Pursuit of a Ph.D

Well, it's about that time to start thinking of where I'll end up next after Eugene. So many factors come in to play, but what it'll ultimately come down to is:  1) Who has funding 2) Is their research something that I want to be doing? And 3) Do they want me there? 

The less important, yet still important factors include: How good their volleyball team is, if I can race bikes near/for the school, and if I feel I won't be ashamed to say where I am currently at my 10 year high school reunion. 

Now that the important factors of what I'm looking for are out there, lets spin the wheel and see which schools are standing out:

University of Texas, Austin. Dr. Phil Ivy.

Huge program, great funding, great weather, great volleyball program, great riding and in a research field I like (Exercise physiology focusing in carbohydrate metabolism, with the researcher who first backed up "carboloading" before a distance event). If I could have a #1 choice, it's most likely here. 

Penn St. University with Dr. David Proctor 

Child molestation jokes aside, Penn St. is a magnificent school with amazing funding. Focusing on aging and exercise, I could easily settle down in a new field I know relatively little about. I hear the volleyball team's ok, too.

Brown University, Dr. Chi-Ming Hai. 

Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, focusing on pulmonary and smooth muscle contraction. The good news about here? Not only do I have extensive background knowledge on the subject, but Brown "forces" you do to research rotations, so even if I'm not particularly interested in Dr. Hai's research (although I am) I could still end up in another lab that interests me more. I've also never been given a more direct "you should apply here" response from a professor than at Brown. 

Those are the top 3 currently.  Other options include (in no particular order):

CU, Boulder

UConn

Colorado State University

University of Wisconsin

Yale

Penn

University of Florida

UCLA

UNC, Chapel Hill

Science!

Letters from the Editor

Just like any standard evening, the other night I was on Gmail when a chat message from Adrian Richardson came up. It read: 

Adrian: wow

wtf

you don't even go to school anymore

and we never talk

me: well yes, because I am bussier now

Adrian: damn you  

stop it

me: what?

 
Adrian: being busy

It was about that time I realized that I'm losing touch with friends that I actually like. And no matter how busy I am, this should not happen. Sure, I can stay updated with their pictures on Facebook, but if I am to really keep in touch with those that I care about, it's going to take a solid effort. This got me thinking... how do I show that level of effort and commitment to maintain a friendship? Do I shoot them a text message? Do I poke them? Poke them in real life? Do I find their class schedules and follow them around on campus without them knowing? Well, even if I could, I still have to work during the day, so that's not even going to be a plausible option.

Wait a minute... what's the one thing that shows that you've put serious thought and effort in to something and keeps you updated with people? Handwritten letters. That should do the trick.

Naturally, I had to send Adrian one.

I felt that Blair Ryan, a UO Alumnus, was also deserving.

Now I wait. I'm in no rush, but I feel as if this should keep me updated with people I care about better than if I were to do nothing. 

So, if anyone else (regardless of location or affiliation to me) would like a handwritten letter, email me your address and you will get one. (mangum@uoregon.edu)

So it begins

I'd like to start this blog by stating one thing: I am not Dan Mahoney.

That being said, we are similar people. 

• We both race bikes
• We both love volleyball
• We are socially incompetent 
• Our cynical realism translates into humor far too politically incorrect to state here
• We like to complain about things. Especially to Time reporters.

Although there are many eerily similar traits that we share, there is a crucial difference between us; I still try. Now, this isn't to say that Dan doesn't try at anything in life (he sure as hell tries to lose weight) but it's fair to say that he doesn't try at remedial things that aren't worth his time (i.e., talking to an attractive girl for small talk purposes). I still put on a facade for people I don't necessarily get along with, still try things that I'm not necessarily comfortable doing, and still believe that somehow this is a better idea than to not try to give any effort at all.

Dan reassures me that, in time, this will pass and that I too will stop trying. But until then, I will update this blog with my minor life victories of my efforts and triumphant stories which I am sure to embellish to a point that fiction and nonfiction become a blur.

I'm off to mount my rhinoceros.