This blog has been mainly focused on style, beauty, and lifestyle. I love that and it seems like you all do too. But, I have been getting an increasing number of questions about what I do from 9-5 (at the minimum) Monday through Friday. So, today I’m talking all about being a Ph.D. student in New York City and the steps that led me here. No worries if you never liked your mandatory biology class in undergraduate. I’m skimping on the science and giving a more bird’s eye view of my experience. So, let’s do it.
Also, in case you’re wondering about the title of this blog post. I always joke with Fran and Michelle about how I’m hanging with “my cells”. I’m referring to the model for my project and the central little guys that help us discover new things in my lab. Also, to clarify, I am on the road to a Ph.D. Call me up in five years when I finally add the three letters to the end of my name.
My Background
Academics were always my number one priority. It’s probably because I was a naturally excellent student. I love the challenge of learning something new and that has carried into my adult life too. I was always one of the “gifted” kids which has probably done more harm than good as I’ve gotten older. Truthfully, you’ll reach a point when you’re maybe average or slightly below and you’ll really wonder if your whole stint as the smart kid was a fluke.
My parents work in healthcare and engineering which meant there was high likelihood that I would be good at one or both of those fields and choose to pursue that for myself. I probably could have done engineering because I’m pretty sure I think like one [my dad and I are identical and he’s a nuclear engineer]. However, the biological aspect of medicine was simply just more interesting to me. I thrived in my chemistry classes in high school and so decided to mesh the two.
My time at UNC-Chapel Hill was incredibly difficult. While most people wild out when they get to college, I spent my first two years pretty much exclusively in the library. I mean 8-8pm every Saturday and Sunday followed by a few Netflix episodes and a good night’s sleep. Luckily, I hopped out of that depressing situation quickly, but it set me up really nicely for securing some incredible internship opportunities.
Internships
I worked in a medicinal chemistry lab while at UNC. I won’t bore you with the details on that one because it was basically chemical synthesis and extremely dry work. But, I had some incredible experiences over the summers following my sophomore and junior years of college. My first internship was working in Damian Young’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine. His lab focuses on fragment-based drug discovery and molecular mechanisms underlying pancreatic cancer progression. Houston is an incredible city and I love that I could spend a few months there. I was still deciding between doing an MD, Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. at this point and working full time in the lab was critical in my decision to not pursue an MD.
After my junior year, I landed an internship at the University of California San Diego. There I got my first taste of neuropharmacology. I worked in Rich Daneman’s lab where the focus is mainly on blood-brain barrier breakdown in neurodegenerative disease. My project investigated fibrosis as a pertinent factor in the progression of Multiple Sclerosis. Both of these opportunities gave me a chance to see how lab dynamic, school location and culture, and funding should factor in my decision when choosing a graduate school.
The Ph.D. Life
Technically, I am currently a graduate assistant and I’ll become an official Ph.D. candidate when I successfully pass my qualifying exam in 1.5-2 years. But, I am mostly interested in the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for disease progression and severity. I will probably end up working in cancer but have also toyed with the idea of working in diabetes and stem cell biology. Over the past few months, I’ve realized that the project that you work on is only a small piece of the learning pie when it comes to a Ph.D. Here they are really trying to teach us how to think, analyze, and criticize.
I only take about 7 credit hours of course work in a semester and the classes start and end at random times over the course of a traditional undergraduate semester. I maybe have 2-3 hours of class from week to week. My homework and assignments are mostly reading scientific papers and preparing discussion presentations. I don’t really have tests and my final assignments are heavily research-based and require concise writing. Overall, I’m happy with my decision and NYU is great.
This summer and fall, I’ll start applying to fellowships and maybe attend a conference! I went to ABRCMS in 2017 and it was an incredible experience. I would love to go to another one soon.
Twenty Something Problems
The beautiful thing about a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences is that I get paid a {humble} stipend and get a lot of perks that make living in the city easier. I also don’t have to pay tuition and fees which is a blessing!! That being said, I still had to adjust to life outside of the undergraduate ecosystem. I have bills, a boss to report too, money to manage, college friends to keep in contact with, and a {small} apartment to clean that I share with a roommate.
There’s a lot to balance. So far, I think I’ve done okay. I don’t think anyone is a pro right out of the gate, but I do think you get the hang of it eventually. I truly couldn’t imagine living, studying, or being anywhere else right now. Truly, life is crazy, fantastic, and fulfilling.
Hopefully, that answers some of your questions and gives you a better idea about what I’m doing during the hours that I never get to show. As much as I would love to vlog a weekday in my life; I really can’t! Are you still in college? Do you plan on going to graduate school? What fields are you interested in and have you done your own research projects?!
