Till graduation do us part!

Over the course of my first year as a grad student, I realized that selecting a PhD lab and a Principal Investigator (PI) to work with is analogous to choosing your life partner, only in fast-forward: you’re supposed to do it in the span of one year, and you’re given merely three chances to get it right.

The first thing grad school introduces us to is the concept of lab rotations. To begin with, you are presented with a large pool of PIs who are interested in getting new students. They will give fancy presentations about the incredibly cool work happening in their labs – they will be pleasant and approachable, and you will be blown away by the sheer talent as well as overwhelmed by the number of options you have.

Next, you will narrow down this pool of contestants using whatever criteria suits you best. Some students will go for labs which have similar interests; something related to what they have worked on before, something which is their ‘type’. Others will choose labs which work on topics completely unrelated to what they’ve been doing for so long. They want to explore new avenues and vistas, try out something novel and see if they like it if they just gave it a chance.

Once you have shortlisted a few PIs, you send them an email indicating your interest. You hope they respond favorably, in which case both parties set up a meeting. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the first date! The PI and the grad student will both be on their best behavior. They will be chatty and interested. The student will try to impress the PI by his past achievements and accolades. They will discuss past experiences, and how that has made them the person they are today. They will animatedly share thoughts and ideas about what they want from this new relationship, and come to a mutual consensus. Eventually, the PI will welcome you into his/her life and lab, albeit on a trial basis. Voilà, you’re dating.

As a rotation student, you will get to know each other much better. While both parties are still positive and happy, this is also the time you figure out exactly what is expected from you. You realize what your individual work styles are, and if they are harmonious or jarringly out of tune. The little quirks which seemed endearingly human on the first date will appear in their full glory. You will either take them in your stride, or discover that they actually drive you crazy – and might even be a deal-breaker. Some relationships thrive in these three months, while others, not so much. Both the PI and the student are assessing each other and making a mental pros and cons list about whether they are a good fit or not.

At the end of the trial period, the student describes everything he learnt being in the lab. The PI evaluates the student’s performance as a lab member, and eventually they sit down and have a heart-to-heart about their feelings and if they have changed in any way after the trial period. They figure out if one or both parties are still interested in making this arrangement more permanent. They usually can’t commit to each other at this stage – it is understood that the student will be seeing other PIs, and the PI will entertain other students if they come along. However, if the rotation has been a happy one, there will be a verbal agreement about keeping each other in mind at the end of the year when they are both ready to commit.

After three such rotations over the course of the first year, (or more – you do have the option of an extra rotation if you aren’t satisfied and feel that there are plenty more fish in the sea for you) the student will decide which lab he liked the most, and wants to be a part of for the foreseeable future. He will go back to his top choice and ask the PI if they can take their relationship to the next level: in sickness and in health, till graduation do us part. If the PI reciprocates these feelings, then the deal is sealed. The student has to regretfully inform his other two choices that it just didn’t work out, they are very different, and it’s better if they remain just colleagues. And so finally, after long last, the student and the PI can live happily ever after!

(Expect a sequel to this story at some point – we’ll see how happy the ever after really is.)

Of crashing waves frozen in time and ski tracks in the snow

Hello world! I’m back after a long (and sadly, not a very unusual) hiatus. I just finished my first year of PhD – I’ve got a million anecdotes and stories which were supposed to posted out here, actually. But if I have to sum it up in a sentence, I’ll just say that it was a crazy whirlwind of classes, friends, exams, exploring the streets, doing rotations in different labs to figure out the perfect match, movie nights with pancakes and cookies, ‘discovering’ various book stores and tucked-away cafes, stressing out over course work, and carving out my own little niche in the heart of the city.

So yes, it’s a busy busy life and it’s incredibly easy to get sucked into our little routines and habits. And yes, I have to plead guilty on that charge. Little day-to-day matters bog us down to the extent that we’re always rushing, rushing to meetings, rushing to run errands, rushing to do, without sparing a moment to stop and think. It’s harried and crazy, and we hardly have any time or even inclination to look up and look around – actually enjoy everything, take out a few minutes to just relax and genuinely feel contentment.

And then I got onto a looooong flight – a 16-hours, non-stop flight. I’d expected to be bored. I’d planned on sleeping most of the way, and watching movies on the in-flight entertainment system to make the time go by. And yes, I slept. I watched movies. But what I remember the most is just sitting and gazing awe-struck out of the window. It was absolutely beautiful. The infinitely blue sky stretching out everywhere, and fields and fields of clouds below. When I’m on the ground and look at clouds, I always imagine them to be fluffy, like clumps of soft cotton candy. Pretty, and fun to imagine shapes of, but just about that. But looking down from a plane… clouds appeared like white-tipped frothy waves about to crash thunderously over the shore – crested waves on the precipice of crashing over, frozen in time. In spots of relative calm in this stormy ocean of clouds, I saw long deep gouges in sheets of white – like ski tracks on the snow. It was a majestic sight, almost frightening in its beauty.

And when the cloud cover was flung aside by the winds (Is it still a cover if it’s below you? Somehow a cover sounds like something you pull on top of you.) I could see… everything. Everything in miniature – forests and woods looking like emerald patches of cultivated lawns, shiny lakes which appeared to contain all of two teaspoons of water, tiny little houses which you play with in Monopoly, rivers resembling silvery worms (or fly larvae, actually – I am a Drosophila geneticist after all) and cars which looked like an orderly line of ants on roller blades. And then, as I was all peaceful and content, just gazing outside, feeling connected to the world, and yet sort of distant… I realized that if the forests and cities and water bodies are so tiny in the grand scheme of things, my little day-to-day worries which seem SO overwhelming are really rather insignificant.

And right there in that moment I knew what a change in perspective actually meant. It means that while I live in my zoomed-in little life in which it’s oh-so-important to get to places on time, meet all my deadlines, do my groceries and laundry, pay bills, get my flu shot (Oops. Is it that time of the year already?)… I also need to remember that the world is a big, BIG place teeming with life forms of multiple sorts, and yes, while we all have problems… we need to Let It Gooooooo (sorry, couldn’t resist) because the world is astounding in all its glory. Life is absolutely beautiful, the sun shines, emotions like love and trust exist in spite of cynicism and darkness, chocolate exists, and unicorns really do slide down rainbows. (Alright, alright… I don’t really believe in unicorns. Honest!)

Of course, the moment my plane landed I was jolted out of this pleasant dreamy haze and brought back down to earth, literally. And I was back, back to my busy-bee life – running around to claim my baggage, going through Immigration and Customs, and whipping out my smartphone to figure out the best way home. But one thing is for sure: I now have a crystal-clear image in my mind’s eye to get some perspective. Whenever I feel over-stressed or over-worked or over-whelmed, I’m going to close my eyes, take a deep breath and think of crashing waves frozen in time and ski tracks in the snow.

(Dis-)Orientation Week!

“Bright lights, big city, gone to my baby’s head…” – Jimmy Reed

These song lyrics seem to be running through my mind all day, like a soundtrack playing in the background as I’m living and navigating through my new life in New York City. Because the bright lights, the sights, the sounds of this city have pretty much gone to my head. I have fallen head-over-heels in love, and oh, it’s an amazing feeling 🙂 I feel like I know this place… I’m hit by a strong feeling of déjà vu every now and then… I feel like I know the streets, the shops, the buildings. Too many movies and TV shows have been filmed in NYC! I love the street system, how everything is numbered systematically… so even I, with my appalling direction sense, feel like I can find my way around without too much of a hassle. In those moments, it feels familiar and comforting, but then every now and then I’m hit by a wave of awe and surprise, some sort of mingled pride and gratitude… that I’m here, that this is really where I’m going to be for the next few years. I can’t believe this is my real life now, I can’t believe I actually made it here. I feel like I am living in a dream, a wonderful, fascinating, beloved dream, and I’m going to wake up any moment now and find out that I’m actually still waiting, waiting for grad school applications, waiting for exam results, waiting for a visa… waiting for my ‘real’ life to begin. But it has, it really has, and how!

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That’s the skyline 🙂

The institute seems amazing… the buildings, the halls, the corridors… very impressive, though not the easiest to navigate. And oh, the people! My program directors talked to all of us for less than an hour, and I’m already bowled over by their wit and warmth, and although I’m slightly intimidated (Ivy League school! Can I live up to it?!), I feel very welcome and wanted. The researchers here are extremely smart, extremely talented, and on top of that, they seem like really nice individuals as well. Classes haven’t started yet, so I really don’t have much to go on at the moment, but I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant.

My fellow students are all from completely different backgrounds, both culturally and education-wise. We’re a very diverse group, and we’re still getting to know each other. So far it’s been really fun, talking and laughing, learning how to pronounce names, hearing different accents… let’s see how it goes!

Now that I’ve got the obligatory ‘so how’s grad school?’ answer out of the way, (since after all, isn’t this what I’m here for? :P) let me move on to what else I’ve been doing in my orientation week, which has mostly been fun, more fun, followed by even more fun.

We went to the US Open!!! Granted, I’ve never been into tennis before, I used to think those matches go on waaay too long, and what’s the point of having so many games anyway! And I never really understood the scoring system, so basically, I just went to the US Open for the experience of actually being there, at the Arthur Ashe stadium in Flushing Meadows, watching a Grand Slam match… which, let’s face it, is a pretty awesome thing to be doing. I just expected to have a lot of fun, and get instant bragging rights 😛 But what I didn’t expect was to see Andy Murray, whom even I have heard of. I didn’t expect to end up understanding the scoring system. And I definitely didn’t expect to actually get into the spirit of things, loving the crowds, loving the charged atmosphere, loving to just be there and cheer on Andy like everybody else. It was one exhilarating experience, and I’ll never forget it.

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Arthur Ashe stadium!

The next thing we did, which was what I was looking forward to the most, was the yacht cruise. I had supremely high expectations from this event, and it didn’t disappoint … in fact, it actually exceeded them (I hadn’t factored in a buffet lunch on the yacht 😛 Wow!). It was a bright and sunny day, a bit too sunny at times, but I was all set, I had my new sunglasses 🙂 There was a lovely breeze, there were occasional waves, and the yacht would bounce up and down, sending me into delighted squeals and whoops. We were out on the water for around three hours, and I loved every moment of it. I took hundreds of photos, jumped and pointed excitedly when we first glimpsed Lady Liberty, and basically acted like the tourist that I am. The people were great, I talked and laughed a lot, and was thrilled when the captain walked up to me to strike up a conversation. It’s moments like this which make me feel like I’m starring in my own personal movie!

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Here’s what the yachts look like!

Apart from tennis and cruises, we went to Central Park, which is surprisingly very green. You don’t expect to see such an idyllic spot bang in the middle of Manhattan. The park is huge… (just like everything else here) and crowded. Crowded in the American sense though; being an Indian, I feel right at home. We went on a ‘sweets and eats’ crawl in Lower Manhattan, and I discovered the loveliest little cupcake shop ever! Cute, colorful, delicious cupcakes, made of pure sugar and happiness… the ultimate comfort food. I don’t care how far the shop is; I can feel its magnetic pull on me. I am so going back!

I saw Times Square, and attended the Smorgasburg in Brooklyn… I had a discounted shopping trip at Bed, Bath and Beyond where I bought myself a nice fluffy pillow and a huge comforter… I went with a group of people to China Town for dim sum, and they had the most enormous variety of hitherto-unheard-of food… and a bunch of us had brunch together in someone’s apartment today, where we made pancakes, frittatas, french toast… had fruits with dollops of whipped cream, all washed down with orange juice and/or caffeine – and it was so yummy, and so much fun!

I’m loving it here. Life is Good, Good with a capital G. I’ve had one of the most terrific weeks of my life, and as someone warned me, grad school life is probably just going to go downhill from here … 😛 Ah well, I don’t think that’s true, but making the most of it nevertheless. NYC is amazing, it’s as good as it’s hyped up to be. My grad school journey has started out great, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the ride is like. Bring it on!!! 😀