It takes a little more than you've got right now, but give it, give it time...

Today I almost felt like a real grad student. I was running my experiments and consulting with postdocs and doing science. It was great. Of all of the days thus far, this was the day I felt like I most belonged.

My experiment is working; my gold nanoelectrodes conduct electricity!! :-)

I learn a little more every day (fun fact: most meat that is sold in stores is electrically stimulated to make it more tender; that is, electrical current is run through it), and I am becoming a better researcher for it.

The more time I spend in the lab, the more I feel like I can contribute to the greater body of knowledge, the more I feel like I can do science. I picked this title not only because I saw it in a friend's facebook status, but because it is exactly how I feel about grad school right now. I am not completely ready yet, but if I give it time, I will be.

Currently reading: One Big Damn Puzzler by John Harding. I'm ashamed to keep admitting this. I will finish it soon enough. It's really good, I just don't have a lot of free time!

"We never know how high we are,

'til we are called to rise,

and then, if we are true to plan,

our statures touch the skies.

The heroism we recite

would be a daily thing,

did not ourselves the cuibits warp

for fear to be a king."

Emily Dickinson

- Rachel