Life is Grand

The 2010 spring semester has gotten under way and I am loving it! Life is great! While my almost boundless optimism may be a consequence of only having endured a week of classes, I have high hopes for the future. My courses are wholly germane to my research with DNA and RNA and there is never a dull moment. Pardon my indulgence as I provide a short summary of the course in which I am enrolled.

• Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulations - In this course I will be writing a code from scratch that models molecular behavior. This code will be intimately related to my research and will provide a tutorial for learning the programming language C. In this class I will be figuratively "killing two birds with one stone." In essence, it will be like having an extra hour or two in my day. Most excellent!
• Statistical Mechanics - This 800-level class has graduate quantum mechanics and previous graduate level course in statistical mechanics as prerequisites. It promises to be the most advanced course I will have ever taken. I am already nervous, having already ordered a quantum mechanics text to compensate for my ignorance in this area. However, there is hope: the professor, James Skinner, is a phenomenal lecturer and teaches with such clarity that I leave class feeling a profound sense of enlightenment. I am optimistic that I will succeed in this course, even while being stretched to new limits.
• Transport Phenomena - This required ChE course is perhaps the least relevant to my research but it is highly mathematical. I will relish the opportunity to sharpen my mathematical skills. Ofttimes I feel deficient in that area.
• Biochemistry - I am merely sitting in on this course. Thus I will not have to worry about homework, exams, and the obnoxious memorizing of amino acids and the like. It is very informative and will acclimate me to the biological realm into which I embark.

The aforementioned courses, when coupled with the exciting research that I have before me, weave a wondrous tapestry of learning that I am thrilled to have the opportunity explore. In quiet moments of reflection, my heart trills with the sublime revelation that I am where I ought to be. I hope that your current prospects are comparable!