Wow it's hard to believe that over two months have passed since the latest update. I write this from the 3rd floor of the library in the heart of campus, where Sarah and I have been sitting since 1:15 this afternoon. I've been working on a take-home test, while she works on one of three major papers due at the end of the term. It's been a good semester, but busy. Both my courses are more demanding that I anticipated, and Sarah has more writing than she anticipated. Life, however, continues to be full of joy. We are part of a great church and a great small group that's part of the church. Some of our friends from college have moved back to the area, and we both have good friends in our respective programs. And other than the typical stress associated with school, life itself is not that stressful.
My senior year of college, I had a series of conversations with one of my Chemistry professors about married life in graduate school, as he had been married throughout his entire PhD program in Georgia. Both he and his wife were in graduate school at the same time, and he said it was actually one of the least stressful times. No kids, student loan payments still in deferment, minimal groceries, and small apartment rent payments. I'm finding that to be the case for sure. Our stipends are not huge by any means, but are designed to support us, which is what they do. We are so grateful for them and for the opportunity to go to school tuition free.
Please don't misunderstand and think we are living in Utopia. There are still some stresses for sure, but life is just pretty simple right now, and we're enjoying it as best we can. Sometimes we think it would be nice to take a small trip or even just go out to eat, but those things will come.
Well the semester is winding down for sure. Two days of class this coming week, then five days off for Thanksgiving. We'll be heading up to Winona Lake for a few days to spend the holiday with some of Sarah's extended family. Then back to school for two weeks of class and one week of finals! Then three glorious weeks for Christmas break.
Blessings
Ben
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Fall Semester Arrives
Greetings,
The title may be a bit misleading. Fall semester arrived three weeks ago. At the risk of sounding trite, I truly can't believe we're already starting the fourth week of classes. So what's new? Well my summer job ended well enough, but I didn't get much of a break. I had about 3 days of summer vacation, which is by far the shortest break I've ever had. But I was grateful for the job, so I have no complaints.
The semester began on the 22nd of August. I have more of a focus on research this semester, so I have just two courses. One of them is Proteomics, which is all about proteins and all methods and assays we use to study them. My other class is Biometry. The best way I can summarize it is to say that it's essentially the marriage of Biology and statistics. I fortunately took Intro to Stats in college, so most of the basic concepts are the same, but this course requires copious amounts of busy work. The upside to this is that I am learning the concepts and methods really well, essentially through forced repetition of homework assignments. The rest of my week is spent doing research toward my thesis and teaching the same course I taught last year. Even though I'm busy, things are definitely manageable. Just have to make sure I keep my self-discipline going.
Oh and speaking of my thesis, I finally have a topic! Methods to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus invasion in cells. As my research continues, it might go through a few adjustments, but this is the basic premise. I'm investigating what's going on at the cellular level, and how certain compounds do what they do to inhibit invasion. I'm just wrapping up my research proposal for this thesis, 21 pages and counting.
Sarah is now three weeks in to her MA program in Public Relations. All I really know is what she has communicated to me. She has three classes, and they all require huge amounts of reading and writing. She wrote a ten-page paper last week, and is working on another one as I write this. I know she has a couple of large term projects due near the end of the semester. I think she is starting to adjust back to the life of a student, but I'll let her tell you the rest when she has some time to get on here and write about it herself!
Not too much else is going on. We're actively involved in our church: small group once a week, nursery duty once a month, tech set up once a month. It's a great church that offers sound Biblical teaching along with great fellowship.
Until next time,
Ben
The title may be a bit misleading. Fall semester arrived three weeks ago. At the risk of sounding trite, I truly can't believe we're already starting the fourth week of classes. So what's new? Well my summer job ended well enough, but I didn't get much of a break. I had about 3 days of summer vacation, which is by far the shortest break I've ever had. But I was grateful for the job, so I have no complaints.
The semester began on the 22nd of August. I have more of a focus on research this semester, so I have just two courses. One of them is Proteomics, which is all about proteins and all methods and assays we use to study them. My other class is Biometry. The best way I can summarize it is to say that it's essentially the marriage of Biology and statistics. I fortunately took Intro to Stats in college, so most of the basic concepts are the same, but this course requires copious amounts of busy work. The upside to this is that I am learning the concepts and methods really well, essentially through forced repetition of homework assignments. The rest of my week is spent doing research toward my thesis and teaching the same course I taught last year. Even though I'm busy, things are definitely manageable. Just have to make sure I keep my self-discipline going.
Oh and speaking of my thesis, I finally have a topic! Methods to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus invasion in cells. As my research continues, it might go through a few adjustments, but this is the basic premise. I'm investigating what's going on at the cellular level, and how certain compounds do what they do to inhibit invasion. I'm just wrapping up my research proposal for this thesis, 21 pages and counting.
Sarah is now three weeks in to her MA program in Public Relations. All I really know is what she has communicated to me. She has three classes, and they all require huge amounts of reading and writing. She wrote a ten-page paper last week, and is working on another one as I write this. I know she has a couple of large term projects due near the end of the semester. I think she is starting to adjust back to the life of a student, but I'll let her tell you the rest when she has some time to get on here and write about it herself!
Not too much else is going on. We're actively involved in our church: small group once a week, nursery duty once a month, tech set up once a month. It's a great church that offers sound Biblical teaching along with great fellowship.
Until next time,
Ben
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Quick photo for our few readers! :)
Hello family and friends!
Sarah here, and I simply wanted to post a photo from our wedding anniversary trip (second week of May, anniversary was on May 28th) so you can actually see how we are as well! Ben did a fantastic job, as usual, with writing and updating our blog.
We had a great time, spending a few days in Indianapolis and went to the museums and the zoo. You can see the rest of our anniversary trip album on facebook (click link).
We're ready and blessed to continue our second year of marriage!
As Summer Flies By....
Ben here. I write this post as I am about to finish the 6th week of my summer job. And the main question I ask myself is, "Where did May and the first half of June go?" School ended May 6th, and I was blessed enough to find a full-time position in the Bio. dept as a research assistant. It's a 14-week position ending August 12th. On the side, I am running roughly one experiment per week for my own thesis work. My thesis has yet to be narrowed down, but is in the realm of molecular toxicology. My research assistant summer job, however, is in aquatic microbial ecology, an area where my grasp used to be somewhat tenuous. But after six weeks, I feel much more confident in this area, and I'm learning many new skills.
Sarah has been continuing her same position and is approaching her one-year anniversary of working with the GCEGC. But she has actually resigned from her job; her last day is June 30th. She spent roughly six weeks in April and May looking for a new position in Muncie. One evening on a drive back to home, we started discussing the possibility of her returning to school. The next day, she made contact with the directors of two different Master's programs at Ball State. After a meeting with the director of the PR program, words of advice from one of her college professors, and weighing her options, she opted to apply for the public relations Master's degree. The professor she met with said that they actually still had spots available for this fall, and that they even had two assistantships that had just recently become available. She completed the necessary applications, had recommendations sent in, and registered for the GRE. To our surprise, the department contacted her before they had even received all of her admissions materials, and they offered her a full assistantship for this coming fall! It was a huge blessing and a clear sign from God that she was pursuing the right track.
So that is where we stand now. After seventeen days of practicing verbal and math problems and memorizing 400+ new vocab words, she took the GRE this past Monday. All of the hard work paid off, and she exceeded the minimum standards for enrollment in the program. That was the last piece of her admissions requirements. She'll wrap up her job in two weeks, and the long commutes will be over! She has a couple of leads on temporary positions for July and August, so we'll see what happens with those.
Not too much else to report. This past semester was busy and hard, but I believe I finished strong. This upcoming semester will be fairly light in terms of classes, but I'll spend many hours per week on research. Thank you to all who read this and pray for us. We do appreciate it.
Sarah has been continuing her same position and is approaching her one-year anniversary of working with the GCEGC. But she has actually resigned from her job; her last day is June 30th. She spent roughly six weeks in April and May looking for a new position in Muncie. One evening on a drive back to home, we started discussing the possibility of her returning to school. The next day, she made contact with the directors of two different Master's programs at Ball State. After a meeting with the director of the PR program, words of advice from one of her college professors, and weighing her options, she opted to apply for the public relations Master's degree. The professor she met with said that they actually still had spots available for this fall, and that they even had two assistantships that had just recently become available. She completed the necessary applications, had recommendations sent in, and registered for the GRE. To our surprise, the department contacted her before they had even received all of her admissions materials, and they offered her a full assistantship for this coming fall! It was a huge blessing and a clear sign from God that she was pursuing the right track.
So that is where we stand now. After seventeen days of practicing verbal and math problems and memorizing 400+ new vocab words, she took the GRE this past Monday. All of the hard work paid off, and she exceeded the minimum standards for enrollment in the program. That was the last piece of her admissions requirements. She'll wrap up her job in two weeks, and the long commutes will be over! She has a couple of leads on temporary positions for July and August, so we'll see what happens with those.
Not too much else to report. This past semester was busy and hard, but I believe I finished strong. This upcoming semester will be fairly light in terms of classes, but I'll spend many hours per week on research. Thank you to all who read this and pray for us. We do appreciate it.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
almost 1/4 over...
Sarah here. I cannot believe the year is almost one fourth over! I realize that we are becoming those bloggers who have not blogged in awhile. While I do not want to simply blog to blog, I will give updates!
Ben is busy more than ever with grad school. He can tell you more about that. He's teaching more this semester and he already has to start thinking about his actual thesis proposal. He can do it though, of course. :0)
Recently we went to Texas for his spring break and I took time off. It was really nice to see my sisters, brother-in-law, dad, and niece and nephew! Also I got to see Lauren, my matron of honor at my wedding, for a short bit on the drive down there. And while I was in Austin, I got to see a Taylor media classmate of mine, Eliza! She moved to Austin a while ago and I was so excited for her.
Meanwhile, I've been doing pretty well with my work. The drive, however, has been wearing on Ben and me, let alone our two 15-16 year old cars! We call the green Camry "Oz" and the white Mercury Sable "Jiminy," but we think it might be time for them to...move on...
But not only this, I've just felt a tug to pursue something closer to home, and to face new challenges. I have challenges here with working for three non-profits, especially Cardinal Greenway (since I could see myself doing so much to help), but I just want to be closer to home and begin feeling more connected to our community and to get more involved as well; as in church, friends, etc. So we will see. I've told my my work about leaving within the year. I've also applied to a few positions in Muncie. We'll see what happens. I still want to be involved with Cardinal Greenway. This has been the biggest news with me. So we'd appreciate prayers!
Ben and I miss everyone and would be glad to hear how you're doing!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Hello There
Just writing to give a few updates. We are definitely in the dead of winter here. Snow has covered the ground pretty much this entire month. We had some very Arctic-like temperatures last week, but fortunately it's back in the 20s now:)
Sarah's job is still going well; it's keeping her pretty busy. I, too, am now quite busy again; we are three weeks into the spring semester. I am teaching the same class I taught last semester, which is nice. But I am teaching an additional section of it, so it requires a bigger time commitment. Fortunately, since I've already taught it once, I know what I'm doing and it comes pretty easily.
I also have a harder course load. I'm taking a class on the polymerase chain reaction, which is a way to rapidly multiply DNA. I'm also taking a class that focuses on cell cultures, which involves growing cells in petri dishes. My last class is called Research Design & Presentation, and it is going to be immensely helpful. It is a class designed to aid us in the development of our thesis proposals. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm so glad a class like this exists.
That's all I can think of for now!
Ben
Sarah's job is still going well; it's keeping her pretty busy. I, too, am now quite busy again; we are three weeks into the spring semester. I am teaching the same class I taught last semester, which is nice. But I am teaching an additional section of it, so it requires a bigger time commitment. Fortunately, since I've already taught it once, I know what I'm doing and it comes pretty easily.
I also have a harder course load. I'm taking a class on the polymerase chain reaction, which is a way to rapidly multiply DNA. I'm also taking a class that focuses on cell cultures, which involves growing cells in petri dishes. My last class is called Research Design & Presentation, and it is going to be immensely helpful. It is a class designed to aid us in the development of our thesis proposals. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm so glad a class like this exists.
That's all I can think of for now!
Ben
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