Views From My Desk At University.

250125

9/100 days of productivity

attended a biomedical engineering conference today! i got lots of free stuff and learned a lot. i spoke with my country's leading researchers and one is accepting students in the summer so i will be applying! if i get the position i will abandon all my other offers with no second thoughts. afterwards i finished watching arcane with a friend and went out for dinner.

241227

song of the day: where are you- 54 ultra

mostly ran errands today which took much longer than anticipated. i had to push the majority of my tasks to tomorrow. despite that my mood was great which is a win in my books. i bought a new planner for 2025 and it has already proven to be useful.

research: assigned tasks to my team. (we are a little behind schedule for our publication). sent out a few emails to the journal.

selfcare: on the last bit of a horror game i've been wanting to play for a while. i might finish it tomorrow. also did a bit of drawing but i don't expect to have much time for that as the new semester is starting.

tomorrow: buying a new notebook. after that i can get started with preparing for the new semester. key goals: make topic list, mind map, set up notes. i'm quite excited to decorate the pages with all the new stickers i got. i also plan to finish my blog article (which is due in a week).

Love at first meow

250213/16

26-29/100 days of productivity

song of the day: hypnotized- minh

i might be cheating by summarizing multiple days but i really don't have the motivation to post every day.

spent the weekend studying for my physics midterm. went to the bar and a concert over the weekend which i enjoyed immensely. also viewed an apartment which i might sign soon: i really liked it (huge modern open kitchen, washing and drying machine, quiet... what more can one ask for).

my school has called a snow day for tomorrow so now my both physics midterm and chemistry lab have been pushed to next week... same week as my calculus midterm. just amazing. and just after my biology lab last week got pushed as well.

i am currently feeling very unmotivated, evident by how i have not been posting. but i know that i have to study or my calculus mark will be worse than last semester's so tomorrow i will force myself to walk through the blizzard to study at a cafe. i am feeling quite confident about physics however i still have not fully formatted my crib sheet. so i will do that during my study breaks tomorrow.

slight vent: a lot of my classes have been getting cancelled recently and it's really frustrating because i studied for these midterms (i was even doing physics at the bars) and now my entire study plan has been thrown out the window. also online classes and meetings are just so draining. it's really miserable to be constantly freezing then trek through a meter of snow in the rare cases when i get out of the house. i can't wait for summer. my mood is only boosted by the big glass of red wine i had last night and the prospect of hot matcha tomorrow.

images: very out of tune piano in the physics building, however still beautiful. a bagel cafe study session with a friend (im going there again tomorrow). roses i bought myself on valentines. unfortunate car.

drops them in a gothic horror au

break today. a little shaken from an experience today out on the streets late at night. won’t go into much detail but I am safe now and will hopefully continue to be. had a fun lab workshop and hung out with a friend!

introduction.

now that i have begun a blog here, i shall introduce myself. admittedly i am not all that good at tech stuff... i've always stayed away from the more computational side of science, so please excuse me if i make any mistakes.

general:

i fall under the trans umbrella. i was born a woman, but i have yet to figure out who i truly wish to be. i hope i do one day, however right now i prefer he/they pronouns: she/her pronouns make me uncomfortable, yet i understand differing beliefs and have no problem if i am referred to as she/her.

i am studying to become a cardiac surgeon: i want to be skilled in surgery, specifically cardiac surgery, and travel the world to provide medical/surgical care to areas lacking access to such care, such as warzones, less developed countries, and rural areas.

i have never been officially diagnosed with anxiety nor depression, at least not on paper. many doctors and therapists have told me i have strong symptoms and i have gotten pills prescribed. you may expect posts about my mental health, as i have no one in my life to talk about them to.

my favourite animals are cats, snakes, and otters. maybe penguins. i like dark green and dark red. my favourite band is the arctic monkeys- i went to their concert last year and enjoyed it immensely.

school:

i am a pre med student pursuing a bachelor's of science in honours anatomy and cell biology. as of now, i am a first year. i am debating between a minors in medical anthropology, biomedical engineering, or if i will even do a minors at all. we shall see.

research:

my interests lay in biomedical engineering. i enjoy learning about the applications, design, and challenges of nanotechnology, specifically tissue engineering. i also enjoy learning about the designs and ideas behind medical technology, however i don't believe myself to be enough of an engineer to pursue it myself. my current project is collaborative: i co-lead a dry lab team on writing a research paper using results from our wet labs, where they are developing a biomimetic bioadhesive. truly fascinating stuff.

hobbies:

sports: badminton, swimming, figure skating, trying to get into fencing and archery

instruments: voice (soprano, alto, tenor), piano, flute, want to learn cello

art: i enjoy oil paints the most, however i am also proficient in basically all other mediums like watercolour, acrylic, charcoal, pastels... i have been challenging myself to do sculptures lately too. i prefer landscape paintings however i also sketch still life and portraits.

other: i enjoy reading and writing. i mostly read nonfiction nowadays (ex. books about fish evolution. seems boring but it is quite fascinating) however i have always held a fondness for "classics". my creative writing style is very descriptive. in every sentence i write, i wish to covey yearning and beauty. it is a shame that i do not get to practice my writing much anymore. i also enjoy baking and cooking. in the future, i want to learn how to ride a motorcycle and buy myself a batcycle (aka. a kawasaki or yamaha fully black bike. they look sick.).

language:

i speak english and mandarin chinese fluently. i am proficient in french. i wish to learn italian and spanish.

i'm not too sure how many facts to include here before i sound like a narcissist. i shall end it here. (i really want a white ball python they are so adorable).

250116

2/100 days of productivity

song of the day: me gustas tu- manu chao

very tiring day today, i regret not taking an afternoon nap. but quite productive! i came back from my 8:30 pm lab to find the power out which was quite fun. gone were my plans of crashing right on my bed and i proceeded to drag myself to the library. it is now 10:30 pm and apparently the power is back so i'll crawl up the hill back home once i finish up my chemistry notes!

research: halfway through editing my article. only one body paragraph left to rewrite.

academic: did calculus until my brain exploded. physics was very fun and the fire alarm fortunately did not go off this time. my ta for my 2 hour long calculus tutorial is not so endearingly clueless so needless to say i will not be attending calculus tutorials anymore.

self care: actually didn't do too much today and i am very very tired. but i am in surprisingly good spirits considering everything that has happened today! i really like this "library": it is actually the basement of our math building, nicknamed "the dungeon", but i love the atmosphere. photo attached below!

light academia this dark academia that; there is one real academia and it’s made of rubber dusts, papercuts on fingers, oily hair that hasn’t been washed in a week, big yawns, used up highlighters, dark eyebags, missed deadlines and piled up books

I yearn for so much.