First Publication (in progress)

I am in the process of writing my first publication. And guess what, I am co-author! I found out that I was going to co-author the paper during our last review meeting and I was actually pretty surprised. I was going to be happy with second author. Maybe they wanted to motivate me, though, to do a really good job on writing.

I think if I can get it accepted before March, I would be really happy. As an undergraduate, this is a pretty nice accomplishment.

But the downside is... actually writing the paper is very strenuous. It's a lot more pressure than just trying to get full marks on a lab report in class. You have to keep a lot of people in mind, like peer reviewers, your supervisor, etc. On the other hand, you want to tell a story well. All those years of English class actually did prepare me for report writing. And all those lab classes actually did prepare me for technical writing. I'm glad... otherwise I would be dying right now.

I've been sitting in front of the computer for multiple hours per day just typing reports! I can't believe how many projects I'm managing at the same time on top of the GRE and graduate school applications.

This is how I feel right now.

I've been getting on average 6 hours of sleep per night... but the average is offset by my weekend 16 hours over 2 days. I've got to find time to train for the half-marathon I'm going to run next February. Maybe I don't manage my time efficiently. I do have days where I try to spend a few hours relaxing and catching up on the latest Big Bang Theory episodes or even Glee and New Girl. Or I "chui sui" (blow water) with friends. Or I take care of my latest Sims 3 generation. Or I watch old episodes of Boy Meets World. I do that a lot. IN GENERAL, though, I always have something to do on top of labwork and sleep and studying for my regular classes. Yikes. Am I a graduate student already?

I can't wait for my piece of the delayed gratification cake. Winter break in the U.S.!

(But even then, I'll be worrying about my FYP...)

Award presentation for our postdoc at the HK Stroke
Association Charity Walk

I ♥ HKUST