I am going to begin my 2017 with an apology to my blog (and to any readers that might exist out there): I am so sorry for neglecting you last year. The general social media consensus is that 2016 was one for the books, and I have to say that I agree to a point. Yes, we lost an awful lot of famous people, but that sort of makes sense considering a lot of those famous people had pre-existing health issues due to age and lifestyle choices. Yes, the populations of the United States and the United Kingdom made some pretty iffy choices, but now many more eyes are open to the changes that need to occur to make our political policies change for the better.
There was a lot of global good that happened in 2016 as well. To briefly name a few that made me smile a lot, in no particular order:
- Several super cute animal species around the world are no longer classified as endangered, including giant pandas, manatees, and humpback whales.
- We now have an effective Ebola vaccine.
- 50 million trees were planted in India by over 800,000 Uttar Pradesh volunteers in just one day.
- Harriet Tubman will be featured on the US $20 bill.
On a more personal level, also in no particular order, here are the things that happened in 2016 that I am really looking forward to blogging about:
- I traveled way more than I ever have in my life, including trips to
- Washington, DC – first multilab planning session!
- Atlanta, GA – first talk at a scientific meeting!
- Taos, NM – first workshop!
- Central and Southern MADAGASCAR – first field experience!
- I discovered that my patronus is a black mamba.
- I fulfilled my teaching requirement for PSU with another semester of BIOl 110 Lab.
- I became an NSF Fellow through the Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
- I moved into an awesome new house with Daniel and our fuzz babies.
- My name and some of my work were published for the first time [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160802192629.htm].
- Two postdocs joined the Perry lab and significantly improved our quality of life.
I’d like to end my New Year post with a few of my goals for 2017 (I will not call them resolutions because I think that achieving a goal sounds more positive than resolving myself to do something, wouldn’t you agree?). I’ve made a little goal graphic for motivation and because I really enjoy making pretty figures haha.
First, I’d like to keep a closer eye on my daily intake, so I’ve set a loose goal of drinking at least two liters of water every day and incorporating more vegetables into my diet.
Second, I’d like to improve my physical and mental health. I am currently laughably out of shape and lacking sleep (yay mid-winter colds), so I’ve set a goal of at least 15 minutes of exercise per day along with a strict 10pm electronics cut-off time. I’d also like to allow myself more time to bake, organize my house, and be outside. Oh, and blogging of course, preferably 1-2 posts every Wednesday from now on :)
Third, I’d like to increase my productivity in graduate school. I am hopefully going to avoid procrastinating and getting tied up in side tasks by using a few apps to help me work towards getting stuff done every day, including toggl, HabitBull, and (my personal favorite) Wunderlist.
I wish you the best of luck with any goals you might set for yourself in 2017! Make a graphic – it’s fun and inspiring :) And for those of you that don’t really believe in the significance of the new year, like our friend Neil Degrasse Tyson, encourage your Gregorian friends to stick to their goals and write up some of your own just for the fun of it. Cheers, and see you next Wednesday!
Second, I’d like to improve my physical and mental health. I am currently laughably out of shape and lacking sleep (yay mid-winter colds), so I’ve set a goal of at least 15 minutes of exercise per day along with a strict 10pm electronics cut-off time. I’d also like to allow myself more time to bake, organize my house, and be outside. Oh, and blogging of course, preferably 1-2 posts every Wednesday from now on :)
Third, I’d like to increase my productivity in graduate school. I am hopefully going to avoid procrastinating and getting tied up in side tasks by using a few apps to help me work towards getting stuff done every day, including toggl, HabitBull, and (my personal favorite) Wunderlist.
I wish you the best of luck with any goals you might set for yourself in 2017! Make a graphic – it’s fun and inspiring :) And for those of you that don’t really believe in the significance of the new year, like our friend Neil Degrasse Tyson, encourage your Gregorian friends to stick to their goals and write up some of your own just for the fun of it. Cheers, and see you next Wednesday!