Hello everyone š
Oops, another late one this week. My cells havenāt been growing properly and itās really starting to worry me because of the impeding deadline where Iām supposed to be submitting results. Ugh, weāll see what happens, but itās definitely stressinā me out a little.
Friends as Foundations
This weekend was probably one of the most self-needed breaks in a long time. I was grinding pretty hard this week on trying to finalize everything regarding my research project and also just keep up with BioDojo (which is currently accepting applications by the way). In short, life has been really busy.
On Friday, I was finally able to meet one of my long time āLinkedInā friends (I say LinkedIn because that was where I learned about her) and her super cool housemate. Truth be told, she actually runs something super similar to iAscend, an NPO focused on bridging the high school to post-secondary gap, named LEAP Canada and they are doing phenomenal things. Thatās actually the reason why Victor and I got in touch with them ā through two (or three) failed partnership proposals haha. Oh well, at least weāre friends now. The four of us spent the day exploring Toronto and getting to know each other on a more personal level, and that was really, really great.
On Saturday, (you wonāt believe this) but we had a talent show at BioDojo, where all of us (mainly nerds) put on some pretty crazy talents: we had a couple (really good) singers, a broken trumpeter (me), and a few comedy acts as well. It was super, super fun to see everyone just loosening up and being so āhumanā from the superhuman achievements that they are usually capable of achieving on a day to day basis.
Looking back on these two days, I couldnāt help but be super grateful for all of the people that I have been able to meet over the course of this pandemic. Everyone at BioDojo, and people at LEAP as well ā the many of them Iāve never had the opportunity to meet in person yet. But yet, weāve connected on so many levels.
Friends as foundations. Thatās really what I wanted to tie this story into.
Iāve never felt more busy in my life than right now. Busy as in work and extracurricular stuff, but also just a lot of things floating around in the air ā questions like what Iām going to do in two years after I graduate? What does my third year at uni look like? What is the best use of my time right now? How do I best position myself to succeed?
Not gonna lie, these thoughts can sometimes get extremely overwhelming and unnecessarily stressful. Itās really tough, especially, when there isnāt many people who can relate to you and who can actually sympathize with what you are currently going through.
Finding these group of friends ā people who work hard and play hard, people who inspire me and laugh with me ā has been absolutely life-changing in my pursuit in life. No longer am I the stressed out siloed person that I previously was, but rather someone who is able to be supported by the best friends in the world.
I really appreciate all of their genuinity, people who are authentically themselves and willing to get open and vulnerable about their successes and failures, as well as their open support and encouragement. It means the world and thatās whatās been keeping me going.
Me this Week š¤”
What I learned ā sonothermogenetics, M1/M2 macrophage characteristics with rituximab
What I did ā had to troubleshoot some cell growth, made some great memories with friends, set up a new Notion template
What Iām going to do ā touch up the protocols, clear out my paper backlog
Quote of the Week š¬
There is nothing on this earth to be more prized than true friendship ā Thomas Aquinas
Video of the Week š¬
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