Life at Midterm

The first giant hump for me in college is over.  I took my last first midterm last Thursday.  The anxiety of the tests are not over though because I am still awaiting results on two of the midterms.  It was nothing like high school midterms or finals.  In fact, nothing of college has been like high school. College has been a huge adjustment.

Leaving my friends behind and attempting to start a life out of thin air has been a very trying experience.  I love my professors and classmates for the most part.  The classes are hard and require more work than I have ever had to do, but I am learning so much here.  Its worth all of the work. The rewards and opportunities I have already found here are amazing and endless.   Everywhere you turn someone is offering help or scholarship opportunities or intership options.  Ohio State has been the right decision for me.  Everything I have needed so far, I have been able to find it somewhere here on campus.

The first week at OSU was amazing.  Welcome Week was filled with free food, free concerts, free everything, and millions of new people.  The university made every student feel like they could find a place to fit in this enormous campus.  The move in was a breeze.  I finally met my roommates in person, and they are some of the best people I have met so far on campus.  We go everywhere together and have become really close friends in such a short time.  During orientation, I was warned that I would probably not get along with my roommates and would have to set strict guidelines as to who can borrow what and when and every possible rule surrounding living quarters.  I was even told we would have to make sure to tell them not to wear our clothes without asking because it happened all the time with my orientation leaders roommates.  Needless to say, I was ready and expecting to live with three freaks that wanted to take all my stuff.  But, my roommates are not even close to freaks and never try to borrow anything of mine without asking.  That was a huge relief.

Another relief was the feel of our room.  I went to see my room about a week before move in day so I could see exactly how much room I would have.  I was, yet again, terrified because when i walked into the room it was tiny.  I told myself multiple times there was no way all my belongings and my roommates belongings were going to fit in this space.  But on move in day, i was relieved again.  Everything fit and I had so much extra room that I was able to make a second and third trip that week, to bring more clothes.  I love my room!  And, I am within a minute walk of the sand volleyball courts.  These courts have seen my roommates and I playing volleyball with random people many times of the past month.  Sports and activities are everywhere.  My roommates and I take advantage of the RPAC and the swimming pool and giant hot tub inside.  Ultimate Frisbee and football are an Oval favorite.  And, of course, sand volleyball at one or two in the morning with freezing feet is way too much fun.  I have been having a blast here.

Homework.  I have it all the time and every time I feel like i have it all done, I get another lab and another assignment and have another quiz to study for.  Time management is a necessity and I am learning how to work ahead thanks to a few friends who came to college with the skill of time management.  I am currently in the Hitchcock Lab awaiting a group to work on my FEH lab.  Homework calls.

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Close-packed pumpkins

At the Circleville Pumpkin Show

I think I spotted at least one stacking fault in this close-packed structure, too.

See, Dr. Fraser? Even though it may look as though I’m half-asleep, I have been paying attention in class this week!

We’re Off to See the Wizards

A few weeks ago I attended my first major conference as a grad student.  As per my research, I participated in the 11th International Symposium on Superalloys, an event that occurs every four years.  I was fortunate enough that I was able to attend the conference without presenting research, so I was able to actually sit and learn the entire time.  I’ve been to conferences before (I attended MS&T a few years ago), but obviously never as a grad student.  It was truly the most knowledge-filled several days of my life, and although it was draining, it was also very rewarding.

Since this was the first experience I’ve ever had with superalloys, I will admit there was a bit of a learning curve.  I read a few articles and one of the general books in preparation for the conference (the author of the book I read turned out to be the program chairperson, which was kind of neat), but still had a lot of questions.  I dutifully sat through each one of the twenty-minute presentations and took notes on the talks, pestering the closest group mate sitting next to me with questions every few minutes.  As I discussed in a previous post, I’m also very lucky in that my group mates are always more than happy to answer questions and explain things to me whenever I am at a loss (which is seemingly more often than not as I start my materials science and engineering career).  Although I was completely lost in the dialect of the field at first, by the end of the week I was throwing around “M23C” with the rest of them.

The conference itself had a very unique set up; it was held at Seven Springs Resort in Champion, PA, so we were all more or less trapped on site.  However, the conference gave us afternoons off to explore the resort.  So we all froze in the air-conditioned tundra during the morning and evening sessions, and thawed out in the glorious sunshine during the afternoons.  We played tennis, volleyball, hiked, ran, and took the alpine slide down one of the hills.  There was even an OSU-Michigan alpine slide race, with our advisor vs. the Michigan advisor.  Our advisor won the race, and we all celebrated a (hopeful) foreshadowing of this year’s OSU-Michigan football game.Perhaps my favorite part of the conference was this interaction with other attendees.  The other OSU girl and I roomed with the Michigan girls, which gave us the opportunity to get to know other students doing similar research.  We were able to interact with people from all over the world, from the universities all over the United States, to the UK, and even to China.  Also, since I just started my research, being able to meet and hold face-to-face conversations with the gentlemen I share Friday morning teleconferences with was important to me.  We also all participated in social gatherings every evening together, which provided an open forum of discussing everything from differences in culture with students from out of the States, to common research topics and our understanding of them.

I left Columbus, Ohio Sunday morning with very little understanding or connection to my field, and returned Thursday night with a much deeper understanding, and lots of different connections.  The social interactions with other people in the field provided the opportunity to make connections to bounce ideas off of, and an opportunity for open discussion about common issues.  Most importantly, I was able to interact with the wizards of the field as a first year PhD student, the people who are at the top of the Superalloys game, and are even experiencing the same problems we are facing in our research.