Thursday, November 20, 2008

Starting to Write...

SO last weekend, I decided I needed to get a start on writing my personal statement...take a guess where I went to start that...in Harvard. Probably the most random decision of my life- I went into Boston just for a change with no specific purpose in mind, and I wandered around Harvard Square with a cup of coffee hand, and then..well, I decided why not go into Harvard, find a quiet spot and get to work. Definitely got some good work done, and it was pretty relaxing. Writing about yourself can get tedious though, which it did....so I quite after a while.

Haven't really looked at it otherwise, but I have looked at the rest of my application yay! I'll be applying to the Cambridge Gates Scholarship. Cambridge apparently has the most funds to give away so if you ever want to apply there, make sure to apply to this program- it covers all their trusts and funds through one application and all you have to do that's extra is a personal statement and a couple of write-ups about your exracurricaulars and all that jazz. I'll be applying for a Masters, so I'll have some time to write these things up, because the deadlines are later than for a PhD. SO I guess that's what Thanksgiving break is for...and here I was thinking it would be about enjoying my tofurkey (yes I know it's wrong not to eat a turkey on Thanskgiving-I'm spending it at a vegetarian house, so please don't judge)....

Friday, November 14, 2008

Talking about yourself is weird....

So I've given out reference letter forms to my three referees...hope to get them back in time. I've given them over a month to write them, which is pretty good timing I hear.

Started working on my personal statement- this is the weirdest thing I've ever had to do. Talking about myself to complete strangers, my dreams and aspirations and past experiences...yes, different from a blog because I'm talking myself up a little, trying to convince someone why I'm worth it. So I looked back at some past journal entries, essays and looked up some tips on how to write these essays. It's a step toward getting started right? I also realised my application is going to go nowhere sitting on my desk in the office I work in- so I've finally got ahold of them, looked through them and started filling them out, even though it's incredibly intimidating.

Apart from all of that, MQP is eating my life- there are so many mistakes to be made in labs, so no wonder Bio students take at least a year or more to complete their MQPs. Good thing I'll be taking off from here soon....

I definitely need to look for jobs though. I'm going to update my resume and look through JobFinder this weekend...let's jope I find something :)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

If anyone ever says to me senior year is a breeze...um, they're LYING. I've been living in lab for so long now...yes, living, becuase I might as well be...I have had barely any time for anything else. Thankfully I managed to get some research done on schools and will be getting my reference letters out to professors this week. Good thing most of those school deadlines are later for Europe and Australia...yay!
The next thing I need to work on is my personal statement...like asap. I got a lot of good suggestions from friends. One said write down your thoughts every morning or night for a few weeks, and look for the most consistent pattern. Another said just write-everything...it doesn't have to be a statement, just write about yourself and aspirations and stuff. Then narrow it down from there...pretty good ideas. Now if only I could get started on them...