Welcome! I'm glad you're here.

I'm currently writing this at a Philz in San Diego while working from home. After moving back to SoCal after four years in Boston, I've found the only way to replicate the hustle and bustle of the city is by spending a few hours in a crowded coffee shop. I tend to really enjoy the background noise when I'm working on a project. I've always needed little distractions to help me stay focused. I'm still not entirely sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Anyways, I started this blog on a whim because it felt silly not to share everything I have learned and am learning regarding post-grad life, research, graduate school applications, and the mental adjustment from college life to "real" life. During my first year out of college, I came across a blog by a graduate student I met briefly in college describing her experience with applying to graduate schools. I spent the better part of a day reading and re-reading her posts, hoping that I could absorb all of the advice she provided. It was comforting to hear about someone else's experience going through the same process I myself was about to embark on. Asking questions is great but it has also been made exponentially harder over the past two years because there are just not as many in-person, "organic" opportunities to interact with people. Writing an email can seem too formal, sending a text can feel too personal. But the last thing we want is for people to resort to no communication at all - I feel like a blog is a great way to get to passively know someone and their interests.

Another way I want to utilize this blog is by incorporating resources I have found helpful. This may include online learning tools for programming, free virtual conferences and journal articles, mentorship programs, scholarship opportunities, and more. I recognize one of the problems with research can be that you oftentimes need to have a mentor who provides you with inside access to these things. This is not always a very democratic process. It can also just be hard to look for these resources online when the internet is boundless and you may not be sure what sources to trust. I would like to be that 'mentor' figure for you to the best of my ability. Eventually, I would also like to add a submissions section for people to send in their own experiences, advice, questions, and more. I am just one person and chances are you won't relate to all of my experiences so I'd like to incorporate more information from people who have taken different paths than the one I am on right now.

In summary, I hope this will be a helpful tool for you, reading this. It will be a learning experience for me as I have never created a website quite like this before. I'm excited for the journey and hope you'll stick around to see it all come together :)

Talk to you soon,

Lucy