So I watched The Nutty Professor the other night. That movie makes me laugh.
To anyone with knowledge of cell biology and/or genetics, the plot is completely absurd. Amazingly, I was able to get past this - which is something that cannot be said for other such films. Something else bothers me, though...
I don't know why, but it really, really fucking annoys me that at the end of the film, in the climax scene, Professor Klump/Buddy Love keeps his potion in a tissue culture flask.
I scowl and become infuriated every time I see it.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Sussing the fuck out
There is this kid I know, with a similar position as mine, and he is also going off to grad school. I will be doing my research here, and he is going elsewhere. Awesome.
I like this kid. We never really became friends or anything, but we were quite friendly. We joked, shared buffers, and I taught him how to do a few things in the lab. It was pretty cool.
However, I recently discovered that he confided in one of the post-docs with whom I am close. He said that his degree was worth more than mine, since he went to a private school and I went to a state school. His GPA, therefore, was better than me graduating magna cum laude. Also, he said that he would be better off after grad school than I would. What the fuck?
You know what? Science is hard. And yes, maybe in the lower-level courses like Biology 101, I had a few multiple choice tests. But I worked hard for the other grades. I couldn't just sleep through those classes. I got a motherfucking A in Genetics - something which very few people at my university managed to do. That was a badge of honor and shit. But apparently, that is not worth the same as an A in Genetics from a tiny ass university I have never even heard of.
This was the major problem I had with choosing a grad school. No matter what I was told, I knew that if I didn't go to a school with a big name, I would be fighting an uphill battle for the rest of my scientific career. Why choose someone from State University when there's someone from Hopkins, Harvard, or MIT applying? Who would you choose? No matter the publication record, the person with a pedigree will always have a slight edge. That's just the way it is.
I wanted to stay in this lab for many reasons. I am treated like a colleague here - not a student. My opinion of techniques and papers is valued. My work is both valued and highly trusted. The people are awesome. What more could you want? But I am staying here at the expense of a big name.
I've decided to let my work speak for itself, to do this without a big name supporting me. I know that I'm good enough, damnit. I have my eyes open. He, on the other hand, is deluded enough to think that he's going to get a paper a year in grad school.
That will be funny to me until long after I graduate.
I like this kid. We never really became friends or anything, but we were quite friendly. We joked, shared buffers, and I taught him how to do a few things in the lab. It was pretty cool.
However, I recently discovered that he confided in one of the post-docs with whom I am close. He said that his degree was worth more than mine, since he went to a private school and I went to a state school. His GPA, therefore, was better than me graduating magna cum laude. Also, he said that he would be better off after grad school than I would. What the fuck?
You know what? Science is hard. And yes, maybe in the lower-level courses like Biology 101, I had a few multiple choice tests. But I worked hard for the other grades. I couldn't just sleep through those classes. I got a motherfucking A in Genetics - something which very few people at my university managed to do. That was a badge of honor and shit. But apparently, that is not worth the same as an A in Genetics from a tiny ass university I have never even heard of.
This was the major problem I had with choosing a grad school. No matter what I was told, I knew that if I didn't go to a school with a big name, I would be fighting an uphill battle for the rest of my scientific career. Why choose someone from State University when there's someone from Hopkins, Harvard, or MIT applying? Who would you choose? No matter the publication record, the person with a pedigree will always have a slight edge. That's just the way it is.
I wanted to stay in this lab for many reasons. I am treated like a colleague here - not a student. My opinion of techniques and papers is valued. My work is both valued and highly trusted. The people are awesome. What more could you want? But I am staying here at the expense of a big name.
I've decided to let my work speak for itself, to do this without a big name supporting me. I know that I'm good enough, damnit. I have my eyes open. He, on the other hand, is deluded enough to think that he's going to get a paper a year in grad school.
That will be funny to me until long after I graduate.
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