The waiting game...

Lately, I feel like I have been playing the waiting game. This is mainly because MQP and internship. Now that I have passed in all the necessary paperwork I'm just waiting... waiting for that call that will explain my poisition to me... the one that will tell me how much I will be making over the summer.

As for MQP, I'm just waiting... waiting for the secretary to email me back with an appointment time with my advisor!! I realize she must be super busy and everything but I have sent, and re sent her same emails three times already!! gahhHh.. I don't think I like the waiting game. It makes me anxious to not know what I'm going to be doing.

Anyways, thats my story for now. What are you all upto? Waiting for anything? If you are and know how to make this waiting period not seem so terrible please be sure to comment and help me out :-D That would be wonderful.

Well there's a long weekend coming up. I'm sure gonna make the best of it. Hope you all have a great weekend too! Next week is a short one =D YAY.

Decision made!

I have finally made a decision! I know I knowww all of you are DYINGGG to know what it isss ;o) so I will no longer keep you in suspense.

I chose......... Hospital..................................................... Y.

My reasons? Welll I really liked the idea of being able to network in a new environment. Also, I liked the opportunity of exploring a new field, hence learning new things. I also decided to go with Hospital Y because maybe there I will be able to find out what other doctors did when they took years off. This way I will have an idea of what to do which will be very helpful you know?

As for MQP, I'm still trying to hash that out with my advisor.. no luck so far though :-/... Hopefully something works out.

Anyways, that's all the update I have for you guys for now soo I'll update back next time!

The latest...

Alright, soo lately I have been extremely confused as to what to do with my summer. There are quite a few options and its driving me nuts...

Option # 1: Go back to work where I worked last summer (Hospital X)
Pros - Pay will be higher, familiar people
Cons- Nothing new to learn.

Option #2: Go work at a new place, Hopital Y
Pros - New people to meet (more networking options), new material to learn.
Cons - Lower pay.

Option # 3: Work at a biotech company
Pros- A lot higher pay than my other two options, new experience (since I've never worked at one before), new people, maybe it would open up more options for a career.
Cons - doesn't add to experience for med school

Option # 4: MQP
Pros- I will get it out of the way and my senior year won't be as hectic
Cons - No $$

So... what should I do?

Bio Fair tomorrow!

Hey to all of you Bio students,

If you don't already know tomorrow is the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Career Fair. So, for those of you who did not have much success in finding companies last Career Fair go to this one!

I'm sure by now all of you already know this, but all you have to do is dress professionally, bring multiple copies of your resume and bring your ID card. If you need suggestions on what to wear to this event, go watch our "What to Wear to a Career Fair Video" at the CDC website. It has a lot of helpful tips that you may want to consider while choosing an outfit.

Good luck for tomorrow, and hope to see you there!

In the homestretch

Hey guys,

I know its crunch time since it's finals week and everything so I am going to make this super short. Basically I just wanna say good luck to you all in surviving this hectic week. Break is only 4 more days away!! =D Study hardcore for these last few days and then enjoy the break. It will be sweet. Over the break though do attempt to keep up with internship things, such as emailing contacts and what not, cuz as we all know once school's in session its really hard to focus on other things besides the classes we take.

:o)

See you all in D-term!

The aftermath...

So, the Career Fair was last Thursday and WOW it was crowded. A lot of students came. Everyone was impressed by the new swipy card thing that the CDC had going on there. It was great! It saved so much time. It was indeed a successful event.

I was among the people in the crowd with my newly updated resume =o] I managed to make a stop and give my resume to the four companies I had my eye on. The employers I encountered were very nice and most of them were very helpful. Granted there weren't really any bio positions available at this time (even for the bio companies that were there) the employers stressed on the fact that postings should be regularly checked regarding job positions. Also, emailing them regarding the positions available will be extremely helpful. This way you won't be forgotten!

So, my goal to accomplish by this coming weekend is to have emailed all the employers I spoke with. It's just going to be a thank you email with a bit of a follow up inquiry. Lets see what happens in the next few months..

Take a chance... what do you have to lose?

Hey to all you late night people who are up right now making those final changes on the resume. I am currently doing the same with mine, so no worries because you are definitely not the only one. So I have been checking on JobFinder to check on how many, and which companies are coming on campus tomorrow, and believe it or not.. there are 109! Yeahh I know... most of them are for engineers. In fact all of them, except for TWO, are coming for other majors besides Biology.

Now you are most likely wondering why I am still bothering to fix up my resume. Well, honestly, I look at it this way... even though there are only two Bio companies coming they are still two options as opposed to no option. So if I want to make myself an option for them I should go the Career Fair, that is being held tomorrow from 1pm to 5pm at Harrington Auditorium. It can't hurt. Can it? Also, if I'm the only biology major who shows up to this Bio company with my resume in hand wouldn't I have a good chance of getting a shot at an internship with them? I like to think so ;)

So yes there are ONLY two companies coming tomorrow, and yes, there is another career fair JUST for science majors, but I think it's worth it to give it a shot. Plus, look at it this way, this Summer Internship & Job Fair can be a practice run for all you bio majors out thereee. When its time for Science Career Fair, you all will be experts on how to present yourself to the employer you want to get hired by!

Opportunities and options.

So, last week I received an email that Genzyme is looking to hire students of different majors, including Bio & Biotechnology. Now, granted I have no idea of what I want to do for the summer, I decided to go for this opportunity and apply. The deadline was February 15, so I just made the deadline =D

Now, if I do get an interview and somehow do get this job, what will I do? I'm confused with my options because even though I know I do not want to go to Med School right away, I still want to do something that pertains to that field, and will help me with my personal statement and resume later on. My options for the summer right now are...

- work at a bio company
- work in a lab at Brighams and Womens
- Shadow a doctor for the entire summer...
- volunteer some place and not have an internship..

What do I do?!???

Procastination = bad habit!

Putting of important things, such as looking for an MQP, is a very bad habit. It's the type of bad habit that once you have it.. its really hard to shake off. Junior year is almost coming to an end, and if I want to get a good project and be done with it in the first half of senior year.. I should be looking right now.

I guess the thing that makes me not want to do so is.. I don't know where to start really. I want an MQP that would add to my resume for Med School. I have looked around online and have failed to find anything. The next step to take would be talk to the pre-health advisor, Jill Rulfs, and see if she has anything. I usually like to figure things out on my own and try not to go to people for help unless and until its my last option. That's another reason why I haven't been on top of things about MQP lately.. heh...

Anyways, I will definitely get going on this MQP hunt. Hopefully I will have good news about it next week!

Wish me luckkkk!! :o]

What's going on?

Hey everyone,

What have you all been upto? Did anyone take the practice MCAT or GRE test that was being offered this past weekend? How did it go? I think the MCAT tests are really mentally draining. It's pretty much awful. It did, however, give me a good idea of how brutal the test can be.

Other than the practice MCAT test, I have been thinking about my future a lot lately. Recently, I have been having second thoughts about applying for Med School right after undergraduate. I have been considering taking a year off maybe. Even though I may not be sure about what I would like to do after WPI, I do know one thing.. and that is Med School is no joke. You have to be a 100% sure about it because if you don't love it and aren't looking forward to it then it's not going to be easy. Its a HUGE time and financial committment. Anyways, I'm just thinking about my options if I do not apply. Maybe I'll work for a year or two. Or... maybe I'll find something to do in that year which will look amazing on my med school resume.. I don't know yet, but I'm happy to know I have plenty of options, and even though Med School may not be in my immediate future... it definitely will be somewhere down the road.

So in the meantime I just keep my mind and eyes open for any possiblity. =o)

Something I should be doing...

...is editing my resume. The Career Fair is coming up on Feb 18th, and there are many new things that I have accomplished since fall of '09 that need to go in my already stuffed resume. You see, updating the resume would not be a hard task if the page limit was not 1. Now that I am approaching my senior year there are a ton of things that can be put in, however, there is no space for all of it. So... here is where deciding what is best to put in becomes an issue.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets annoyed by that and has trouble deciding so here's something helpful: go to the CDC. Or you can also go to the Resume Writing workshops that are being held on the following days:

Jan 21 (today) at 6 PM in SL 115
Jan 25th at 4 Pm in HL 116.

Believe me when I say this, it will make things much easier and faster. :o]

And I'm BACKKK!

Hey everyone!

Guess who is back from IQP?? ME. IQP abroad was an phenomenal experience. I had so many first time experiences that I would not had if I had not gone out of the country. It was simply AMAZING. For those of you who got into their choice of IQP site, congrats. For those who are not going abroad for whatever reason, my advice? DO IT. It's a wonderful experience. If not IQP then go abroad for MQP =o) It will be so worth it.

Well that is all for now. Once C-term gets rolling I'll be back with a bunch of new information for all of you. Hope you all enjoyed the break and are ready for an awesome term ahead.

See ya!