With all the useless post I posted, I forgot to mention that I actually ended up in Boston University where my senpai is. It's kind of neat that I atleast get into a PhD program and not staying in a "particular place" for another year.
So far the school has been nice and I learned that students that goes to Harvard (maybe MIT) have a much stressful life that includes a longer PhD time of about 6-7 years, unlike my school of 5-6 years graduation. Thank god that I didn't end up in a place that would make me not having a life for another 6-7 years. And I must say I got pretty lucky here too.
When I first got here, I wasn't sure when and which professors to contact with in order to get into the lab that I want to spend my 5-6 years in. There's a roomate, who is in a particularly great lab which I was hoping to get in but hadn't had the belief that I could get in (as the lab is one of the top star choices in the department). Being a pushy guy he is, he actually pushed me to email the professor ASAP, even before the school began. At first I was nervous and wasn't sure if I could even get any reponses, but guess what, I was accepted for the fact that I had a prior experience with a superresolution microscopy. What's more is the fact that I was also in his class for that semester, which is truly a coincidence. In the class I was able to show him my enthusiasm and my ability to ask questions regardless it is dumb question or not. And when I was in the lab, I did what I knew I must do to succeed in a lab. For 2.5 months I worked, I was able to make him proud of my initiative and enthusiasm in doing research in his lab. I did things my way and things worked out very well. It was though, tough as fuck because my mentors were undergraduate students who actually take their experience in the lab as a "job" and I am not sure how much enthusiasm they actually have in the project. I had to hear them complain, deal with their emotions and etc. which I find rather annoying to deal. If I get a undergrad, I know who to choose hehehehe.
But after thinking about it, how did I manage to succeed based on "my way"? How did I get this knowledge? The answer is obvious... is the lab where I used to work in. Every time I get scolded, get lectured, get flamed, and etc, I thought of ways in order to avoid the same thing from happening again. And I must say, the pain I endured for 3 years came to fruition. Though I must say, after the experience here, my old boss is quite on the negative side. If you don't ask question then she might say "oh so you know more than me? Even I have questions." If you know something is not too correct but not asking the person or telling them what you think, she would also be very mad. All these, made me into a proper researcher who knows how to ask question and speak up when something is not working well. Especially the latter part that I think helped me alot during the rotation in this new lab. Also I guess the fact that his research is definitely one of the next best thing, I am also highly motivated to work in his lab.
But even though I worked my bones off, even when I was unpaid back then, I still get contacted by the old boss just because there's a publication that my name is on. I find it rather weird. Why am I still asked to do more? Have I not done the things you asked me to do before? I didn't have weekends, holidays, heck I came during snow storm too! I remember when this first happened, like I was so scared, like driven by fear I still abide to her words even though I am across the country. Like I was also wondered, why am I still scared of her? Then do I realize that I am traumatized rather than scared. I thought I would ever got into trauma but I see that I suffered a small/minor level of trauma from her. When she speaks and calls my name, I froze and I was in fear and my mind goes scrabbled and the only thing my brain tries to tell me to do is just to say "yes," as if I am begging for my life. Comparing this to my new boss, he's is much more pragmatic and doesn't use emotion do deal with problems, which made me more relax and easier to approach him. Unlike before, I don't have to pray to all the Gods before meeting with my current professor. I know the things to do before even the meeting, which made me very ready to meet my professor whenever meeting calls. Though it is thanks to my old boss that I am very ready for PhD, I am still not happy that I get to be this in a negative way possible. I am amazed to how far I have come and those memories in Seattle... not too pleasant, but it seriously went in a blink of an eye..
Regarding my old boss, at least now I have learned better to say no to my old boss than before. And I must admit that even this minor trauma can be very devastating, and that's of course leads to how others with bigger trauma could get by in their life. They (perhaps you) are very strong and I commend you for that.
With that said, apparently the other person I used to work with, Julien, finally found another job. This time he really said he's going into another job, and also actually going for it, unlike the other times he told me. Of course now the problem is the first author of this paper is gone, what's next? I hope I don't get contacted anymore to be honest. But I do wish him luck in his future endeavor.
Now, regarding my free time. I decided to run my own group in the dungeon life I mentioned in earlier posts. The new boss has arrived and the group (not team) has segregated into the ones that are geared and not geared, the geared went together to fight off the new boss, whereas the non-geared are left. This is just the downside of not being in a proper team. I could join them, but there are people who I like to play with that are not geared at all and probably won't fit into the stronger team. with the addition that there are potential people with classes that would function in a group, I decided to form my group. My team, which is made a secret, is now 2 months old and have ~13 active people. We began from doing alot of DF on the early days, and now we are nearly full Nereid and soon to Agareth. I used my knowledge from my past groups to generate a hopefully long lasting group. I haven't seen any trouble yet, and I do hope I won't land to one anytime soon. Hope we can conquer whatever tough bosses that are coming without drama. But kind of weird to think about it. I never wanted to be a leader of this group, but now I am. And from these 2 months, I actually manage to learn to manage people and stuff. Not like this simulates 100% real life leadership, but I do say that it is a good practice since I am dealing with gamers, people who are most likely introverted and not wanting to deal with bullshit in life. This all lead to me to be more assertive, which is needed to keep this group alive.
With that said, Imma make dinner now. Menu will be Butterfish and pork slices and your ass.
Just general update
