I've been pretty down lately, it being February and my midterms exams approaching. Down isn't really the word either. Neurotic and irrational might be a better way to describe it. The persistent worry that used to haunt me last semester is back, but I'm no longer able to endure it the way I once did. I might go into more detail later on, but for now I'd like to emphasize some positive developments in life.

Thursday night I spoke to T, the professor whose lab I work for. I wanted to apply for a government award, something like a grant, for a 16-week research project during the summer. I asked T if she would be my supervisor, and she said yes. My chances of getting the award aren't that high, to be fair. But T is clearly a saint, because she said I could keep doing paid work there during the summer, on the same project, even if I didn't get the award! Right, so that means I'm guaranteed a summer job :D

Then the following day, things worked out quite well on my project. My mentor H and I had been racking our brains for weeks trying to figure out what was going wrong with most of my PCR experiments. I designed a strange test, modifying a few variables here and there to see what worked. On a whim, I also tacked on a wacky reaction mixture which couldn't possibly work, but seemed like it was worth a try. Well, and to my enormous relief, it worked! It worked brilliantly and perfectly and H congratulated me on the idea. With that roadblock out of the way, the project can really get moving now :D