal MBBS course charges running from INR 10,000 to INR 6 Lakhs, one can seek after this degree from top universities like AIIMS, Christian Medical College, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, and so forth. There are a lot of occupation profiles accessible subsequent to seeking after this MBBS course in the friendliness and drug divisions. One can likewise go for advanced education or PG/Doctorate courses like Master of Science (MS) course or Doctorate in Medicine (MD) course check here.

Do I qualify MBBS Eligibility models?

Following are the basic qualification prerequisites to be satisfied by the understudies so as to pick up MBBS affirmation:

Competitors probably passed their 10+2 degree of degree with half from any perceived board in science subjects like Physics, Chemistry, and Zoology/Botany with English as the fundamental subject for their passing assessment.Up-and-comers probably finished the age of 17 years before looking for admission to the MBBS course.Applicants need to fit the bill for the necessary selection test for MBBS affirmations. Understudies having a place from the held class must have a base level of 40%.All the understudies should satisfy the extra qualification conditions referenced by the administrative experts for MBBS for example Clinical Council of India (MCI).

MBBS Admission Process

What is the MBBS Admission Process?

So as to make sure about an affirmation in any of the top universities offering MBBS in India, one needs to clear the NEET assessment with an incredible score. NEET is led by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Enlistment for Entrance: Aspirants should enlist by signing in to the online interface, entering the individual subtleties like candidate name, date of birth, versatile number, email ID, and so on.Structure Filling and Documents Upload: Once the enrollment is done, up-and-comers need to fill the application structure online by giving individual and scholarly subtleties. Post effectively filling the structure, one should transfer all the archives required.Installment of NEET Application Fee: One should pay the application expense at the extremely next stage after effectively topping the structure off.Concede Card: Based on the record of subtleties submitted, concede cards will be given to the qualified up-and-comers.Placement tests: First, competitors need to show up for the selection tests and qualify the passage with a decent score, so they can rank in the legitimacy list.Directing: The chose applicants will be welcomed for the advising meeting dependent on the understudy's position. Up-and-comers need to choose their preferred school from the universities offered to them dependent on the rank they hold. When they have selected their favored school, they have to introduce the records specialists have requested.

What are the top MBBS Entrance Exams?

So as to get an affirmed MBBS affirmation, NEET is considered as the most critical assessment by the hopefuls. Consistently, in excess of 15 lakhs understudies show up for this test. According to the Supreme Court of India, it is obligatory for clinical understudies to clear NEET.

NEET assessment includes 3 areas: Physics, Biology, and Chemistry. The test includes 180 inquiries, in which for each right answer you will be allocated with 4 imprints though, for each off base answer 1mark will be deducted. It is a MCQ based paper.

What after MBBS?

MBBS graduates are exceptionally moved in the social insurance division. Openings for work for MBBS graduates are in both private and government divisions. A lot of occupations are accessible for these experts in the field of Biomedical Companies, Health Centers, Hospitals, Laboratories, Nursing Homes, Polyclinics, Private Practice, and so forth.

With open positions like Anesthetist, Cardiologist, and then some, the top enrollment specialists of MBBS applicants are Medanta Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, Apollo Munich Health Industries Co Ltd, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Cipla Ltd, and so forth.MBBS Abroad alumni are additionally in an immense interest nowadays. Seeking after this course from outside India costs more than concentrating in India. The qualification models for affirmation, the selection test, normal expenses, archives required, and different boundaries change when you study MBBS Abroad. While making sure about confirmation in Abroad in this course, one must need to clear the nation level test and language test.MBBS is a degree after which one can either seek after work in any of the above divisions or can decide to concentrate further. There are various advanced education courses accessible after this course consummation. In the event that you want to get spent significant time in a specific sort of subject, at that point you can go for bosses and doctorate degrees.

Ace of Surgery: After effectively finishing MBBS, one can go with a Master of Surgery. There are adequate specializations to seek after medical procedure courses like Ophthalmology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and some more. Seeking after an ace of medical procedure degree would make one a specialist in a particular subject of medication.Doctorate of Medicine: MD (Doctor of Medicine) is one of the mainstream courses as it is selected by countless understudies in the wake of getting their Study mbbs in china degree. Beginning from General Medicine, Pathology, Physiology, to Anatomy, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, and that's only the tip of the iceberg, there are different specializations to go with.Qualifying with a MBBS degree is itself a matter of honor, however seeking after any of the previously mentioned courses further would improve one's notoriety more. This would likewise offer acknowledgment for a lifetime and one can appreciate an incredible ascent in their yearly compensation.

[planningthemedlife]

Thoughts on applying for medicine in Australia

Hi all! So as a few of you may know, I’ve recently finished my first year of uni :) I am currently doing a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, but I have provisional entry into my university’s MD program, which means that as soon as my bachelors is over, I’ll be engorged in the med life :) But that’s a long way away for now...

I live in Australia, and for most of my life, I had always thought that I would have a really chill high school and university life...but all that changed when I thought about applying for medicine. As someone who has wanted to study medicine ever since grade 9, I knew that I was going to do whatever it took to get into a medicine course, and that I had to maximise my opportunity by applying to literally every Australian university which offered medicine (both as an undergraduate and postgraduate degree). I worked hard throughout my final year of high school, and honestly, it was a really tough period in my life, trying to balance my academics with UMAT preparation and my social life.

What I want to say is, if you are planning on applying for medicine, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons, and make sure you are really passionate about it. Medicine is one of those degrees which requires so much from their applicants and trying to achieve all those grades can really take a toll on students. About 1/5 of my cohort at school applied for medicine last year, but from what I know, only about 10 of us made it in (many of whom were accepted by universities out-of-state). Remember that your final year of high school is vital for university applications, but also keep in mind that it is your final year at a place that has looked after you for the past 6 years. You’ll most likely be moving away, or going down a different path to your friends, and so it is important not to get too wrapped up in your academics, and make the most of the time you have remaining with your friends.

A lot of my friends from NSW have completed their HSC exams now, and I’ve been hearing a lot of great achievements from this year’s cohort. For all those applying for medicine, interview season will be approaching soon. Try not to get too nervous, and whilst some sort of preparation is always recommended, don’t go into your interviews with pre-prepared answers. Have fun, answer the questions truthfully, and their interviewers will be able to see your passion shine through naturally. Again, I reiterate the fact that if you are really passionate about medicine, and moving inter-state is a viable option for you, I strongly recommend you apply to every university that offers med (both under and post-grad). It will maximise your opportunity to get an interview offer, and hopefully, be accepted into a medical program. Also, different uni’s have different requirements for students, so if you haven’t achieved as high as you hoped for your UMAT/ATAR, don’t give up! Also, I recommend everyone to accept Bonded positions. Bonded places are given to students who have almost met the requirements of the medical program’s admission, but have missed out on just a couple of marks. Admission is given to these students in return for their service in a place of workplace shortage (usually rural or remote areas around Australia). Return of service is usually 12 months, and honestly, it’s just another mode of gaining experience. Working in rural/remote clinics is an amazing experience for junior doctors as those institutions usually only have a couple of specialists/senior doctors on hand, and so as junior doctors, you will be required to step in and practice your medical and clinical skills more often than if you were working at a larger, busier metropolitan hospital. It’s a great experience, and it increases the chances of you getting accepted, so you guys should definitely make the most of this amazing deal! For those who are accepted, CONGRATS! Honestly, medicine is a long path, and the next 5-7 years are going to be hard, but as long as you stay optimistic and focused, you’ll go a long way. For those who aren’t accepted, don’t be too upset. Some of my friends took a GAP year this year, and re-sat the UMAT. Some went into a Biomedical/Medical Sciences Bachelor’s program and are planning on either transferring their credits to medicine, or are going to sit the GAMSAT and apply through a post-graduate pathway. Either way, just because you aren’t accepted into medicine immediately after graduation, there are so many different pathways into medicine. Yes, it may take a bit longer, but a couple of extra years is equivalent to nothing compared to your lifespan, and those years are worth it if you are really interested in medicine :) But anyways, guys I wish you all the best in your medical journey, and remember, life gives us so many opportunities, so if things don’t work out now, just work hard, try again, and you’ll be rewarded.

<3

[scienceblogtumbler]

Face mask aims to deactivate virus to protect others

In the pandemic, people wear face masks to respect and protect others — not merely to protect themselves, says a team of Northwestern University researchers.

With this in mind, the researchers developed a new concept for a mask that aims to make the wearer less infectious. The central idea, which received support from the National Science Foundation through a RAPID grant, is to modify mask fabrics with anti-viral chemicals that can sanitize exhaled, escaped respiratory droplets.

By simulating inhalation, exhalation, coughs and sneezes in the laboratory, the researchers found that non-woven fabrics used in most masks work well to demonstrate the concept. A lint-free wipe with just 19% fiber density, for example, sanitized up to 82% of escaped respiratory droplets by volume. Such fabrics do not make breathing more difficult, and the on-mask chemicals did not detach during simulated inhalation experiments.

The research was published today (Oct. 29) in the journal Matter.

Importance of protecting others

“Masks are perhaps the most important component of the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to fight a pandemic,” said Northwestern’s Jiaxing Huang, who led the study. “We quickly realized that a mask not only protects the person wearing it, but much more importantly, it protects others from being exposed to the droplets (and germs) released by the wearer.

“There seems to be quite some confusion about mask wearing, as some people don’t think they need personal protection,” Huang added. “Perhaps we should call it public health equipment (PHE) instead of PPE.”

Huang is a professor of materials science and engineering in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Graduate student Haiyue Huang and postdoctoral fellow Hun Park, both members of Huang’s laboratory, are co-first authors of the paper.

“Where there is an outbreak of infectious respiratory disease, controlling the source is most effective in preventing viral spread,” said Haiyue Huang, a 2020 Ryan Fellowship Awardee. “After they leave the source, respiratory droplets become more diffuse and more difficult to control.”

The goal and results

Although masks can block or reroute exhaled respiratory droplets, many droplets (and their embedded viruses) still escape. From there, virus-laden droplets can infect another person directly or land on surfaces to indirectly infect others. Huang’s team aimed to chemically alter the escape droplets to make the viruses inactivate more quickly.

To accomplish this, Huang sought to design a mask fabric that: (1) Would not make breathing more difficult, (2) Can load molecular anti-viral agents such as acid and metal ions that can readily dissolve in escaped droplets, and (3) Do not contain volatile chemicals or easily detachable materials that could be inhaled by the wearer.

82%New design sanitizes up to 82% of droplets

After performing multiple experiments, Huang and his team selected two well-known antiviral chemicals: phosphoric acid and copper salt. These non-volatile chemicals were appealing because neither can be vaporized and then potentially inhaled. And both create a local chemical environment that is unfavorable for viruses.

“Virus structures are actually very delicate and ‘brittle,’” Huang said. “If any part of the virus malfunctions, then it loses the ability to infect.”

Huang’s team grew a layer of a conducting polymer polyaniline on the surface of the mask fabric fibers. The material adheres strongly to the fibers, acting as reservoirs for acid and copper salts. The researchers found that even loose fabrics with low-fiber packing densities of about 11%, such as medical gauze, still altered 28% of exhaled respiratory droplets by volume. For tighter fabrics, such as lint-free wipes (the type of fabrics typically used in the lab for cleaning), 82% of respiratory droplets were modified.

Working through shutdown

Huang’s team scrambled to assemble resources to start this new line of research, right before Northwestern entered the “essential-only” state. Several team members received “essential” designation to work throughout Illinois’ “Stay-at-Home” order.

“As an adviser, I must admit that I did not see all the technical challenges coming,” Huang said. “But I am very pleased that my team members have exhibited amazing drive and creativity to tackle those difficulties and get the work done.”

One unexpected difficulty was how to measure and quantify the degree of chemical modification of escaped droplets. “For acid-modified droplets, I thought we could do this simply by collecting them on a pH paper and seeing the color changes of the landed droplets,” Huang said. “I insisted that Haiyue and Hun should try this first, and only to realize that it wasted a few weeks of their time.”

Park noted yet another problem: “The droplets tend to spread out on pH papers, leaving barely detectable drying marks, and the pH dyes do not have enough color intensity to generate a clear contrast of the dried droplets under optical microscope. So it was very difficult to even ‘see’ the droplets, let alone determine the acid content in them.”

Then Park and Haiyue Huang realized that polyaniline — the polymer they used to coat the fabrics — is a great color indicator for acid itself as it turns from dark blue to green.

“I was laughing at myself when I found out their new idea — I should have thought about it much earlier,” Huang said. “I was even more impressed that Haiyue and Hun quickly invented a new way to make ultrasmooth and uniform polyaniline films that work perfectly as a colorimetric indictor for microscopy observation of acidic droplets.”

  Our research has become an open knowledge, and we will love to see more people joining this effort to develop tools for strengthening public health responses.”

Jiaxing Huang materials scientist

  With this breakthrough, the team was able to generate hundreds of microscopy images. Next, Yihan Liu, a master’s student in Huang’s lab joined the project remotely, working from home to develop imaging analysis algorithms to quantity how much the escaped droplets are modified.

“I was stuck home in the spring and summer anyway, so I was very glad that I can make some good use of myself to help out the project,” Liu said. “My parents were pleased to learn that I was not only safe, and also doing something meaningful. I have lived up to their support of my tuition!”

Earlier this year, Huang engaged a team of clinical and biomedical researchers overseas with frontline COVID-19 experiences to discuss his hypotheses, propose research needs and even potential solutions. Together, the researchers published their ideas the journal ACS Nano.

Huang hopes the current work provides a scientific foundation for other researchers, particularly in other parts of the world, to develop their own versions of this chemical modulation strategy and test it further with viral samples or even with patients.

“Our research has become an open knowledge, and we will love to see more people joining this effort to develop tools for strengthening public health responses,” Huang said. “The work is done nearly entirely in lab during campus shutdown. We hope to show researchers in non-biological side of science and engineering and those without many resources or connections that they can also contribute their energy and talent.”

This work was mainly supported by the National Science Foundation (RAPID DMR-2026944). Huang is a member of Northwestern’s International Institute of Nanotechnology,

source https://scienceblog.com/519347/face-mask-aims-to-deactivate-virus-to-protect-others/

[peacefulwriter88]

Space In Between - Part 1

Synopsis: You’re a grad student studying aerospace medicine that’s transferred from Berkeley to Yale with the hope of getting recruited for NASA. Christopher Beck, taking a break from visiting the SpaceX Station, is your professor. What happens when your paths cross?

Warnings: None for now

TAGS ARE OPEN

Permanent Tag List:  @gratittie

Phase 1 - Autumn Equinox

Stone meets earth as heavy sun rays beat down on the large, expansive campus. It goes unnoticed, students too busy jumping off their bikes as they bustle to classes, student groups posted on lawn space trying to recruit fresh new faces, students already over the semester lying lazily in grass, reviewing textbooks and schedules.

School season had started.

You were part of the crowd. But no longer were you a fresh faced undergrad. Those years had long passed. You were walking Yales campus as a second year grad student, transferred fresh from Berkeley pursuing your degree in a Master of Science. You were being watched by NASA, you had been informed by a professor when you decided to transfer over, and the best way to really stand out in their eyes was to go to a school that specialized in your field. You had spent the six years between your undergrad and grad school doing a small residency program and interning at NASA centers across the country and now you were ready to make that next jump before trying to snag a job. You were ready for this.

You walked slowly into the small lecture room, your close and longtime friends Mara and Hector beside you.

“I don’t believe you decided to switch over to Aerospace Medicine.” Hector says, easily finding a seat a couple of rows back from the front. You shrug as you slide in beside him, Mara taking a place on the other side of you.

“Agreed. You were all about engineering your whole time at Berkley. Lived for it.”

You dig in your bag for your notebook as they continue their battle.

“I mean, we appreciated your cute little pre-med second major. Enjoyed seeing you in class. But I thought you wanted to be more than a doctor on a space ship.” Hector remarks and you roll your eyes as you sit up, shaking your head.

“I know guys! But then I read this autobiography this past summer on this astronaut who served alongside Watney. The Mark Watney,” They groan, rolling their eyes but you ignore them and continue “And it helps to have more than one skill. I know machines. Know I can get better at mastering them but I know them. The math makes sense in my head. Bodies though…it’s fascinating the science that changes once you’re in space. I want to master that.”

Hector and Mara exchange glances at each other before Hector says,

“You are like, balls to the wall obsessed with Watney and his crew. An autobiography? That’s what you did this summer. Instead of sleep and party and do what you’re supposed to do at 28 years old. You really got to get a hobby. Or a boyfriend.”

You punch him as Mara laughs, throwing her head back.

“She needs to get laid.”

“Shut up!” you yell and she giggles loudly as the door to your classroom opens up. The classroom silences, minus Mara’s giggles and you nudge her as a tall man with brown hair walks in, a leather satchel in one hand and a thermos of coffee in another. He’s wearing dress pants and a thin dark blue sweater, the material hugging over his defined muscles. He places his items on his desk before walking to the white board, writing out Environmental Medicine on the board in messy, scrawled out letters. Your mouth drops open as he turns to the classroom, his plump lips tugging into a smile as he rubs his hands together.

“Who’s ready to learn about Environmental Medicine?”

The rest of the room groans, Hector and Mara included. This was one of the toughest courses in this field and the professor was also a killer grader. At least the sixty year old man who was supposed to teach this course.

Not Dr. Christopher Beck, the 35 year old astronaut who had completed three trips to SpaceX Station and six EVA trips.

Not the Doctor Beck that you were absolutely obsessed with and had admittedly read his two books on Biomedical and Environmental Science.

Mara catches on to the way you’re staying, still flabbergasted and she pokes you.

“Something up?” she asks in a mild whisper and your mouth is instantly finding its voice, speaking all too loud and clearly,

“What happened to Professor Grant? I thought he taught this course. He’s  infamous for it.”

Chris finds your eyes easily, a playful smirk on his face.

“Decided to go on sabbatical in Ireland. But don’t worry, I’ll be equally if not more critical on the assignments I send out.”

This has the class mumbling as you lift an eyebrow, falling back in your seat and shaking your head.

“Of course you will. You’re a highly trained, intelligent astronaut that’s made six notorious trips into space, one of those serving with the infamous Mark Watney. Of course the university replaces the man who redesigned the Environmental Sciences with the one who was able to see those sciences come to life next to the world’s leading botanist and engineering. Of course, of course, of course..”

You don’t realize how loud your words are as you ramble, pinching your eyes together as you try to get your thoughts to focus. Trying not freak out. Trying to figure if you can get a course with anyone, anyone but him.

Not because you didn’t want to learn by him. But because of the deep, fangirly attraction that you’ve developed for him over your entire university life.

The words, however, hit every student and they start to gasp and Chris shakes his head, falling back on his desk with his arms crossed.

“Well, guess the cats out of the bag. Your classmate is right, I’m Dr. Chris Beck and I will be your Environmental Science teacher. No, I will not call Watney for your personal pleasure. No, I will not detail you every lecture with the details of my travels. I’m here to teach you one thing and one thing only. How the environmental shapes the human body. On earth, in space and in Mars. Now if you don’t have any other questions or comments,” he intentionally looks at you and you blush. “Shall we begin with today’s lecture?”

The rest of the hour is torture. You can’t focus, your brain distracted as Chris moves from one end of the classroom to the other. He was actually a good lecturer. He knew how to keep the room engaged as he droned on about molecular science, a topic that was as dull as plain oatmeal. Knew how to deliver jokes in between pertinent chunks of information. No, his teaching wasn’t the problem.

He was.

The sweater was an absolute sin. It moved against his body like it was part of his skin, and the defined contoured muscles underneath strained as his hands moved animatedly in the air. His bright, cerulean eyes popped with amusement as he delivered one line to another and you had to flit them away each time you found yourself staring at them too long. His hair had grown out a bit then the photo you had seen him in from his journey, and some ends curled in natural array.

He could be the best mistake that could ever happen to you in the world. And the thought made it that much more alluring.

You didn’t write a thing down either, your pen firmly gripped around your pen as you doodled mindlessly, biting your lip. Trying to will yourself to focus. This wasn’t like you. You didn’t get tripped up on men. You focused on school and work. You focused on your dream of working for NASA and going to space.

This was going to be a problem. Then, toward the end of the lecture you perked up. He was married. Everyone knew he married his fellow shipmate Johannsen. And they had a child together. Perfect. He had a perfect little family and there was no chance of your happily ever after with him.

You were able to finish the last part of the notes, promising to get the rest from Mara as he closed his argument. You hurriedly grabbed your things, stuffing them in your bag as you walked down the steps.

He had his back turned, placing his book and notes away before he glanced up, catching your eye.

“Didn’t catch your name.”

You turn, looking at Mara and Hector and he smiles as he points toward you.

“You know who you are. The one who unveiled my secret in front of the entire class. Bet that gets around by my afternoon lecture.”

“Ahhhhh, well I just you know, I just spend way too much free time reading SpaceX Station essays.” You try to brush it off as students file past you and Hector snorts as Mara says,

“More like 28 years of her life. This girl has read everything about that station, the astronauts who have visited, all your wo-“you elbow her in the chest before smiling at Chris who raises an amused eyebrow.

“We got a uuhhhhh, study session to make it to. Gotta go. Looking forward to your class Dr. Beck.”

You tug on Mara who’s laughing hard, Hector not too far behind.

“What the hell was that about?” Mara groans, rubbing her chest and Hector chuckles shaking his head.

“I think Y/N has a crush on our professor.”

“Shut it.” You grit through your teeth and Mara looks at you astonished.

“No way dude! Isn’t he married?”

“Yes! I don’t have a crush on him, just don’t want him knowing how I spend my goddamn free time okay. Let’s drop it and catch lunch.”

There silent before Mara whispers, a smile on her face.

“It’s literally 10 in the morning…”

“Whatever!” You huff, storming off without them. You had to get your shit together. For your sake.

[aaltohelsinki]

Aalto-Helsinki 2020 is here, come meet us!

The time has come for Aalto-Helsinki 2020 to finally take over the blog! Despite the COVID-19 situation, we have been busy with planning our project since February. We have brainstormed, read countless scientific articles, contacted experts and companies and had a lot of online meetings. 

 Now let us introduce ourselves:

Tytti

I did my Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering and decided to continue with Biotechnology to the Master’s studies. What fascinates me the most about biotechnology is that we can study and engineer the tiniest components of life and at the same time do industrial scale production with them. I applied to iGEM because I’m very interested in entrepreneurship and this project mimics all the different elements that are needed to develop a business. Apart from science, my favourite things in life are playing the guitar, spending time in nature and enjoying tea.

An adventurous trip you have been on? My most recent adventurous trip was to Norway because I had always wanted to visit the Arctic Ocean. There was this fishing boat where some Finnish guy had designed a sauna among other unusual things. After warming up in that sauna, I jumped from the deck to the ice-cold water. It was cool to actually experience the Arctic Ocean fully!

Your most extraordinary skill? Making perfectly thin “muurikka” crepes

What is your favourite board game? Pandemic, rising tide version.

Carla

I am currently studying in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology MSc program at the University of Helsinki. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Genetics at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in Barcelona, Spain. I have always been interested in Genetics and Evolution of organisms. I believe that a lot has still to be learnt about evolution mechanisms to make insights that can be applied to healthcare and medicine. In my free time I like to exercise, I am a bouldering enthusiast and I also try to go running as much as I can. I love watching movies as well. I applied to iGEM because it seemed the perfect opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team and get to know people from different science fields. I consider myself an extroverted and curious person, so this could be the perfect opportunity to make new friends and learn from them. I thought it would also be the perfect opportunity to start a project on a topic of interest for all of us from scratch.

What is your favourite movie of all time? I don’t have a unique favorite movie, but my list of must watch movies is the following: Inception, Shutter Island, Green Book, The Good Will Hunting, The Shawshank Redemption, Jungle, Into the Wild, Mr. Nobody, Untouchable, Captain Fantastic, Interstellar, Donnie Darko, V for Vendetta and Dead Poets Society.

What kind of music do you listen to? I don’t only listen to one type of music, I like all types. Some international artists that I like are: Jonathan Wilson, John Frusciante, Steven Wilson, Eddie Vedder, Chet Faker, Gus Dapperton, Isaac Gracie, Billie Eilish, The Kooks, and Men I Trust among others. When talking about Catalan and Spanish music I usually listen to rumba, and rock, and also a bit of pop.

Your dream travel destination? My dream travel destinations would be: Iceland, Canada, Japan and Australia!

Amanda

I am studying at the Bachelor’s programme in Science in the chemistry study track at the University of Helsinki. In this year’s iGEM team I will work in the wet-lab but I am also involved with the funding, human practices and business. I applied to Aalto-Helsinki team to get the opportunity to take theory to practice and to learn a lot. In my free time I like cooking, baking, crocheting, knitting and gardening. I recently bought a greenhouse, where I will grow lots this summer!

What’s the most interesting or adventurous trip you have been on? Hard choice, but I would have to say the trip to Kenya with my family. So different and we saw a lot of animals and the whole Big Five! 

What is your favourite board game now? And as a child? I think my favorite board game now is Dixit, but as a child I think it was Kimble.

Coffee or tea? Definitely tea, preferably green or white.

Artur

I study bioinformation technology at Aalto University. My minor is computer science. My role in our iGEM team is dry-lab and during the project I will be focusing on modelling as well as wiki development. I applied to iGEM because I wanted to be a part of a student driven team project and international competition. In my free time I enjoy programming, playing video games and going to the gym. 

Your best tip to survive the quarantine? Outdoor activity, that does not require other people e.g. skateboarding and riding bicycle. Also playing video games with friends and watching tv series makes it easy.

 What is your favourite movie of all time? Definitely Interstellar. After watching this for the third time I still get chicken skin. This almost three hour movie is a perfect combination of action, sci-fi and drama. Hans Zimmer did an astonishing job on music in this movie. I still keep one of the movie's soundtrack as my wake-up alarm. It's so good!

 Who is your favourite scientist and why? Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. I remember watching his show on Discovery Channel about black holes and teleportation. He got me interested in science and that's why he is my favourite scientist.

Daria 

I am a second year master's student in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences, with focus on Molecular and Analytical Biosciences at the University of Helsinki. I have done my bachelor's in Biotechnology at the University of Silesia. I have experience in both environmental and biomedical research.

What was your favourite game to play as a child? Scavenger hunt. We lived right next to the forest, it felt good to be there for hours unsupervised. 

What’s the grossest food you ever had to eat to be polite? Bananas. My culinary nemesis. Being grossed out by them is one of my earliest childhood memories.

What was the worst haircut you ever had? Bob at the age of 13. Thanks, mum. 

Emilia

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from Tampere University and I’m now continuing my MSc (Tech) studies at Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering, major in Biotechnology. In my free time, I work out at the gym and love to cook. Also, I enjoy being outside in nature and spending time with my family and friends. I applied to iGEM because of my passion for life sciences and interest in challenging myself. I wanted to be a part of a powerful team of young professionals who share the same goal to achieve something meaningful. iGEM is a unique opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary team and carry out a research project from start to finish. In this iGEM project, my main responsibility is working in the wet-lab and obtaining funding. I will also contribute to human outreach activities and updating the team’s social media. Furthermore, I hope to learn more about bioinformatics and modeling. I have some experience in biomedical research and I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge in the field of synthetic biology during the iGEM project. In the future, I wish to work with innovations which would somehow improve the quality of life.

What is your favorite time of the day and why? I love quiet mornings. I want to enjoy my morning coffee in peace and start my day without rushing. On the other hand, I also love spectacular sunsets, especially during the summer in the Finnish archipelago.

Your dream travel destination? Iceland. I would love to get to experience its unique nature, geysers and hot springs.

Coffee or tea? Coffee, of course.

Gustav

I am currently finishing my first year of masters studies in biosystems and biomaterials engineering. I applied for iGEM since I have always been interested in cell mechanisms and the intriguing and complex principles behind these cellular-systems. In the Aalto-Helsinki team, I am primarily doing wet-lab and budgeting, which means that I’m currently mostly researching data and cell-mechanisms related to our project. I often find one hobby at a time for which I am very passionate until I get tired of it and eventually switch. Previous hobbies have included been sewing, chess and origami, but for the moment I most do horticulture. 

What is your dream travel destination? I would love to see the Socotra Island and the strange species living there.

 What makes you happy? A cup of good quality tea in the evening.

 Cats or dogs? Both??

Julia

I study Molecular Bioscience at the University of Helsinki. My part in iGEM is mainly in the wet lab, but I also take part in social media and human practises. Outside of iGEM I enjoy reading and listening to music, as well as playing video games and D&D. I applied to iGEM because I wanted to do something different and concrete with my knowledge and skills. Besides molecular biology for the last year I’ve been studying Chinese and hope to be fluent in it one day.

Most interesting trip you have been on? A couple of years ago my friends and I went on a trip to Chongqing, China. The trip was very pleasant despite none of the locals knowing English, the hole in the outer wall of the room or there being no warm water for the first couple of days. One thing led to another and we somehow ended up as models for the hostel’s website, which meant a full-blown photoshoot with free drinks and food. Afterwards the hostel owner even treated us to delicious hot pot!

Also, the baby pandas were cute.

What is your favourite book of all time? The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. The heroine of the story is refreshingly sensible, the plot innovative and the book builds an interesting world for the sequels. Would recommend to anyone who likes fantasy, paranormal, or is interested in librarians using spycraft to steal books from alternative worlds.

Coffee or tea? Most definitely tea. Jasmine tea is especially close to my heart.

Maria

I am a third-year physics student from the University of Helsinki, majoring in theoretical physics and minoring in computer science. My main motivation for applying to iGEM was to apply my science skills to a real-world problem. I’m also eager to learn how research projects work. In our project I will focus on modelling, human practices and social media. Besides science, I love languages, especially French. In my free time I enjoy ballet, board games, walks and reading.

What fictional world would you love to visit?  With all the chaos in the world currently, I’d love nothing more than to escape to Moominvalley. Moominmamma’s pancakes and a worry-free life sound really appealing. I’d also like to visit Hogwarts, I have been waiting for my letter since I was 10.

What skill would you love to master? I’d love to master flying, imagine all the freedom it would bring! However, all my attempts so far have failed. I wonder why that is.

What is your favourite board game? Probably Battlestar Galactica or Dale of Merchants.

Nata

I study Biosystems and Biomaterials Engineering in the program of Life Science Technologies at Aalto University. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology and Chemical Technology. In this journey of iGEM, I'm responsible for Human Practice activities and taking part in the wet-lab work as well. In my free time, when I'm not passionately studying life sciences or being fascinated by nature, I keep myself active with group gymnastics, friends and family. I applied to iGEM to be part of the fascinating project in the field of synthetic biology. I'm sure that we will learn precious skills of planning, team working and presenting as well as meet many wonderful people! Currently beside the iGEM, I'm working with seedlings of tomatoes and herbs that I will relocate in my glass house when it gets warmer. 

Describe your dream job: In my dream job, I would be able to utilize the field of life sciences to help people and the environment at the same time.

Your best tip to survive the quarantine? Your favourite movie of all time?

 My tip to survive this quarantine would be to spend time in nature and watch as many movies as possible. One of the movies should definitely be my all time favourite: The Intouchables.

[sending-the-message]

What would you do for your dream job? by TobiasWade

A gun on the table between us. We could both walk out alive if we wanted, but how were we supposed to trust that's what the other was thinking too?

What would you like to be when you grow up? An astronaut? A captain of industry? How about a TV producer? Well here's what you have to do: study real hard so you can get into a good college. Then keep on studying, all the way until you get your degree.

Student loans? Don't worry about it. You'll be making plenty of money in your career, so why stress about paying with your minimum wage now? Looking for a job? No problem! You're an expert in the field you've chosen. The places you want to work are going to chase after YOU to work for THEM!

Sound familiar? Yeah, well I fell for it too. Four years out of college and I haven't used my chemistry degree for anything besides mixing drinks. At first I wanted to be on the cutting edge of biomedical research, but now I'd settle for any somewhat relevant job at a pharmaceutical company. Hell, I'd even hand out drugs at the convenience store if they'd let me.

It wasn't just the money either. It was about that look my friends gave me when I solved a complex problem that flew over their heads. Or the excitement of my new class schedule, or the pride in my parent's faces when they introduced their future chemist to their friends. Science wasn't just a future plan for me: it was my identity. It's not my dream that's dying every day at the bar. It's just that every day that passes makes it that much harder to answer the question "who are you?"

Until I got an offer. The offer. The dad of a friend whose brother I knew from - doesn't matter where. It was a tech startup with real investors. No experience required, paid on-the-job training. I was going to have an office with one of those fancy little name plaques on the door. I was going to have title, and a salary, and sick days and health care and 401k and everything!

The CEO and I hit it off really well too. At first I was terrified to ask questions that might betray my inexperience, but he was easy going and seemed more interested in my personality than my qualifications. Loyalty, he stressed over and over again, that’s all he cared about. Everything else you can teach.

“We don’t expect to make any money off the new hires,” he explained, “but a good man who’s been here ten years is worth more to me than ten great men giving a year each.”

That's why the first day on the job wasn't a tour of the facilities or an analysis of our knowledge. We were going on a company team building exercise right off the bat. Big rope and obstacle course that we were supposed to help each other through, doing exercises like trust falls and listening to motivational talks. What's not to like about a field trip on your first day?

There were ten of us going taking two separate SUVs. It was a pretty long drive into the woods where the camp was, but it gave me a chance to get to know the other employees. A lot of fresh faces like myself, right out of college and desperate to prove themselves. At first I was a bit incredulous that this much money and trust was being placed in a newbie team, but the CEO told us it made sense from a long-term perspective. How are you going to have lifelong employees if you don't catch them early? And who is going to be more loyal than the guy who was given his first shot to follow his dream?

All ten of us were gathered in a cabin while the CEO gave his talk. Five tables faced the front, two to each table. You wouldn't have found better spirits on a campus that had just canceled the final exams in favor of an impromptu music festival. And the CEO just fed the fire, talking about the cutting edge research facilities with secured funding both private and government. Gene manipulation, panacea medicine, even immortality - humanity was on the tipping point into a futuristic age, and we were going to be the ones to make it happen.

"Now I hope you all understand why I value loyalty so highly," he lectured. "Before any of you have reached middle aged, pending discoveries are likely to double the average lifespan. We aren't a company, we're a family, and that's a bond for life. Now here comes the hard part."

He turned his laptop to display the draft of a news article. Five fatalities in deadly SUV accident. It was the same type of car we drove here in.

"Feelings, promises, even oaths - it's a fragile thing to build a company on that's going to last a hundred years," he said. "I like to have a little more insurance than that. So this is how we're going to play."

He walked around the room, placing a handgun on each of the five tables. Tension rippled through the room in a wave of rigid posture and fixated eyes. I chanced a glance at the person beside me - blonde girl, mid-twenties, eyes like saucers. I can't imagine her ever holding a gun in her life. What kind of screwed up team-building exercise was this? The CEO didn't say another word until all the guns were handed out, each positioned right in the center of the table.

"The rules are simple," he said, face quivering with excitement. "When I say go, the first person to shoot the other one at their table gets a job. No going easy either - I want a clean head-shot. If you just wound them, then you don't have the job yet. We're going to go one table at a time so everyone else can stay safe and avoid collateral damage."

One of the girls made a nervous giggle and rolled her eyes. I guess she didn't think he was serious, not until he snapped the gun up from her table and blasted a hole through the window. No-one made a sound after that.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" he asked the girl, bending low over the table to put his face up against hers. She shook her head vehemently. Grinning, the CEO pulled away and continued to pace the room.

"We're going to make it look like the five who died were in a car accident," he said. "Those who remain are the kind of people I want to have around. And yes, each killing will be recorded, just in case you change your mind down the road. Like I said, insurance."

"You're crazy if you think any of us are actually going to do that!" the blonde girl beside me said, her voice cracking when the CEO turned. "We'll just walk away. Find our own way home if you want to. Nobody would want to work for a company like this!"

"If you believe that; if you really believe that there aren't people in this room who are willing to do whatever it takes to make their dreams come true, then you should have nothing to fear when it's your turn. If neither of you shoots, then neither of you get the job. You can both go home."

She smiled tentatively at me, and I returned it. Good news. I got the pacifist at my table. Unless it was all an act to get the jump on me. Or she didn't trust me - a complete stranger - and decided to shoot first just to save her own skin. The smile hardened in her face. We're all educated people here. This was game theory, plain and simple. And even in university level studies, there was always going to be someone who chose to screw the other over just to be safe. Now with life on the line, that was going to be even more evident.

"We're all going to be fine then!" the blonde girl said. "Everybody agree not to shoot, okay? If no-one shoots then we pass. It's just a test."

"Table one!" The CEO bellowed. "Everyone else out of the room for your own safety. To those playing: don't move a muscle until I say go, or I'll shoot you myself. Let's move people."

Everyone except Table 1 and the CEO exited the room. Some of us plastered against the windows to peak inside, but I just pressed my back to the wall in case of stray bullets. The blonde girl wouldn't shut up. I know she meant well, but I was so stressed that it just got under my skin. We're going to be fine, she kept saying. No-one is going to shoot. They're probably just BB guns anyway. That would have still broken the window, but it won't kill -

"Go!" he shouted from inside. A gunshot. Almost simultaneously. The people at the window blanched and leaped away.

The CEO opened the door and we couldn't help but look inside. One was dead on the ground, a pool of blood spreading from his head. The other was holding the gun, violently shaking where he stood over the body.

"He moved first!" the survivor desperately shouted. "I had to! He would have shot me, I swear!"

"Table 2, you're up! Everyone else out."

The two girls looked at each other, both smiling meekly. They were holding each other's hands and exchanging promises as the rest of us went back out. Maybe they wouldn't do it. Then again, that first gunshot was still echoing in our ears: a grim reminder of the price of trust.

Another gunshot. And another, and another, and another. When the door opened again, only one of the girls was still standing. She didn't even make an excuse. She just shrugged, dropping the gun on the corpse riddled with holes.

I was the next one up. The blonde girl across from me. The gun between us. Everyone else had left the room except the CEO. He was flushed red and sweating, but there was a grin plastered on his face as he savored the moment before the game started.

"We're going to get through this," she told me for the hundredth time. "I trust you. Do you trust me?" I nodded, although of course I didn't. Not after what I had already seen. Not after what was at stake. I didn't even know if I could pull the trigger when I pointed it at her. I still didn't know what I was going to do, right up to the moment he said "Go!"

We both held our breath. I saw her finger twitch, but then she shook her head. I crossed my arms to show I wasn't going to touch it. Five seconds. Ten. Her fingers were dancing haphazard rhythms on the table. I uncrossed my arms, just in case she did go for it and I'd need a chance to react. Too late. She already had the gun, pointing it at my face.

"It's over," she said. "I've got the gun, and I'm not going to shoot. Neither of us are taking the job."

"Easy to say when you're the one with the gun. Is that what he wants too?" I started to answer, but the CEO cut me off by handing me a gun from another table. "Let's find out together."

Her finger tightened around the trigger. I already knew she wouldn't kill me for greed, but what about for self-preservation? It was a game of centimeters as I lowered my gun to the table. Relief flooded across her face. "Sorry," I told the CEO. "Game's over."

I waited until her gun lowered to shoot. Right between the eyes. The CEO's face lit up like a child on Christmas. "That-a-boy! Good long term planning. Way to keep your head. You're going to go far here."

I could feel the hatred on me as I left the cabin, but I didn't care. The ones who hated me were the ones going to end up dead anyway. Everyone else had no right. If anything, this shared ordeal was going to bind us together. Then again, I was going to work at a company where all my co-workers wouldn't hesitate to kill someone for their own gain. I guess loyalty to the CEO comes first, and trust was something we were going to have to learn over time.

Five separate games, and by the end, five dead bodies. No-one had been able to walk away. But I guess that's in the past now. I had a whole lifetime of productive work to make up for what happened. I guess I know who I really am now.

So I guess the question is: what would you do for your dream job?

[zakiyastudies]

Biomedical Science: an info post

Hi!! I've had a bunch of people in my ask recently asking about Biomedical Science (BMS), the degree I'm currently studying. So I decided to make a post of all the info I have so that anyone who's interested can refer to it 😊

I've written a lot of info so I'm gonna put it under the cut. But if you're considering studying BMS, want to explore it as an option, or you're just simply interested in it (it is a cool subject), read on!

Disclaimer: I've studied two years of BMS at Keele uni, in the UK, and will be starting my third year soon. Other countries/unis may be different, please also do specific research for your situation!! This guide is all based on my personal experience of studying BMS and my own opinions on it, please don't take it as gospel without doing your own research too.

What is BMS?

According to the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), "Biomedical scientists carry out investigations on tissue and body fluid samples and usually work in laboratories in the areas of diagnosis, screening, monitoring and research." 

BMS is the study of human tissue and other samples, mainly for diagnosing disease in people. A Biomedical Scientist will often work in a hospital, processing and studying samples taken from patients. Samples can be anything from blood and urine, to tumours removed from people during surgery.

Please note here that becoming a Biomedical Scientist is not the only job you can do with a BMS degree - there are many other options. However, the degree does focus a lot on preparing students for BMS work - see the next section for more detail on what you'll study!

Biomedical Science as a whole is split into several disciplines. Some of the key ones are:

Haematology - blood, the components of it, diseases of blood and also things carried in blood that could indicate other diseases

Histology - tissue samples like biopsies, removed tumours, etc. Often involved in detecting and monitoring cancer

Immunology - immune cells can be used to detect what illness someone is suffering from, or to detect/confirm proof of an allergic reaction. An immunologist finds immune cells in a sample and studies them to figure out what illness they're from.

Medical microbiology - this involves looking at bacteria in samples, and using it to detect infection. It often means growing bacteria from a human sample like urine or saliva, to find out what bug they've got and diagnose them so they can be treated.

As you can see, there’s a bunch of areas you can specialise in.

What does studying BMS entail?

Biomedical Science is a full-time degree with a lot of content. Examples of the areas you could cover are:

Anatomy and physiology

Genetics

Molecular structure of biological compounds

Metabolic processes

Pathology

Neurology

Health and disease

Immunology

Pharmacology

As I've said earlier, the key thing with BMS is being able to look at a human sample and try to understand what could be wrong with the person it came from. This starts with understanding how the human body functions normally - so we can then learn how it goes wrong. E.g. before you can understand a heart attack, you have to understand the heart. So we learn all about how the body functions, starting from our genetics. Once you know that, you can understand how it goes wrong. What diseases are, how they're caused, how they're fixed and most importantly, how we can identify them in a person. We cover a lot of diseases and disorders in this way - diabetes, heart problems, genetic disorders, lung problems, liver disease, allergies, and a lot of others. Ultimately, you're learning how these diseases happen and how they can be identified and cured.

Labs are also a big part of BMS - because if you take the job, you'll be working in one! Especially during the first two years of the course, you'll be in a lab 1-2 times a week learning all kinds of techniques and procedures. They'll always focus on the kind of techniques you'd use in a BMS job, like blood testing (using your own blood from your fingertip!), urine sampling, looking at cells under a microscope, growing bacterial colonies, identifying and measuring specific substances in a sample. The list goes on. More often than not the labs will consist of a several-week course of experiments, and then a scientific lab report to present what you found (that'll count toward your grade).

Basically, the learning side of BMS is a practical understanding of what you'll be doing in the job, plus lots of theory so you understand why you're doing what you do. (I hope that makes sense)

What can I do with a BMS degree?

As you might be able to tell, BMS is a job as well as a degree, so that's the most obvious route to follow with it. As I said earlier, it's split into a number of disciplines - if you take a job in it, you'll specialise in one of those areas (although you still learn about all of them at uni). If you know you want to study BMS in the future, a lot of unis offer the option to go into the workplace for a year partway through your degree and get experience in it.

Another common route is to go into a medical degree. A lot of people (like me!) study BMS because they didn't get into a medical school when they applied to uni. BMS is a great fall-back option as it teaches you a lot of similar things to medicine. If you plan on trying again for medical school after you graduate (again, like me!) it's a good course to study as it shows the medical schools that you apply to that you know your stuff, and can handle a pretty demanding course (more on that in the Pros/Cons section).

P.S.: I'm currently in the middle of applying to graduate entry medicine with my BMS degree, if anyone would like an info post on applying to medicine as a graduate, let me know and I'll gladly give the info I have!

As for other options, the great thing about BMS is that it covers so many areas, which gives you so many job possibilities. Some ideas are:

Pharmacy

Health Science

Toxicology

Research Science

Working for the Blood Transfusion Service

Working in a private lab

Health and Safety

Public Health Services (like working in office-based public health roles, or being a safety officer)

There are also the more academic jobs such as doing your Masters, PhD, etc, or going into teaching and lecturing.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a lot about some of the other options you can take with BMS, as my focus is 100% aimed at doing medicine. Please please please do your research on alternative jobs and make sure they’re possible with a BMS degree, before you set your heart on them.

Or, maybe you don’t know what kind of job you’d like - thats fine too! Most unis have great careers advisors to help with that sort of thing, BMS might be a good introduction to the different types of scientific jobs that are out there, and help you make the choice.

Pros/Cons?

All degrees are gonna have their pros and cons. The main thing is that BMS is a very rounded subject, in the sense that what you cover and what you do is very diverse. We look at aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, human biology, neuroscience, pharmacology, immunology, there's even a bit of physics thrown in there sometimes. That can be a pro or a con depending on what your personal strengths/preferences are!! Do you like studying lots of topics? Or would you prefer to have one set subject? If you're a one-track mind kind of person BMS might not be for you. That being said, even if it's outside your usual strengths, you can do it if you're dedicated!

Similarly, the way BMS is assessed, in my experience, is quite diverse. We have labs, exams, presentations, essays, scientific lab reports, computer-based assessments, comprehension assignments, the works. Most modules you study have two or three very different methods of assessment combined into a final grade - E.g. you might have to submit a report, a presentation and an exam for the same module. That, again is both a pro and a con: on the bright side, if one type of assessment is a weakness for you, it won’t be completely devastated since it’ll only be one fraction of your grade. However, definitely consider whether you're up for diverse assessment.

Also, you know those people who do like 2 or 3 days of uni a week? That won’t be you. BMS is very hands-on - lots of lectures, lots of workshops, lots of labs. It's likely to be every weekday, maybe a day off if you're lucky, and expect some long days. Again that's not necessarily a bad thing, I love my long days! But just be ready for them. Snacks are essential guys.

Is BMS hard?

This goes back to what I just said - it depends on your strengths and weaknesses. There's a lot of content in a lot of areas, and there's usually quite a few coursework deadlines and exams to revise for. But, that's pretty standard for most/all degrees!! If you enjoy science, and you're good at it, BMS will challenge you but it definitely wont be too difficult.

Is it fun?

Yes!!! Personally I love what I study, I love science and learning about so many different areas of it is perfect. It's intense at times and it keeps you busy all year, but with the right mindset (and the right friends!!!) even the long-haul library sessions can be fun. The lab experiments are ridiculously interesting, as are a lot of the coursework topics.

I hope this GIANT of a post is useful!! The IBMS website is a great resource for info on Biomedical Science, as are university info pages. Definitely try and visit some unis and get a feel for how they teach BMS, and have a read of their syllabus’. I think I’ve covered pretty much everything here but do let me know if you have any other questions or anything to add!!

[dontshootmespence]

Becoming Real: One Step At a Time

In this installment of Becoming Real, Diana, Spencer and Luke go to Georgetown to talk with the administration and counselors about Diana starting school in the fall. @coveofmemories @the-slytherin-ice-queen @cosmicjennifer @mxolh

                                                              ----

“I’m so nervous!” Diana said, practically bouncing out of her seat as she and her fathers drove to Georgetown to meet with a few members of the administration, as well as a counselor that would help her with her schedule. “I kind of wanna throw up,” she laughed. It was a fun, nervous energy, but she was still uneasy. 

Spencer understood. Luke did too, but Spencer also went to college at a young age, so he understood her situation better than most. “You’re going to do amazingly,” he reassured her as they pulled up to the University. 

After losing their way numerous times, they finally found the admissions office. “Hello,” she said demurely, “I’m Diana Alvez-Reid. I’m here to speak to a counselor and some of the administration about starting here in the fall.”

“Oh, hello honey,” the woman said. “I was told to expect the three of you. Stay here for a moment and I’ll go and get your counselor.”

After walking around the Admission’s Office aimlessly for a few minutes, the woman returned with Diana’s counselor in tow. “This is Ms. Rodrigues,” she said, introducing the two. “She’s going to be your academic counselor for the next five years. 

That seemed like such a long time, Diana thought to herself as she extended her hand to Ms. Rodrigues. As Diana walked down the hallway with the counselor toward the administrators she was supposed to meet with, Luke and Spencer followed behind both of them, allowing their daughter to take the lead. “She’s so big already,” Spencer whispered. “How the hell did that happen?”

“I have no idea,” he chuckled. “I can’t believe she’s in college already.” 

“Hello, Dr. Chemin,” Ms. Rodrigues said. “This is Diana Alvez-Reid.”

Excitedly, the administrator held out his hand. “We’re very excited to welcome such a young and accomplished student to our university.” For the next hour or so, they administrator, the counselor and Diana spoke about what her expectation were while she was here. She was supposed to handle between 12 and 15 credits a semester, as well as internships in her later years. In order for her to keep her full scholarship, she needed to maintain a 3.75, which would be difficult, but Diana assured them that she could handle it. “We’ll also need to fill out quite a bit of paperwork because we’re putting together the Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree programs although they don’t exist together.” 

Diana told them she would do whatever it took. She was excited to finally be truly challenged in her academic life. Though her high school teachers had done the best they could, it wasn’t possible for them to give her the kind of targeted work she desired. “What do you hope to pursue after Georgetown, Diana?” Dr. Chemin asked. 

“My goal is to get accepted to Johns Hopkins Medical School and pursue an MD with a specialty in pediatric surgery. I’ve always loved children and medicine is fascinating to me. It’s the one thing I can imagine being interested in for the rest of my life,” she said proudly, remembering what Michael had told her about a year before. He told her to do something that she couldn’t imagine living without - and this was it.

Dr. Chemin extended his hand out to her and she took it, thanking him profusely for accepting her to the university. She would do everything she could to make them proud. Then he went to congratulate Spencer and Luke on raising such a wonderful child. “She’s going to go places.”

“We already knew that,” Spencer said proudly. “Now, does she pick classes?”

“Yes,” Ms. Rodrigues said, walking her back down to her office. “We’re going to get started on your classes as opposed to waiting on the like everyone else...because you’re going into a specialized program. “Have you looked at our courses and what you’d like to pursue for your first semester?” Spencer and Luke chuckled behind her and she playfully hit them both. Did she? It’s all she’d done the entire week. She was obsessing over which classes she’d get to take. “I’ve looked at the undergraduate and graduate classes. If I’m taking 15 credits, can I take four bachelor’s classes and one master’s degree class?”

“That’s what I would suggest, sweetheart,” she said, sitting down at her desk and opening up the class scheduling system. She handed Diana a list of the courses and told her to make sure she picked carefully. But the end of the next hour, Diana had picked four undergraduate classes, human biology I, health promotion and disease prevention, introduction to behavioral science and introduction to genetics, as well as one graduate class, biomedical informatics.

“Sounds interesting,” Spencer muttered to his husband.

Luke scoffed. “Sounds petrifying.” He was so proud of Diana, but dammit if that didn’t sound intimidating. “But she’ll do it. She’s stronger than both of us put together.”

“True story,” Spencer said as he placed his hand on Luke’s knee. “Ready?” Diana was all done picking out classes and she was ready to go for next season. Her fathers had decided that once she got her license, or if she had a friend or two that didn’t mind driving her home in the afternoons, then they’d return to work full time. 

As she practically skipped out of the University, they told her again how proud they were of her and how astounded they were that she had grown up so fast. “Soon I’ll be driving,” she said happily. “And then I’ll dye my hair, and get a tattoo and before you know it I’ll be a world-famous, kick ass, bright blue haired doctor with cool tattoos.”

“Please don’t grow up too fast,” Luke laughed, while Spencer had a mini heart attack. “I don’t think either of us can handle that just yet. One step at a time.”

[heavyelectricity]

Nik, his friend and the stalker

10 years ago today, back when I was in my first year of university, I met one of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.

But a few months before that, I met one of my best friends. She was a final year biomedical sciences student who had come over from Greece, and a bit of an oddball - she’d watch some pretty graphic Youtube videos during her own time, and her unfamiliarity with English slang meant that one of my flatmates took great pleasure in trying to convince her that various slang terms for genitalia were in fact hairstyles. But she was my kind of oddball, and we spent a lot of time chatting together because we lived in the same flat.

My friend was not without her problems. She suffered from pretty severe depression, and because of her habit of wearing long-sleeved tops, I didn’t find out about her history of self-harm until months after I’d met her. I’ve not seen her since she returned to Greece in 2009, and we sadly lost touch at some point. I still think about her from time to time, and I hope she’s doing okay.

So a decade ago today, my friend and I got another new flatmate. At the time, he was studying for his MSc, and he’d been traded the room by the doctoral student that was living there before (no doubt because we were too loud and boisterous). He seemed to be a decent enough dude, and the remainder of the year passed without much incident - well, except for my first drunken blackout, an event which caused me to miss the Summer Ball and instead spend the night with the friend I mentioned before. She’d decided to intermit again, and needed the company.

My friend returned the next year and moved into the same building we’d been in before, while I moved off campus, but we’d still meet each other on campus and hang out. One day, we were out in a nearby village when we saw the dude who had been studying for his MSc, now going onto a PhD programme, who invited us back to his place. Nice, right?

It turns out that my friend was super pleased that I was there, because this dude had fallen pretty hard for her. I can understand that. I’d also had a big thing for her previously, but this matter was swiftly resolved - I asked her out, she said she wasn’t interested, and we carried on as friends.

But instead of my comparatively healthy approach to rejection (developing a fear of asking people out for fear of the inevitable result, if you were wondering), he started stalking her. He’d mysteriously show up at her location on campus, he began to send threatening emails, and thanks to his friendship with one of her flatmates, he could even gain easy access to her home. She told him that she didn’t want to talk to him, blocked him from social media (and later deleted accounts because of his block-dodging), and more. He didn’t stop - he threatened to “out” her as a “slut” to her flatmates (mostly for the entirely imaginary act of sleeping with me), he started to ingratiate himself with people she associated with to get to her, and it was “love” that drove him to all of this.

Despite the fact that the email threats were sent via university accounts to the university servers, the eventual report was not taken seriously by the disciplinary committee - it was written off as a personal relationship issue rather than harassment. The university’s failure to act convinced my friend that the police wouldn’t take it seriously either, and on top of the existing mental health issues, it was too much and my friend dropped out for good without finishing her degree. The stalker continued his studies and eventually gained his PhD at another institution in 2013, where he had the gall to thank my friend in the acknowledgements section of his thesis.

Why am I telling this story? Because authority figures didn’t do anything about the stalking, and the situation ended badly - yet this dude never got the concept that he was doing anything wrong. And we can be blind to our misdeeds, so let me make this very clear:

If you’re trying to get around the fact that someone has blocked you on social media by creating new accounts, you’re harassing them.

If you’re monitoring someone through their network of friends because they’ve cut you out of theirs, you’re stalking them.

If you’re promising violence against yourself or others in an attempt to influence the behaviour of someone you’re communicating with, you’re making threats.

I hope this doesn’t need to be made clear to any of my friends or followers - but if you do recognise yourself in this story, I hope that learning about the effect that stalking had on my friend’s life will cause you to reconsider your actions.

[brajeshupadhyay]

Isolated abroad during coronavirus outbreak, how some Indian students are dealing with the crisis

With universities across the globe shut down because of the coronavirus outbreak, a large number of Indian students continue to live away from family at a time they need an emotional anchor the most.

On 12 April, Indian National Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill questioned the Centre why Indian students stranded abroad are not being evacuated, while the government is in "active mode" to help foreign nationals stuck in India. "The BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) government is in 'active mode' for foreign nationals and is in 'sleep mode' for Indian students stranded abroad in this hour of global crisis," Shergill said in a statement.

Away but not 'stranded'

But a lot of the Indian students still in their dorms, private accommodations or at a relative's place, away from their immediate families, claim they are not feeling 'stranded' or 'stuck.' Some of them claim they are used to living by themselves for they left their parents' shelter years ago.

Certainly, during a global crisis like this, they admit they feel the need to be in constant touch with their parents but technology has bridged the gap. Apps like Facetime and WhatsApp video calling have allowed them and their parents to combat emotional distancing.

If given a choice, would they have taken the plunge and returned to India rather than stay away from family? Many were not in favour of doing so, at least under the circumstances they were in when they had a choice.

"I think it's much safer for everyone, including me, to stay put where they are. Going back would've put the safety of my parents, as well as (that of) potentially society, at risk, and definitely mine too. Moreover, I'm not facing any problems here so I don't see any reason for me to go back. It's just a matter of coping with living alone, and I think that's a small challenge compared to the risk I'll be putting everyone at if I went back," says Mayank Sehgal, currently pursuing MBA from HEC Paris.

Aditya Tank, who studies at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in the United States, reasons that even if he braved the risk of infected airplanes and airports, it was too late for him to escape the state quarantine. "By the time I could travel, it was already 16 March, when India had made 14-day state quarantine compulsory for anyone coming from the US. So even after going through all the hassle, I'd have to spend two weeks away from family. My parents were obviously worried but they got my decision when I explained the above point to them. So as of now, we're looking forward to the time when there are no restrictions, and I can come back without having to stay in the state quarantine."

Another hurdle that is stopping the students abroad to return to their parents' comfort is the time difference between both the countries. Since a majority of the colleges across the globe have converted the classes online (through Zoom or similar conference video calling app), they will have to wake up at odd hours in order to 'attend' the classes. "My classes and assignments are still going on so I didn't want to go back to India only to operate on a 9.5-hour time difference. It didn't make sense," says Varun Natu, currently in Pittsburgh, who believes he would barely get the time to spend quality time with parents in that case.

State intervention

Besides these technical and logical reasons, many also have the administration, either the government or the college, to blame for not acting well within time. "You know how lax the US has been about their response to the pandemic. When my parents had asked me to fly back, at that point, my university had declared the online class setting till only 6 April," says Aditya Tank. Even after the change was made subsequently to extend the online classes till the end of the semester, it was already too late to travel.

Pranati Sharma, pursuing MBA in Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, recalls the college administration initially took drastic steps to curb the spread of coronavirus, which resulted in complete chaos among the students. "We got a mail from college on the night of 15 March, giving us three days to vacate all the student accommodations under Trinity, even the private ones. However, the college sent a clarification mail a day later, allowing students to stay. This created a lot of chaos, and 90 percent of the people, including Indians, booked flights on 15 March itself for the very next day to return to India."

While Pranati chose not to travel even after the college's rather knee-jerk approach, Amishi Agrawal, studying at the University of Tokyo in Japan, has a different story to tell. "We haven't had a lockdown yet. A state of emergency was declared a few days ago but there are no rules in place. Most places are open, and you can go out if you want to. The greater challenge here is to ensure you're safe since the government isn't doing much on that front, and also the linguistic barrier. For now, we're just reading up more, and pushing for stricter rules within our dormitories."

ALSO READ: Under lockdown in Europe, Indian students go online to protest inequalities back home, keep up with academics

She explains how the lack of awareness by the state can make the pandemic even worse, if not for the information coming in from other countries. "I thought at the start that Japan was handling it very well. It turned out that was a lie as Japan was trying to conceal information because they wanted to host the Olympics (which was later pushed tentatively to 2021). Had I known the situation in Japan was so grave, I'd have definitely gone back to India then."

Even Sweden seems to be not taking the crisis as seriously despite rising cases in the country. Sarthak Prakash, currently pursuing a Master's degree in Biomedical Technology from Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden, says the lockdown is not as stringent as the one in India despite similar graphs in coronavirus infections in both the countries. "There are no restrictions at all. All the pubs and restaurants are open. The only change I'm facing is online classes and virtual group meetings. People are advised to maintain social distancing. The population of Sweden is about 10 million, and they have 10,000 cases now (by the time his input was taken). It's mostly concentrated in Stockholm so the rest of the economy is open. They (government) fear bad repercussions if the restrictions are imposed for an extended time."

Mayank, however, is grateful to the French government for its transparency in dealing with the crisis. "They're communicating with us very clearly what's happening and what's going to happen (as far as they know). The confinement has been extended till 11 May, after which things will gradually open up again. Even alcohol and cigarettes are available. We're allowed to go for a walk within 1 km radius of our residence."

Daily chores, increasing constraints

Besides the occasional long queues outside grocery stores in Paris and ordering grocery for a week in advance in Pittsburgh, regular supplies has not been the primary issue for most of the students abroad. But Taruna Venkat, currently pursuing a Master's in Science Degree (Tropical Biology and Conservation) from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, says constant delay in the lifting of lockdown will only worsen the situation for students monetarily. "I'm concerned about stretching out my savings, and avoiding asking family for money given they also require to save up. I'm also concerned about them, since they're aged and live in Mumbai, which is rapidly becoming a hotspot of the coronavirus spread."

Tasheev Bagga, enrolled in a Master's course in Fashion and Entrepreneurship at RMIT University in Melborune, Australia, still gets chills thinking about the day he realised the graveness of the epidemic. "I remember I went to a supermarket to get grocery but there was absolutely nothing there because of panic buying. All the racks you think will never be seen empty were like that. It's the basic requirement, and it wasn't available. That hit me hard when I went back home. Things are much better now."

Apart from the daily chores of cooking, clean, and buying grocery, what is keeping all the students busy are the online classes by the university and work from home for any internship or training they were employed in beside the college. Naman Jain, working as a Master's student at Max Planck Institute of Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, explains why despite the lockdown period being "an introvert-heaven," the lack of interpersonal contact is getting to his nerves now. "Research groups are incredibly important for reasons more than just academic discussions. It's getting limited because of the 'indirect-ness' over mails or video calls. The productivity isn't as much if one doesn't discuss or collaborate," he says.

He adds he did not contemplate going back since he had only two months of training left after working there for over nine months. "My parents have spent most of the time mulling I should've come back when I could. But I get their concern. They don't know it's safe around here, groceries and medical help are easily available, people are cooperative, and there aren't as less number of people on the streets as I'd expected."

Life-altering events stand altered

It is certainly not easy to withdraw when one is so close to the finishing line. Both Purushartha Singh (BSc in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University) and Aditya Tank were days away from their respective convocation ceremonies. "My parents were scheduled to come here from India, and then we had a little tour planned. But obviously now, all that has gone for a toss. After online classes, home assignments, and online exams, the university is even planning an online convocation," says Purushartha.

As strange as online convocation sounds, Aditya is hopeful his university will have a flesh-and-blood ceremony whenever the situation is completely normal. "But my visa is expiring soon so I'm planning to go back to India at the end of May, hopefully."

Representational image. Reuters

As some are busy getting to the end, others starting their journey have their own issues to deal with. Arunima Gitai, studying Counselling and Psychotherapy at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, details her struggles to find accommodation. "I landed in Perth on 29 February, and the lockdown started here in the first week of March. Everyone was already on the edge about the virus. Most of the people were wary to give rented accommodation to people, especially who had arrived in the country recently. Everyone whom I spoke to would ask me when I landed, ask me to show my travel documents, ask if I got tested, or if I had a connecting flight from China."

She adds a "sweet man" empathised with her situation and asked him to move into a rented accommodation immediately. But she confesses she had a terrible time putting up at a temporary accommodation for a week. "It was very hostile to live among aggressive people who would ask me, sometimes even in every couple of hours, when I'd move out, or who told me I should go back to India. The epidemic was bringing out the worst in people. Humans are mean, aggressive, and self-preserving by nature, and the circumstances just happen to bring that out more openly."

Logistical issues like these only tend to add to the mental and emotional toll a young person goes through, particularly in the absence of a familiar environment. But all students across the globe that this writer talked to were on the same page of not returning to India especially because of the risks in travel involved. They would end up making their 'new home' more inhabitable, and are determined to get through with the crutch of technology, creative pursuits, and by just observing nature heal itself.

Naman's hopeful words give many like him hope that the spring is not far behind. "Nature was incredibly beautiful since I came here. Nothing has changed (on that front). It's just that spring has come around, so it's more pretty out here, but nothing else."

(Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2RQkr4m

[cadborobayra]

UVic publishes its response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Notice from Julie Potter, Associate Director, Community and Government Relations, University of Victoria: 

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share with you some information on UVic’s recent response to the evolving pandemic. As you know, you can find up to date information at uvic.ca/covid-19; however, I thought I would just highlight a few pieces of information, in the event your associations finds them of interest. If you have specific questions, please do just reach out.

Emergency bursary fund for established for students: We have recently created a COVID-19 Emergency Bursary available to all students—domestic or international, undergraduate or graduate—who are experiencing emergency financial need as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found here.

Grading options for students this term: UVic is offering flexible grading options for students this term, in an effort to help ensure academic quality and support student success, as well as to alleviate stress during these challenging times. More information can be found here.

Spring 2020 convocation: The convocation ceremonies previously scheduled for June 8 to 12, 2020 have been postponed. The university is working on an alternative way for graduates to celebrate this momentous occasion. We will provide an update once the details have been confirmed.

Summer session offerings (May-August, 2020): We are working to move summer session course offerings online, allowing students to continue to progress through their degree programs.

Campus closures: The campus remains open, but in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, protect the vulnerable, protect our community and protect the health care system, UVic has closed and/or modified some services. All closures can be found here.

President Cassels extends term: Last year, President Cassels announced plans for his retirement this summer. Last week, the Chair of the Board of Governors shared that President Cassels has agreed to stay on in his role beyond his planned end date of June 30, 2020. President Cassels will provide some continuity right now and until the university is in a better position for the transition to new leadership

UVic contributing supplies and research: We are constantly trying to find ways in which we can support the community during these unprecedented times. Recently, UVic’s Engineering Department began 3D-printing parts to build face shields for frontline care workers on the island. In addition to 3D printing of supplies, projects and research areas that are addressing the COVID-19 crisis include digital technologies, biomedical and biochemistry, genome research, proteomics, nursing, law, mathematics, social sciences and exercise science.

‘The Great Indoors’ project (uvic.ca/thegreatindoors): To help ease the struggles of social isolation, we have introduced ‘The Great Indoors’ project. This is a virtual place to experience the vibrancy of UVic’s active academic community from the safety of home. Through online means we will be sharing stories and engaging content that inspires, educates and entertains. If you have ideas on content you think would be of value, do let me know.

What’s Next?: We continue to monitor the provincial, national and global situation and evolve our response as we work with other institutions, public health officials and all levels of government. We are committed to meeting the immediate needs created by this global challenge, while planning for a time when we can return to our normal work routines.

I hope you and all those you know are staying well. If there is anything we can do to support your association’s efforts please do let me know. If you have any questions either from yourself or from members of your community, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

Julie Potter 

T 250-472-5048 | C 250-661-9749 | jmpotter@uvic.ca

[devious-loki]

This may be long, so I’ll put most of it under a read more, I don’t expect any of you to read this, as this is me just having an emotional moment. But I just wanted to get it out in words. 

So I just got my end of semester results today and I passed all four of my courses, and that’s probably nothing to most people, but I’ve been bouncing around from degree to degree at university for the last SEVEN years. I’ve done some law, psychology, biomedical science, pharmacy, political science, and am now currently almost finished my law degree, and half way through my international relations. All up, that means I’ve completed 14 semesters, and not once have I passed all four of my courses. I’ve either dropped one at the last minute (after the allowed date, so it showed as a fail) or I’ve had a mental breakdown and not submitted an assignment or not shown up to an exam or something – either way, I’ve always had some form of a mental breakdown which has resulted in me failing something, sometimes when it’s really bad I’ve even failed two courses. But not once, have I ever not failed a subject, in seven years, until today. I oddly have marvel/fandom to thank for that.

I was so sure I was going to have failed at least one course, hell I was unsure about two, but I thought it’d have to be a miracle to pass all four. One of them I was going to fail, had full on accepted it, it was 3am and my assignment was due that same day at 12am, so I had less than 24 hours to do it in and I had been working on and off the day before, but I wasn’t happy with what I had written and I thought it was a pile of steaming shit. I’ve always been the type of person who would rather fail than submit something horrible, that’s been half my problem, I’ll have an assignment typed up, but I won’t like it, or I think it’s not good enough, and so instead of submitting it and getting maybe a few marks here and there, I’d rather submit nothing and fail. Warped mindset, I know. But I’d rather fail from not trying, than have tried and failed. 

So I had a decent sized mental breakdown at 3am where I was screaming, and crying, and I deleted everything I had typed in a fit of rage and told myself it was okay to fail, that I would just not submit anything, accept the fail (the assignment was worth 50%, a non submit is an automatic fail for the class, unless I like, got 50/50 on the next one lmao) and so I told myself okay, I will just fail and repeat it next year, I cried myself to sleep that night. 

I woke up at 7am, left for class at 8am, but I took my laptop with me (I never take it with me) and I thought you know what, no, I’m not going to fail. I had lectures until 3pm but I half listened to them, and half attempted to start this mess of an assignment over from scratch. There were two parts to the assignment, one was worth 30% and the other 20% I only answered the 30% question, in an absolute mess of shit I thought made no sense whatsoever, but I told myself that I just needed to get 10-15% and then try extra hard on the other 50% assignment so that I could get 50% overall (a bare minimum pass lol) anyway so I typed some shit, submitted that assignment, and was praying for 15% 

Then when results came back I had another breakdown, like imagine someone just gasping in tears and dropping their phone and wailing because that was me. I somehow managed to get 27% out of the possible 30% I was in utter shock because I thought I barely answered it and had just scrapped together some garbage, but apparently not, because I fucking did great. So I got 27% instead of the 0% I had resigned myself to accepting the night before. I passed the second assignment too, and so I passed the subject. The subject I was okay with failing, the subject that would’ve just amounted to another semester with a fail. But it wasn’t. I passed it, and I passed my three other subjects too, and to my surprise I got my first HD / High Distinction, I got a 97% in one class. The exam results that came back today state I got 50/50 for that exam. I’ve never aced an exam before, I’ve never done so fucking well before. 

And I know I need to accept some responsibility, like this was because of me, I overcame my mental illnesses, things I’ve struggled with for 10+ years. (I’m diagnosed with anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder and EDNOS) so like my brain is a fucking bag of cats at the best of times. 

But why I am posting it on this fandom blog, is because it was fandom that helped me. Specifically the marvel fandom. I was always somewhat of a fan, I’d seen a handful of the movies before and enjoyed them, but just recently I’ve full on dived in and became an obsessive fan (lmao) and as we all know, my favourite character is Loki and I was listening to my Loki playlist I created on spotify (of songs that remind me of him) and I just listened to it on repeat when I was writing my assignment, and I just kept thinking, what would Loki do, Loki wouldn’t give up, and Steve, Captain America is my favourite avenger, he wouldn’t give up because things got hard, he’d keep going and trying and I just adapted that mindset and I pushed through this mess and I came out successful. Which like, most people probably don’t need to rely on fictional characters to help them with their law degree, but as someone who just easily gives up all hope and who accepts the worst without questions asked, it was nice to have that change, that, no, that’s not what they would do, you don’t have to do that either, you can do this. 

Another thing that helped, I was scrolling through pinterest after my 3am breakdown whilst lying in bed, having already decided to fail, and I saw this photo of Loki saying this from The Dark World: 

and I don’t know, maybe it inspired me, spoke to me, who the hell knows, but it sparked whatever little part was inside of me and I am now sitting here today with my first semester transcript with no fails, and even an A and an A+ and I am just, honestly, speechless.  

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Researchers acquire floor within the race to remedy widespread parasitic an infection

http://tinyurl.com/y2scknos Members of the Dou Lab embrace (from left) Brock Thornton, Zhicheng Dou, Amy Bergmann, Christian Cochrane, Chiara Micchelli, Melanie Key, Katherine Floyd. Credit score: School of Science / Jim Melvin A college-led workforce of graduate and undergraduate researchers from Clemson College’s Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Middle (EPIC) has unveiled new findings which will assist pave the way in which to an eventual remedy for a parasitic an infection that impacts hundreds of thousands across the nation and world. Analysis led by Zhicheng Dou, an assistant professor within the School of Science’s division of organic sciences, has been printed in PLOS Pathogens, a high-profile microbiology journal. The examine titled “An ortholog of P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) performs a key function in sustaining the integrity of the endolysosomal system in Toxoplasma gondii to facilitate host invasion” focuses on the usefulness of Toxoplasma—a human pathogen with a excessive an infection price—in analyzing methods to fight different pathogens, together with malaria. Brock Thornton, a Ph.D. scholar in Dou’s lab, stated the aim of the analysis is to derive a greater understanding of what’s important for the parasite to stay infective and, finally, to search out targets for therapy. “We found that by altering one of many parasite’s organelle, particularly by disrupting a sure transporter, we have been in a position to take away the perform of the parasites with the ability to course of their invasion proteins in order that they weren’t as infective as earlier than,” Thornton stated. Dou stated about 40 million Individuals have toxoplasmosis, however few realize it as a result of it doesn’t sometimes trigger robust signs. “Most individuals have immunity robust sufficient in order that they’ll rapidly remove the preliminary acute infections, however Toxoplasma parasites can hibernate contained in the central nervous system of their hosts to maintain their continual infections,” Dou stated. “Sure teams, resembling cancer patients, HIV carriers and organ-transplant sufferers, exhibit important and even deadly signs as a result of their immunity is dramatically suppressed to regulate the infections.” At present accessible therapy for toxoplasmosis can remedy it through the acute an infection stage, however Dou stated robust unintended effects from the drug imply many sufferers are unable to finish the month-long therapy. “That is necessary,” he stated. “We now have to establish new compounds and new chemical compounds to remedy the toxoplasmosis.” However earlier than this could occur, extra data is required concerning the primary biology of Toxoplasma parasites. That is the place the workforce’s analysis is available in. It may additionally have an necessary affect on the therapy of malaria, a associated pathogen that has turn out to be immune to conventional chloroquine therapy. “Malaria parasites include an identical organelle referred to as the meals vacuole, which shows related features because the organelle investigated in our analysis article,” Dou stated. “It has a really acidic setting for meals digestion and nutrient utilization, just like the human abdomen. If we are able to discover a approach of neutralizing it, this organelle can not digest meals effectively, which is able to trigger the demise of parasites.” Dou stated that a few years in the past, folks utilized chloroquine to deal with malaria infections as a result of this primary compound can enter the meals vacuole to neutralize its acidity, additional compromising its digestive perform. Nonetheless, after years and years, this technique didn’t work anymore as a result of malaria parasites mutated one protein referred to as the chloroquine resistant transporter, which may pump out the chloroquine from the meals vacuole. “We recognized this protein within the Toxoplasma parasites,” Dou stated. “Since Toxoplasma and malaria parasites are from the identical phylum—like siblings—the Toxoplasma analysis gives hints for malaria research. Plus, Toxoplasma is simpler to tradition than malaria parasites and carries a greater genetic system for gene modification. In our analysis article, we studied the native roles of this protein.” Dou stated Thornton and the paper’s different authors performed necessary roles within the analysis. “Brock joined the lab as a grasp’s scholar,” Dou stated. “She tried to complete this examine over the last virtually two years. She did very compelling work, which I believe triggered her curiosity in pursuing a Ph.D. Typically, such high-level analysis is pushed by post-docs—not by junior graduate college students and undergrad college students. This can be a superb alternative for them to expertise actual biomedical analysis, particularly on the molecular degree. I need to present this setting for graduate and undergrad college students who plan to pursue analysis as profession objectives. These next-generation M.D./Ph.D. college students are the hope of our future biomedical analysis.” The highest row reveals a wild-type parasite, whereas the underside row reveals a mutant parasite that has been comprised, lessening its virulence. Credit score: The Dou Lab Thornton has an undergraduate diploma from Mississippi State College and spent two years in a fellowship with the Nationwide Institutes of Well being on the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana. She got here to Clemson for a grasp’s diploma in microbiology, however Dou’s mentorship made a profound affect on her profession path. “Dr. Dou was actually supportive the entire time and was encouraging me to maintain my choices open,” Thornton stated. “My first plan was to get my grasp’s diploma and go work in a lab and be accomplished with college. In the end, I spotted that getting my Ph.D. will enable me to go additional and actually accomplish what I believe will make me happy in the long term in my profession.” Amy Bergmann is the lab supervisor and likewise conducts her personal analysis. “The principle aim in all of our analysis is for potential remedies to assist save lives sooner or later,” Bergmann stated. “That is what all of us need to occur.” Katherine Floyd, a junior majoring in biochemistry and microbiology, stated that collaborating in printed analysis is just not one thing she anticipated to do on the undergraduate degree. “Working within the lab has made me undoubtedly need to do a Ph.D.,” Floyd stated. “Earlier than, I knew I used to be going to do one thing after undergrad, however I wasn’t positive how far I wished to go. I undoubtedly need to proceed doing analysis as a profession. I really feel much more ready for graduate college, and I do know I’ll prefer it as soon as I am there as a result of I am simulating as a lot as I can as an undergrad.” Thornton echoed that enthusiasm. “Undoubtedly not all grad college experiences are this manner,” she stated. “I really feel tremendous fortunate to have gotten to work in Dr. Dou’s lab and have him be so supportive, forward-moving and forward-thinking with issues like this. Getting a paper printed inside my first couple of years being right here has been extremely thrilling.” Bergmann stated Dou units the tone of the lab by his hands-on analysis and concern about those that work there. “Working on this lab, we’re a household,” she stated. “You do not see that in lots of labs, however we mainly are a household. I joke and say I am the lab mother and I handle all people, however we handle one another. That is why we’re all on this paper, as a result of we work so nicely collectively. It isn’t cutthroat. It is ‘Let me enable you’ and ‘I’ve acquired your again,’ which may be very useful whenever you’re doing work like this.” For undergraduate college students like Floyd, the work means gaining much more than what may be present in a classroom. “They’re a very powerful a part of my school expertise,” she stated. “They are surely a household.” Researchers from EPIC are making necessary discoveries towards future remedies of parasitic infections whereas cultivating an environment that challenges college students and affords them alternatives to excel past their years. Dou stated the analysis is necessary, however solely a part of the equation. “Sure, it is a good paper, but when I can change folks and alter their confidence, that is one thing I need to do,” he stated. “I used to be modified by my post-doc adviser, Dr. Vern Carruthers on the College of Michigan. I wished to enter business, get a job. However Vern modified me and made me really feel assured that I can do unbiased analysis and lead my very own analysis workforce. That is the explanation I utilized as an assistant professor at Clemson. That is what I need to do. If I can change somebody’s confidence, it has extra which means.” Hitting parasites where they hurt: New research shows promise in the fight against Toxoplasmosis Extra data: L. Brock Thornton et al, An ortholog of Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) performs a key function in sustaining the integrity of the endolysosomal system in Toxoplasma gondii to facilitate host invasion, PLOS Pathogens (2019). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007775 Offered by Clemson University Quotation: Researchers acquire floor within the race to remedy widespread parasitic an infection (2019, June 6) retrieved 7 June 2019 from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2019-06-gain-ground-widespread-parasitic-infection.html This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is supplied for data functions solely. Source link