My Voice

As we trek our path through life, there are two questions that come up: "Who am I?" and "Why am I?" Answering the second question is usually the hardest as we want to know our unique contribution. I still do not know exactly what my purpose is here yet, but I feel like I am closer to an idea. I recently took part in a workshop on strengths and these were my top three:

1. Relator - enjoy the intimacy of friendships and take the risk of sharing personal details
2. Self-Assurance - confident in my strengths and abilities and willing to take risks and challenges because I know I can deliver
3. Significance - want to be recognized 

I have always known that I wanted to make a change in the world for the better and knowing my strengths can help me focus on that goal. What change will I make though? I do not know yet, but I am confident I will know my purpose one day. For now, I am happy with the mystery of life's biggest question.

My Current Research

As part of the McNair Scholar Program, we have to develop a research proposal and conduct an undergraduate research project, a unique opportunity to give us an edge when it comes to applying for graduate school. Last week, I finally began working in the chemistry lab on my research project for the summer. It was thrilling, and I found myself losing track of time while I was working. Just what am I researching though? Here is the background.

For astronauts, space presents special problems because of microgravity, or a lack of gravity. Microgravity can lead to serious health problems including the loss of bone density which causes bones to become brittle and prone to injury. NASA has come up with fitness machines which use weight bearing exercises and nutritional plans to help combat this loss, but it has shown little effect. Hypergravity, where gravity exceeds normal G-forces experienced on Earth, is just the opposite of microgravity. A centrifuge can create a hypergravity environment when it spins because of the centrifugal force. 

Bone is composed of two elements: collagen, which is a protein, and apatite, a mineral. The focus of my research is on the mineral apatite. Apatite has been studied under normal conditions to see its crystal size and morpholog, but not under hypergravity. Using a series of different tests, I will look to see if hypergravity has an effect on changing the apatite structure which could lead to further advancements in treating the loss of bone density experienced by astronauts. 

Space has always been an interest for me since I was a little kid, and I am happy that it is still a part of my life. In graduate school, I want to enter a Ph.D. program in Kinesiology where I can further study effects on bones and muscles, specifically for the space life sciences. 

Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae Updated 5.22.13

A Different Ideology - Playing To Our Strengths

Check out this post!

The Importance of Sleep

I had the unique opportunity to listen to a sleep expert today talk about the importance of sleep, how to improve our sleep, and the negative effects of sleep deprivation. He put the importance of sleep in a unique way that made me think differently of how I treat sleep.

Take for instance this week, you give up drinking fluids Monday through Friday except for occasional sips throughout the day. Then, on Saturday, you drink five gallons of water to catch up. After you are feeling sick, then, you wake up Sunday, and you drink five gallons of water again. What if you apply that same logic to eating? How about exercise? Be a couch potato for five days, and on Saturday, you work out for twelve hours trying to make up for your laziness during the week. Assuming you can move the next day, you work out for twelve hours again. 

Now, we don't do this with our nutrition and movement during the week which are essential for our biology, so why do we treat sleep, which is the third essential key, with such disregard? We live in a society where we are always on the go, staying up late and rising early, finding ourselves tired throughout the day and oversleeping on days off because of our sleep debt. However, we need to take control of our lives and focus on getting sufficient and consistent sleep.

In order to achieve this, there are many practices to follow:

• practice good Sleep Hygiene
• try to follow a three-five step night ritual (brushing teeth, etc. so your body knows to sleep upon completion
• use white noise in the background, something with a constant, boring noise, to drown out distracting noises

It is important to remember that sleep is different for everyone, and we each need differing hours of sleep to be at our best. Here is my challenge to everyone, including myself, to discover the right amount of sleep. Wake up at the same time everyday for a week, whether that be 6 a.m. or noon. By helping to reset our circadian rhythms, our bodies will tell us come nighttime when we need to sleep.

Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts was a huge passion of mine throughout childhood until my senior year of high school. Not only was it an activity that I enjoyed, but I gained physical and mental strength by engaging myself. I had only one belt in between where I stood and a black belt, but because I needed to travel to a neighboring city to take higher level classes, it was no longer affordable, and I had to let it go. 

As part of McNair this summer, we are working with a personal trainer at Seung-ni Gym. Part of our last two workouts have involved using kickboxing bags to incorporate punching and kicking. While doing this, it brought out my passion once again for martial arts. I did not realize how much I have missed it until now! 

So, where does this leave me? It leaves me with a new goal - I want to finally earn my black belt! I want to grab hold of my passion once again and achieve an old dream. It is never too late. By the end of this summer, I want to find a local location where I can begin to learn again and advance my skills. 

It is so important to have passions and dreams in life. What dreams have you pushed aside that are waiting to come true? I challenge everyone to go after them and see the difference it will make for you all!

It Begins With The First Step

Starting an exercise regime can be a difficult thing for people to do - it is because it is a lifestyle change. However, it doesn't have to be a complete 360. It Begins with the First Step of trying!

I am fortunate that I participated in sports (cross country and track) throughout high school; it helped to instill a love for exercise in me. Now, I am starting to incorporate other activities to make exercise more interesting and fun. This includes:

• Attending yoga twice a week
• Working with McNair at gym twice a week
• Working out on my own by biking and running two-three times a week

Although I want to stick to this every week,  I understand that things come up - life is full of surprises! However, one missed day does not mean falling off my plan. One issue for people is missing a workout day and then completely falling off the wagon. It is important to stick to it!

Start slow and work your way into your routine - you don't have to be an expert when you start out. Exercise is a learning experience and you need to discover how your body feels - it is different for everyone. And once you get into the groove, keep going at it! We can all create a healthier version of ourselves by supporting one another and providing encouragement on both the good and bad days - that's what it is all about :)

Sweat, Sweat Everywhere

One thing I have never been good at is getting an adequate amount of water for my body. I hate hearing the typical drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day - I don't believe that. Rather, it is finding the right amount of water for your body - everyone is different :) 

It's been a week now since I started drinking more water everyday, and today was the first day that I finally noticed a difference during my exercise routine. Usually when I workout, for as long as I can remember, I did not sweat that much leaving me feeling worn out and exhausted quicker. Today was not the case. I felt like I sweated out the Pacific, but it felt so good! My body felt more alive than ever! After that experience, it helped imprint the importance of water on my mind. I will be sure to keep it up!

Could Have Gone to Culinary School

It's true! Culinary School was my backup plan if I didn't get accepted into a university or found it was not the right place for me. Cooking is a passion of mine, and I would not mind cooking for my career. However, that was not the case, but cooking is still a thing I love. 

Lately, I have been making small changes to a healthier lifestyle, and I find that cooking is one area where it is easy to improve. It is as simple as adding more vegetables to my meals, using lean meat, and staying away from things high in saturated fats. I have been doing a lot of reading as I try to change how I eat and discovering what they call super foods. Each week I am going to try to incorporate and experiment with different ones, and if they are good, I will add them into my regular diet.

This week I tried avocado. My girlfriend is a huge fan, and I decided I should give them a shot. I was not sorry for trying. Not only was it nutritious, but I ended up feeling very full afterwards which is not the usual case after I eat a salad. I ended up making a salad with the following:

• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Sweet Onion
• Green Pepper
• Avocado (of course!)
• Fresh squeezed lime juice
• Salt and pepper

I want to encourage everyone to try and add something new to their diet - you may find something new that you really like, and you will be creating a healthier lifestyle for yourself.

Two other things I tried out this week:

White rice with chicken, green and red peppers, and onions - seasoned to taste

Lettuce, chicken, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and peach juice for dressing

Food For Thought

Does it ever feel like you can never do enough?

What has fear of failure stopped you from doing?

In one sentence, who are you?

Strengths Can Be Weaknesses

I recently took an online test designed to predict my top strengths. My top five were:

• Relator - enjoys close relationships with others
• Self-Assurance - confident
• Significance - want to be important and/or recognized
• Maximizer - focus on strengths to stimulate excellence
• Belief - core values that are unchanging/give purpose

Being a future researcher, I was, of course, looking at the validity of the test. That being said,  by just looking at the answers it gave me, I can see these traits in myself. Although this test says they are strengths, I see that they also are a weakness. Let me break it down.

I do enjoy close relationships with others. I would consider my friend circle small compared to others, and I place great value on each friend of mine. At the heart of it all, I am a people pleaser. I like to make everyone happy. However, this gets me into many problems because this is impossible, and someone gets the "short end of the stick." Then, this tends to lead to hurt feelings and make me feel guilt inside because I let someone down. It is a constant battle for me, and it seems that sometimes people just expect too much when I am stretched so thin trying to make everything right. Of course, I realize that pleasing everyone is impossible, but it is in my nature to do my best.

I feel my confidence and need to be recognized go hand-in-hand. I am confident in my abilities and know I am capable of more than the average person, but I also realize that I do have limits and areas where I need to improve. I enjoy recognition and am proud of all my accomplishments thus far. However, it seems that my attitude or persona I give off is that of a conceited individual. That is not how I wish to appear to others.

I do not see a weakness in being a maximizer. I feel as a leader in organizations, it is important to be able to see the abilities in others and help them achieve their very best.

Lastly, I grew up learning values that I live my life by. My beliefs help to shape me, and it is frustrating when others come along and judge. I respect the beliefs of others, and in turn, I would expect the same.

Worth Every Moment

Even when the moments are less than happy, it is worth every moment with you.

Laughter

Cheap Therapy

I always grew up with a garden at home, helping to plant, water, and weed, and then getting to see the marvelous results of a little hard work. Now, with adjusting my lifestyle to become healthier, growing a garden is more important than ever. I am fortunate to be able to grow a garden with some of my friends in the McNair Program this summer; we have planted spinach, thyme, potatoes, broccoli, onions, and tomatoes and peppers soon to come. Gardening is like therapy to me with added benefits; with the everyday stress that comes along with being a student, it is nice to have a garden to work in and share the experience with a great group of people. Not to mention, the great vegetables we will have in a few months will be A+.

Before Pictures

Until coming to college, I was never really comfortable with my body. I always seemed to find something wrong and would constantly compare myself to others more fit than I was. Coming to college changed my views though. Now, I am comfortable and am looking to improving my upper body as I change my lifestyle and become a healthier version of who I currently am.

Making It Work

Since December 30, 2012, I have been in a relationship with Alyssa Chrisman, and it has been an incredible journey. We went into our relationship knowing it would be long distance for a few years, but we had confidence that we would make it work. Starting May 31, she will be moving to Memphis, Tennessee as part of Teach for America. She is always finding opportunities to make a difference in the lives of people, and I am incredible excited for her journey. Her moving will put a few states between us, and we decided to make goals for ourselves to keep our relationship exciting even while we are apart for months at a time.

• Skyping once a week 
• Writing handwritten letters every other week 
• Reading a book together and discussing it
• Never going to bed angry
• Knowing the next time we will see each other
• Training for a Disney half marathon together

This site really puts it in a good light!

Secrets to Long Distance

My Fellow Scholars

When I first got an e-mail from Lynn asking if I was interested in the McNair Program, I decided to do some research on what being a part of it entailed. I was immediately interested in what the program could do for me but did not fully grasp how much it could change me because of the influence of my cohort - of course a huge part of the program is the research project and preparing for graduate school, but it is so much more. I am part of a family who fully supports and encourages me, and I in turn provide the same to each of them. 

Earlier this week we attended a retreat at Cran-Hill Ranch, and it was an incredible time for us because it was the first opportunity we got together as a group outside of the academic setting. I learned what drove each person and feel closer to each of my cohort. Now that the summer has officially started, I will be able to have more fun and grow along with everyone!

At the retreat, we took a few moments to reflect on how we want to feel. I want to encourage everyone to take a step back from their busy lives and reflect on how you all want to feel. It is a different way of thinking, and it has become an important mindset as I strive to reach my goals. As I continue to reflect, these are how I want to feel:

• Valued
• "On Fire"
• Accomplished

I am happy to embark on this journey with my fellow scholars and support how they want to feel. It provides a unique bonding opportunity. The summer is filled with opportunities for growth as we all take steps towards healthier, well-rounded lifestyles. On Wednesdays, we get to practice yoga together and follow with meditation, a new experience for me and other scholars. Also, working out at the gym twice a week is motivating because we are all pushing each other when the going gets tough. Outside of exercise and health, we are all learning new skills as we work on our research projects and share what we are learning with one another. Furthermore, we all "LOVE THE GRE" and doing preparation together is encouraging. 

We are a newly formed family from different backgrounds coming together to work as a team!

Inspiring

My Summer Goals

This summer is important because it is my last before applying to graduate school in the fall - I want to be fully prepared for the next step in my life. I have set out goals for myself this summer to make improvements both physically and mentally. One of the great benefits is I will have the support of my fellow McNair Scholars to help push to achieve.

• Complete my research project entitle Effects of Hypergravity on Bone Mineral Crystallization
• Prepare myself well for taking the GRE in August
• Understand what graduate schools are the best fit for me
• Attend yoga twice a week to supplement my routine and improve my flexibility
• Train hard to be able to run a 20:00 5k at the Color Run in July
• Gain muscle mass, especially upper body strength, for Quidditch
• Take time for meditation
• Make healthier diet decisions
• Read seven books for leisure
• Use my blog as a tool for self expression

A New Journey

Today marks the first day of my blogging experience - it is something I've always wanted to try but never had the motivation to do so. Here's to my journey towards earning my Ph.D. :)