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Hi everyone,
I am finally starting to believe that I will actually graduate on time! YEAH! I presented and defended my Plan B last Thursday and passed! I am happy to say that it went very well. A LOT of people came to my presentation which made me pretty nervous (shaky voice, etc.) but I made it through. I really DO NOT enjoy presenting at all but thankfully I can pull through when necessary. I am a little weird and actually enjoy the question portion. I spent 7 or 8 months on this project, writing a 61 page thesis (12 pages of which were SAS codes) and read a lot of articles - I was ready to share what I'd learned! Without diving too much in, my thesis was a simulation of an HIV trial that should start enrolling this fall and my results are pretty controversial (I've pasted my abstract through the link below if you are interested). It led to some great discussions with my committee members and reminded me of why I someday want a PhD - I LOVE academic research and discussion. But right now, I'm ready to be done with school and just enjoy life. I think I've reached a new level in how much I need a break. This past weekend I did NOTHING but set up my new computer (thank you 'economic stimulus') and play old school Super Nintendo with my roommate. It was great but now I'm realizing that I can't quit working yet, with a final project due next week and a final next weekend. But trust me, after that is over, I will be sitting for a long time!

Have a great week everyone!

Continue reading "I PASSED!!!" »

Posted at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
I know many of you are graduating and looking for jobs right now. It's a little rough, but I know you can find the job for you. The Biostats department held "mock" interviews for graduating MS and PhD students to get some practice in before starting the job process. While I did not participate (I already had my job at that point), I did get some access to some of the questions they were asking and I thought that most applied to pretty much any of the public health degrees so here goes:

1. Teamwork is a critical part of our work here. Tell me about any experiences you have had working as part of an inter-disciplinary team.
2. Your resume showed that you had a Research Assistant (or Teaching Assistant) position. Describe the research projects you worked on (or classes you taught).
3. What kind of writing experience do you have?
4. I see from your resume that you are working on a master's project. Tell me about it. What is your topic?
5. Are you able to set and meet deadlines?
6. What makes you qualified for this position?
7. Do you prefer to work alone or in teams?
8. What will be the biggest obstacle for you in this position?

These are just a start, but I thought they were good questions that are relevant to our field. When I was going through the process myself I bought a few books, but you end up paging through a bunch of questions that aren't relevant. The other thing I would add that is important here is to understand and learn as much as you can about the company or organization that you are applying for and to come up with some intelligent quesitons of your own!

Good luck to everyone in the job search process - whether it is a summer internship or your "real" job after graduation, I hope you find exactly what you are looking for! Have a good weekend!

Posted at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
Sorry about the absence for a while - but I am swamped! I am convinced that it is VERY hard to actually graduate in May. This semester has been flying by and really busy and I can easily see why someone would not be able to finish their plan B thesis in time for a spring graduation. I should be on track, with my defense scheduled for May 2nd, but last week I would have sworn that I was not going to pass one of my classes. We had a take home exam and for the first few days I didn't even know where to start on it. It was bad. Thankfully I was patient - I know that sometimes my brain just needs a few days to think about math problems - and they slowly came to me (one even in the shower!) I definitely didn't rock the test, but I at least should have done well enough to pass the course, which is really all I care about at this point. As one of my friends and a another graduating student would point out "we have attitude issues" :)

Being done is another whole scary thing in its self though - the three weeks I have off sound great (though I still haven't planned anything) BUT I will be starting my "real job" the second full week fo June and that's a little overwhelming. I"m trying to prepare myself for the fact that I will have no idea what's going on for the first few months, but it's hard.

Thankfully, I have good friends and have (slowly) learned that I can't survive graduate school without taking breaks and having some fun. With all of this going on, I've still managed to see most of my friends and even read a book for fun (when it is nice outside who wants to do actual homework?) I went rollerblading yesterday which is always fun (side note: watch out for steep hills - I didn't crash but came really close!) I hope all of you that are in my position are making time for yourselves as well. And if you're not graduating yet, REALLY enjoy your summer!

Talk to you all soon!

Posted at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
Oh yeah, I'm counting again - 43 days! Only this time it sounds way too CLOSE! I have a lot of work to get done before graduation - homework for both my classes, a take home mid-term that looks evil, finishing up my thesis to get to my committee members, starting my presentation for that (I set my date for MAY 2nd!), work for my RA, and a final project for each class - a group project for Clinical Trials and an individual project for Bayesian Analysis, AND a final in Clinical Trials on May 17th. If I weren't so busy I would be really overwhelmed that I need to fit that all in the next 6 weeks!

This week I did get to have a little bit of fun though. I went to the Twins Opener on Monday! It was a lot of fun - they said it was the largest attendance in 15 years! Pretty exciting and great game - kind of went down hill the rest of the week when I wasn't there, but they will get it back! This weekend will involve mostly a lot of homework and "checking things off the list", but I do have a karate tournament to coach on Sunday and will try to have a little relaxation time in there too (hopefully). And let's be honest...I'll be "working" on homework while watching the Twins game tonight and the NCAA final four games tomorrow...probably not the worst way to do homework!

I hope you all have a great weekend. If you are working on graduating as well, good luck! I know you understand the overwhelming work load in these last few weeks!

Posted at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
Sorry it has been a while. I went to Vegas as promised over break - it was a lot of fun but not the vacation I needed (I can't believe I thought bright lights and masses of drunk people would be relaxing)! It was a really good time though and I highly recommend the trip if you haven't been there.

THEN, once I got home, I took on the DMV and became an official Minnesotan - driver's license and plates! Now I admit that I was a little delinquent in doing this (I've been a student in Minnesota for 6 years now), but being a student just seems to be the excuse of the century in terms of not doing anything you're supposed to! Anyway, so now I'm a Minnesotan!

AFTER THAT, I had to start studying for a midterm I had this week. I have really, really, really bad "senioritis" (or second year MS student -itis I guess) and really hadn't planned to study a whole lot until I looked at the study guide and realized that I would not pass if I didn't study. So, 8 hours of NCAA basketball later (which was awesome last weekend) I had finished filling out the study guide and was feeling a little better about life (at least until Monday when I realized that I needed to commit it all to memory!)

THEN it was Easter - which was a day filled with church and family and some more studying. It was a great time!

THEN it was Monday. Back to school. If I'd had time, I might have cried about it, but as soon as break was over, school became its usual graduate school nasty self and I had to turn on full steam! This week I had a midterm, a hard assignment due and a new project for my RA. To get my week started right though, I went to a concert Monday night at the Target Center. I went to Seether, Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace with my brothers and some friends and it was AMAZING! I'm not a huge concert person (particularly because I like this kind of music and the concerts tend to get a little crazy) but we had great seats which were near the stage but not part of the "mosh pit" in front of the stage. I would see them again in a heartbeat!

NOW it is Friday and the concert buzz has worn off, but at least I made it through the week. This weekend will hopefully involve a LOT of sleep, maybe a quick trip to Duluth and of course, more homework and work on my master's thesis. I think I am finally starting to be ready to be done with school. It's scary but I think it's time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
I think I'm in the same place as everyone...counting down to spring break! I decided last month that because it is my last school spring break, I need to go somewhere. My sister has the same spring break as I do (she's a junior at UW-Stout) and we are going to go to Las Vegas together for a few days. We tried to find a beach to go to, but by the time we were looking staying in a tent on the beach would have been the only option financially! I'm excited to take her to Vegas though, I have been there a few times but this will be her first time! We haven't really talked about what we're going to do but I'm sure it will be fun! We don't live that far apart, but we don't get to spend much time together, so it will be good "sister" bonding!
That being said, I need to get a lot of work done this week! I set the goal of turning a draft of my entire plan b thesis to my advisor by Friday. That sounded way more achievable BEFORE I started trying to write the discussion. But I'll keep working. I also have a few assignments due this week and an exam after spring break I would at least like to think about (or at a minimum, catch up on the reading for the class...oops!). I'll keep plugging along!
Have a great week!

Posted at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
It is now Sunday and I'm realizing that I have a little more homework than I was originally thinking. I spent the first part of my weekend unwinding from an exam I took this week - the class is pretty hard and the only words we got from the professors on Thursday was "well, we think we're going to wait to tell you about the exams, we don't want to ruin your weekends". That's encouraging!
I met up with a friend of lunch on Friday and then played bingo with a couple of other friends in Arden Hills later that night. It's the best, cheapest entertainment in town - $5 for 2 hours of dobbing and laughing and pouting because we never win. Yesterday I attended a black belt test (it's always to good to show support) and then went to Bloomington to visit my parents (who are in town for the Gopher baseball tournament, in which my brother should be pitching today!) My parents got a great deal to stay at the Water Park of America, so my other brother and sister came from Wisconsin and we enjoyed the water park for a few hours last night. It was really fun, though I'm not sure I would have paid full price for the tickets ($42!!!) - we had free tickets because of the package my parents had. Needless to say, it's now almost noon on Sunday and I haven't started any homework. AND I probably should go watch my brother play today - he's a true freshman and it's exciting that he's playing. The Gopher baseball team is definitely in a rebuilding year, they lost a bunch of seniors last year, but hopefully the young team can hold their own!
Ok, I enough procrastinating, I need to start my homework! I hope you all had a great weekend, talk to you soon!

Posted at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, I didn't have the plague, but I was really, really sick for a while. I'm not sure exactly what was going around (I finally went into urgent care last Sunday and was given antibiotics and other stuff for bronchitis), but it was by far the worst cold/flu/infection I've had in years! I hope none of you got it! So, needless to say, it kind of put a damper on my fun plans for last weekend. But, I did manage to get out of bed long enough to go to Rossi's Blue Star, an upscale restaurant/JAZZ CLUB in downtown Minneapolis for a friend's birthday. They have live music almost every night and it's a great atmosphere. It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it, even though I was sick. The music and food were great (be prepared for a cover charge though - for Saturday it was $10, regardless if you ordered food and drinks). If you are looking to have a great night out without care for money, I highly recommend it!
I also met with my thesis/plan B advisor this week and the ball is definitely rolling on my project. I've written up the literature review and methods and should (hopefully) have some results after this weekend! While I'm definitely not going to defend before spring break (which was my very ambitious goal during the fall), I can't see why I won't be able to be done by the end of finals. I went out to dinner tonight with a friend of mine that is getting married to meet/hang out with the other bridesmaids, but the rest of the weekend I am buckling down and working on this paper!
On a complete side note, I went into Macy's today (yeah, I'm a retail therapy kinda gal) and found they are having a buy-one-get-one free sale on their women's clearance coats (probably men's too, I just didn't check). It was AWESOME! My roommate and I each got really nice pea coats for $40 each. I definitely recommend heading out there this weekend if you have a chance! If you're not the shopping type, spend a few minutes outside this weekend - it feels like a heat wave and sun is always great... spring, here we come! Have a good weekend.

Posted at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
After a low-key week last week, things started moving this week. I have assignments for my classes (and they're not easy!) and we've started discussing projects. My boss returned from the conference and has work for me AND I need to keep working on my master's project. I was planning to finish and defend by May anyway (because I really want to graduate), but as I signed my contract for my job this week (YEAH) I was reminded of how it is IMPERATIVE that I finish my thesis on time. For some reason that makes it seem more stressful, even though it is the same timeline I have always planned on. After talking with some of my friends in the program, we are starting to figure out why people graduate late. For one, it can be hard to meet with your advisor when you'd like - they are so helpful but SO busy. Plus, even when you are close to finished, you have to be able to coordinate at least four schedules for the defense (and again, they are all busy!) Not to mention that you have to write up a paper and put together a 25 minutes presentation after completing the projec.t But I am going to get it done...and not just the last week of May, but earlier so I can enjoy a vacation BEFORE I start working. I can't believe I am starting a real job - after I signed my offer I started reading through the benefits packets and information and it is overwhelming...I think I will need someone to interpret it for me!
Well, I suppose I should get back to trying to be productive, especially since I have a fun weekend planned (oops!) I will let you know all about it next week! Have a great weekend!

Posted at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
This week has been a pretty low key week for me. I have a job now (YEAH), my thesis is with my advisor for revisions, my RA boss was in Boston for a conference and my classes haven't been stressful. That's all good, except for if you're a master of juggling, like myself - unless I have many, many things on my plate I barely know what to do with myself! I know, I know, stop complaining. And I'm not, it's just an adjustment. I figure it is similar to the adjustment I will have to make when I start working and coming home and I don't have to do homework or anything really. I've been using my extra time to work-out (always a good thing) and I picked up a couple of books to read for "fun". I love reading but during the semester I can usually barely find time to read what I'm supposed to, much less read something for fun. I know that next week will pick up though - a new project for my RA and my classes are beginning to pick up as well - they are both fairly project based, so I know I will feel overwhelmed as the semester draws to a close! One stress at the moment is money - you know, the bills from Christmas, buying a suit for my interview, etc. etc. My current solution: file my taxes! A great thing about being a student is that while you make close to nothing, you get most of the taxes you paid in BACK, which will hopefully bail me out! I'm really hoping for a miracle and thousands of dollars will come my way because I really could use a new computer in addition to paying some bills, but I really doubt any sort of Tax-Fairy exists! :) Luckily for me, my roommate's mom is an accountant and so we will be driving to visit her, and for the cost of a pizza for her lunch I will hopefully get the best possible return I can! Pretty exciting!
I think that is it for now. Have a great weekend!

Posted at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, well part of it is this frigid cold...I mean really, shouldn't the whole city just shut down if it requires people to walk around in this? But my cheeks would still be red even if it were 50 degrees. After blogging last week about how awful it was to look for a job and blah, blah, I have a confession to make. Not more than three days later I was offered a job. And not just A job, but THE job I really wanted. I kind of got a jump on the whole "job-search" process and applied for a job in November with the University of Minnesota's Cancer Center - Biostatistics Core. And yes, feel free to note that I applied in November and was offered the job in late January - it was a LONG process, but well worth it! My official title will be "Research Fellow" and I will serve as a statistical consultant (after some training) for researchers associated with the Cancer Center. And let me tell you, they do some AMAZING research - www.cancer.umn.edu/about. I will start the job in mid-June (after a little necessary vacation when I graduate) and I could not be more excited!

So, since I can no longer complain about the process, I figured I would give a little insight.
(1) Start early, particularly if you have some strong opinions about where you want to work.
(2) Make connects and build relationships with people NOW and throughout your graduate school career - one of my references is a world-renowned researcher and I'm sure having his backing was very helpful in getting this job!
(3) Use your resources. Barb Laporte, of the SPH Career Services, commented on my blog from last week offering to help me with the process. Now I have to admit that I really didn't know anything about the Career Services Center until that point, but I hope you will take advantage of what they offer. She is very willing to help with resumes and cover letters AND even mock interviews. She is available for email review of your resume and/or cover letter (blaporte@umn.edu) and for appointments as well. The Career Resource Center also has books and DVDs to help with the process! Lastly, she said she loves to provide moral support - which is sometimes the most important part! Even if you don't choose to use these great services, enlist a favorite professor or roommate or friend to help...if you are anything like me, it's a little hard to "sell yourself" but it is necessary, particularly in the current market. But you can do it!

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will!

Posted at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello everyone! I made it back from some time in Wisconsin and lots of time sleeping to start my LAST semester as a master's student at the U of MN. And let me just say...it is COLD! I know it will be warming up this weekend, but the endless, freezing walks between classes and my RA are getting really old. I had a wonderful break but I think I'm ready to get back at it. I just have two classes this semester and the remaining credits to make me full-time are for working on (and hopefully completing) my master's thesis/plan B project. I got a good start on it last semester and seem to be plowing along, on track to graduate in May.

With my "spare" time I also need to look for a job, which is proving to be a daunting task. I feel as though it is early enough that I can be a little picky in what types of jobs I want, but when it comes down to it, I'm scared. If there was a well-paying "Professional Student" job, I would be all over it. Being a student has been my life for the past 20 years, I think I have it down. But in May, I will be done with school and (hopefully) starting my career. My mind is filled with doubts... sometimes I am convinced I know nothing about statistics. Other days, I feel well qualified to take on anything (in particular, I thought that a few days again when I saw that the University of Minnesota's Biostatistics program is now rated #5 in the country, WOW!) I can't be totally useless if I graduate from this program, right???

I'm sure you will hear more about my job hunt throughout the semester. For right now, I'm going to go back to work on a project for my RA and my plan B...no more lazy weekends!

Posted at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone! I am ALL done with finals and papers and classes! YEAH! My finals this semester were by far the hardest I've EVER taken - one of the finals ended up with a class average score of 65%! OUCH! To celebrate (and as part of a lingering birthday present), I went to the Nutcracker Fantasy last night at the State Theatre in Minneapolis. IT WAS AMAZING! We started with dinner at the Capital Grille, which is right next door. The prices were fairly steep but the food and service were incredible.... I'd go back again in a heartbeat. Back to the show...WOW! I love the Nutcracker music and dancing and seeing the show yet again reaffirmed why it is my favorite. This was a (mostly) local production and let me say that Minnesota has some great dancers.

As for the rest of break, I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing. I'm heading home to Wisconsin today for the holidays and plan to return early next week and not move from my bed for a few days. I've found this semester to be particularly hard to "unwind" from and so hopefully my brain will starting turning off in the next few days here. That could be a good thing though, at least through the weekend, because I'm still very far behind on Christmas shopping! My problem is that I see the mall parking lot and people running around and just turn right back around! Somehow I don't think my family will appreciate that as an excuse for no presents.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend and break, talk to you soon!

Posted at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone,
As if I need more encouragement to not study, the School of Public Health had its All-School Winter reception today. It was held at the Weisman Art Museum (on campus) this afternoon. And let me say I think the SPH has some money - we were served food, wine and beer AND there was a live band! In addition, I got roped into playing the annual game between divisions. This year the game was modeled after the 70's hit Match Game, only with a public health twist (sort of) and hosted by Dean Finnegan. Each team (one for Biostat, one for Epi, etc.) had a student, faculty and staff representative and there was a group of panelists representing each division as well. Each team had a white board and their goal was to answer fill-in-the-blank questions and match as many of the panelists' answers as possible. For example, one of the questions used our own Division head, Dr. Connett as part of the example. It was: "Dr. Connett's motto is "Safety First". When he rides to work on his bike he always wears a helmet and a _______". Despite the lack of students among the panelists, it got pretty risque pretty fast...it was lots of fun! I'll break the suspense and say that Biostatistics did not win, but we did come close and in my opinion had the funniest answers! I ended up really enjoying being part of the game and highly recommend to everyone who is around next year to attend the reception!
Now back to studying...two more finals to go! Have a great weekend.

Posted at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone! I can tell that finals are coming up...my apartment is clean, my Christmas shopping is started and I'm reading for fun...oh yeah, I'm procrastinating! I've been very productive, but just not for school. I'm trying to study, I really am. I have a final project and two cumulative finals, both of which are 40% of my grades. That's right, a two hour exam is almost equal to all of the work I have done ALL semester for two of my classes. It is a little overwhelming to study, but I will start soon!
On a happy note, during my procrastination, I went to a WILD game! I have always loved hockey, but this was the first professional game I have been do. The Wild was playing the St. Louis Blues and it went into overtime - it was very fun and definitely helped me forget about school for a couple of hours... and of course the Wild won! YEAH!
Have a great weekend everyone - I hope you have better luck studying than I have so far! I'm going to kick it in gear...in a few hours!

Posted at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)