The past few days have been fairly up and down-
- Late Friday night: I ended up in a bit of a panicked state because I realised that I felt like I barely knew much of what I'm being tested on for my midsem which is coming up- it made for a very unpleasant night; unsure of what do to at that point in time.
- Saturday: I was fairly unmotivated, and I didn't do very much, considering the most notable thing that happened was my younger brother's last cross country race occurred (he beat his PB, I'm uber proud of him).
- Sunday: As I haven't been doing so well for the past day and a bit, I chose to not push myself right out to the point of burnout (I was feeling like I was on the verge of that by this stage) by instead only doing some very light study/research- posing questions for my group project and going over the last few week's worth of bioorg and physchem.
- Today: I had a relatively short day- had 2 chemistry lectures and a physiology lecture (all back to back). Again, haven't really done much since getting home, but I hope to *attempt* to pick up my game again before the busier end of the week comes, else I fear that I'll be snowed under- which is never fun. :)
Nice to see that you've taken some much needed time off :) hope you feel better soon!Thanks babs <3 I hope so too! ;D
The past few days have been fairly up and down-insanipi <3 :-*
- Late Friday night: I ended up in a bit of a panicked state because I realised that I felt like I barely knew much of what I'm being tested on for my midsem which is coming up- it made for a very unpleasant night; unsure of what do to at that point in time.
- Saturday: I was fairly unmotivated, and I didn't do very much, considering the most notable thing that happened was my younger brother's last cross country race occurred (he beat his PB, I'm uber proud of him).
- Sunday: As I haven't been doing so well for the past day and a bit, I chose to not push myself right out to the point of burnout (I was feeling like I was on the verge of that by this stage) by instead only doing some very light study/research- posing questions for my group project and going over the last few week's worth of bioorg and physchem.
- Today: I had a relatively short day- had 2 chemistry lectures and a physiology lecture (all back to back). Again, haven't really done much since getting home, but I hope to *attempt* to pick up my game again before the busier end of the week comes, else I fear that I'll be snowed under- which is never fun. :)
The past few days have been fairly up and down-There there <3. Try not to work yourself too hard lou :33
- Late Friday night: I ended up in a bit of a panicked state because I realised that I felt like I barely knew much of what I'm being tested on for my midsem which is coming up- it made for a very unpleasant night; unsure of what do to at that point in time.
- Saturday: I was fairly unmotivated, and I didn't do very much, considering the most notable thing that happened was my younger brother's last cross country race occurred (he beat his PB, I'm uber proud of him).
- Sunday: As I haven't been doing so well for the past day and a bit, I chose to not push myself right out to the point of burnout (I was feeling like I was on the verge of that by this stage) by instead only doing some very light study/research- posing questions for my group project and going over the last few week's worth of bioorg and physchem.
- Today: I had a relatively short day- had 2 chemistry lectures and a physiology lecture (all back to back). Again, haven't really done much since getting home, but I hope to *attempt* to pick up my game again before the busier end of the week comes, else I fear that I'll be snowed under- which is never fun. :)
insanipi <3 :-*
There there <3. Try not to work yourself too hard lou :33Thanks guys! <3
Thanks guys! <3
29/8
Today's been a much better day- I did some light study before my lectures this morning, then grabbed a coffee- decided to shake things up and get a different coffee today (That's probably why my day was better than the past few :P ) :) .
In my lectures today: we covered a lot of exam questions in physiology, as well as learning a lot about what goes down in medicinal chemistry- including looking at/interpreting Lipinski's rule of 5, total polar surface area and membrane permeability.
I've also started going through and making flashcards for my chem unit that has a midsem test, after realising that my pal Quizlet has most of the reactions I need to memorise already in pictures!
I'm also lowkey excited for my prac tomorrow- we're doing some ion exchange chromatography- I'm not entirely sure how that links into my physchem unit, but made for an interesting read (and reread/rewatch of prelab stuff), as I hadn't heard of that type of chromatography before about 3pm :P
What coffee did you get? And what coffee do you normally order?I got a medium flat white today, and I usually get a small cappuccino ;D
I got a medium flat white today, and I usually get a small cappuccino ;D
(also I don't have sugar in my coffee- sugar makes me kinda sleepy, and that's not the desired effect :) )
I've never had sugar in coffee (or tea), but I honestly can't imagine it being pleasant in the slightest.My thoughts exactly haha ;D
- Trying chatime for the first timehow was this? :P
how was this? :PNot bad, was a little sweet though! :P
but I also get free foodbest thing of uni
best thing of uniIs uni even worth it if there's no free food? ;)
7/9Did heid convert you into a yoga fanatic? Should I be scared now?
During the week I have started a new exercise routine (read that as: yoga- not gonna lie, it's addictive haha)
Did heid convert you into a yoga fanatic? Should I be scared now?Nah, my own decision- wasn't really doing much exercise so that was the first thing to come to mind :P
Also good luck with your oral group presentations. Make sure all your other members get the memo to arrive on time... Lets just say my group had some issues regarding this and among other things when we had to present. :-X
Congrats on the midsem, insanipi. :) Must be a bit of a relief!It sure is a big relief hahah :)
10/9
The day where I actually find it too painful to continue watching a series of 4 prelecture videos in preparation for my physiology lecture tomorrow.
I also need to read some lecture notes for a physical chemistry lecture tomorrow as well. :)
I can't wait until the midsem break, I'm starting to wear down a bit and I need that toorecoverstudy. :)
What's a pre-lecture video? :-\ Like, I can guess based on the name - but are they compulsory?Basically a "lecture" that I have to watch prior to my active learning lectures. I have to prepare for my all my lectures before attending (usually it's a reading or 5, very rarely a video haha), otherwise the lectures themselves are pretty pointless, as we do activities about the content, instead of covering the content :)
11/09
- Late last night I finished *all* of those prelecture videos for physiology- made it worthwhile this morning as I had to draw a concept map about the process of identifying a bitter taste. (shown below)
- I also had a physical chemistry lecture- saw an eye injection video, kinda glad I have a strong stomach*
- I also had an bioorganic and medicinal chemistry (what a big name for a unit haha ::) ), in which we covered polymer chemistry. :)
- I also sat through 4 long hours of presentations this afternoon- what joy hahah
- Today also marked the start of a new group assignment, which is going to be fun (I hope! ;D )Slighty blurry and messy photo of concept map(https://i.imgur.com/LHFNJdw.jpg)
*Unless you ask me what happened late Friday arvo hahah
Tomorrow is a lot more chill than tomorrow, I only have to sit through 4 hours of presentations again, but this time, my group is presenting ;D
what happened late Friday arvo? ;)I knew this'd be asked hahahah. it's not that long of a story but:
I knew this'd be asked hahahah. it's not that long of a story but:I love that subscript so much, probably the reason you got sick. But I do wonder how did that even happen?
After uni on Friday, a ton of us went to a place (I kinda got persuaded to come haha) that us pharmsci kids refer to as ABC. I kinda had a few and it was fairly lit, but then I consequently fell sick not too long after I left xD Insert something here about drinking a jug of cocktail like it was a jug of cordial (::
Long story short, made for a fun lateish afternoon trip home :P
I love that subscript so much, probably the reason you got sick. But I do wonder how did that even happen?:P
I love that subscript so much, probably the reason you got sick. But I do wonder how did that even happen?Highly doubt it's the reason why, I'm pretty sure I ate something bad beforehand haha. :)
:PViruses and bacteria, or so I've been told :)
I wonder, how do people get sick?
30/9Wait, you have "mid-semester break" now? That is bizarre. Is RMIT the only university that has mid-semester break during mid-semester?
I have taken "mid-semester break" a bit too literally (I mean I've had a pretty full-on week of activities), but managed to get 3 hours of catching up done so far today- which is impressive, as I'm sorta struggling a little at the moment haha. ^_^
Wait, you have "mid-semester break" now? That is bizarre. Is RMIT the only university that has mid-semester break during mid-semester?Yup!
30/9One of my lecturers is from Ireland so he calls it ‘Reading Week’. Unfortunately, it caught on and I can’t stop calling it that. :P
I have taken "mid-semester break" a bit too literally (I mean I've had a pretty full-on week of activities), but managed to get 3 hours of catching up done so far today- which is impressive, as I'm sorta struggling a little at the moment haha. ^_^
One of my lecturers is from Ireland so he calls it ‘Reading Week’. Unfortunately, it caught on and I can’t stop calling it that. :PIt does make a lot of sense! I like that term, haha! ;D
You have to admit though, Reading Week makes a lot more sense.
1/10- The end of semester is near...You'll be okay :3.
It feels completely weird to finally have all the notes for 2 of my units (and the other two to follow soon) for the semester. It just means that the semester is nearly done, which means exams are near. This is a pretty scary thought right about now! :P
Wow, you have a lot on this week and I thought my week was rough.Just another typical week for me, haha!
I hope all goes well for you this week and your exams.
Is the choice for specialisation in formulation science next year, what you are planning to do as a career path in pharmaceutics?
Just another typical week for me, haha!Cool, I'm also not surprised at it being the popular one considering formulation is where the industry is going now, unless that has changed in the last year or so.
Thanks! ;D
Not sure if I'm going to answer your questions properly here, give me a shout if I don't :)
For pharmsci, we have a choice of 3 specialisations/majors (Drug Discovery Biology, Medicinal Chemistry, Formulation Science) from second year, semester 2 onwards (as the first 1.5 years is all core subjects) - of which I've chosen to go down the formulation science pathway (the most popular stream, from what I hear, haha). Typically this'll allow me to either a follow a path in the pharmaceutics/biotech industry as a formulator/pharmaceutical scientist (drugs or otherwise), or I can also undertake a research pathway- one of my 'formulation science' lecturers/my course director is one of these researchers, she has a pretty cool project going on that you can read about here :)
Should I be concerned that you could be drugging me the next time I see you for "research" purposes XD?
What do you mean by whipped cream?Glad you asked!
Glad you asked!Looks like fun :) ! Dawhh!
Don't mind the audio in these videos, but here's what I meant by whipped cream:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dl6olyit78t6jan/MVI_4046.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sn0g6q9l955hegq/MVI_4047.MOV?dl=0
(and yes, that's me :P )
Glad you asked!I'm going to need some context for this.
Don't mind the audio in these videos, but here's what I meant by whipped cream:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dl6olyit78t6jan/MVI_4046.MOV?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sn0g6q9l955hegq/MVI_4047.MOV?dl=0
(and yes, that's me :P )
Looks like fun :) ! Dawhh!It was fun!
P.S. You are so adorable in those videos :3
I'm going to need some context for this.Here's the context:
17/10Ahh, another victim has been struck with hayfever.
We finally presented the final video, and that's a relief!
However, I have discovered that hayfever really truly sucks, and I can't take antihistamines, so I'm really struggling right now. 😂
It was a nice warm day otherwise! :)
Ahh, another victim has been struck with hayfever.I literally can't take any antihistamine product- tablets or otherwise haha :)
Have you tried eye drop and/or nasal spray as well?
I literally can't take any antihistamine product- tablets or otherwise haha :)Do you get adverse side effects from taking them?
(Also added irony about tablets- I can't swallow them, and I'm doing pharmsci...)
Do you get adverse side effects from taking them?Yep!
28/10Update: I'm feeling okay now, don't mind my unnecessary panicking :) (I'm now sick to death of the unit's content :P )
I have an exam on Tuesday. I don't feel like I've done very much study for this unit. Someone save me please 😂
Anyways, I found this cute little addition to the tables at the other cafe on campus, and I just had to take a picture of it. ;DWow you must really love that beakerI mean the beakers here(https://i.imgur.com/nF6yKNP.jpg)
Wow you must really love that beakerIt's not everyday you find beakers not in a chemistry lab, Rui :P
12/3/18Congrats, you've exposed yourself in front of the public.
Something different for a change!Spoiler(don't mind the background noise! :) )
Congrats, you've exposed yourself in front of the public.Speak for yourself, mate. :P
Haha falling asleep in lectures is so me aswell and I've only just started arghahaIt'll become the norm, trust me :P
Who'll be next? ;)
Speak for yourself, mate. :PYou're the one that's too shy to do this and that :P
Well based on recent events, I know of a potential candidate... ;)
You're the one that's too shy to do this and that :PCan't be shy forever ;)
A cafe and a cafeteria? You have so many options! ;DI say not enough! :P
I also managed to embarrass myself not once but twice when emailing lecturers today. :-[
What happened? :(There's a few scheduled echo360 recordings that are missing and:
There's a few scheduled echo360 recordings that are missing and:
1) I emailed one lecturer about a "lecture" on Wednesday next week... I got a reply back saying the lectures were on Thursday and Friday... Turns out I misread my timetable and it is a tute :-[
Even worse as that lecturer is one I just had as well and he brought up the timetable topic- eek!
2) I emailed another lecturer about a lecture I'm now sitting in that isn't actually being recorded and said 17/3 instead of 17/5 and he asked if I was talking about the right year. :-[
That sucks - easy mistakes to make, though!Very true
What does an angry moose sound like? 🤔Something like this (Except a little more angry sounding aha :') )
So I have a massive break rn due to an early committee meeting so I decided to go to Barkly Square (local shopping centre near uni) and stock my locker up! Here's a look at it rn! ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/uoV6gGs.png)
I'm noticing a trend!What type of trend are you noticing? ;D
So I have a massive break rn due to an early committee meeting so I decided to go to Barkly Square (local shopping centre near uni) and stock my locker up! Here's a look at it rn! ;D
I love that you have a locker - do you get much use out of it?I get heaps of use out of it!
Content-wise, I'm doing okay! I have a lot of spare time throughout the week.Turns out I spoke too soon. 😅
Things I learn 2 days before a 20% newspaper article on "unstable water soluble suspension injections" is due: writing 500 words on that topic without criteria is very difficult. Send help <3This could be completely useless but:
(I have 214 words at the moment and am struggling.)
A cafe and a cafeteria? You have so many options! ;DWe no longer have either option- both leases are up, so there's now no food outlets on campus until idek when -cries- </3
Somehow missed your last vlog at the time but I enjoyed the train commentary haha. Looking forward to your next video, yo. 👍Haha, glad you enjoyed the commentary! (I comment
EDIT: What's Building 5?
(Early upload before my lab this morning :D )
(Oh god that preview image ahaha)
Nice one! Can imagine vlogging while running to the station would be difficult anyway hahaha.I could try, but I won't, too many roads to cross tbh haha 😅
We've finished making both tablets and creams,
Creams as in beauty creams? That's so cool! ;DPretty much! It is pretty cool!
Also what aspects of pharmsci do you like and dislike? It seems like such an interesting course :)
Pretty much! It is pretty cool!aaaah thank you so much! I'm really considering this as a career option...I'll be sure to read your reviews ;D
Likes: all the cool hands-on labs I've lucky to have thus far and nearly all the formulation and biotechnology subjects.
Disliked: Colloid chemistry and organic chemistry units.
If you want in details about any units I've taken, feel free to chuck me a PM or check my reviews out on the Monash Subject Review thread! :)
Sorry for the short reply, I have a million things to do atm haha! ^-^
aaaah thank you so much! I'm really considering this as a career option...I'll be sure to read your reviews ;DI'm not too sure what I'm considering after this year, honestly, but a PhD would a little while away for me! :)
btw are you planning on completing a PhD?
Hey hey!
It's SWOTVac, the time of the semester where I seemingly stress out the most over exams. This semester's a little weirder, I only have a single exam to
Hi :)Hey, thanks haha
Nice update ( have fun stressin about exams :P )
anyways I was just curious to know what is SWOTvac ? I've been seeing it pop up all around the forums. . . What's it stand for?
heyy it's been a while since your last update I hope you're doing well ;DHey hey! It has been a while, but I'm doing okay!
aaah it's good to hear that you're doing well! It seems like you're cruising through all your subjects... other than creams, what else do you create in the lab?Other things I've done in lab this semester include my industry project (body wash) and tablets. I have made aspirin and other drugs in organic labs in the past as well!
Other things I've done in lab this semester include my industry project (body wash) and tablets. I have made aspirin and other drugs in organic labs in the past as well!That's really cool! I'm considering going in this pathway in the future. What career are you hoping for? Research and Development? Sorry for all the questions I'm just really intrigued!
Most other labs are analytical- titrations and HPLC; I haven't had any biotech labs, even though that stuff is cool 😍
That's really cool! I'm considering going in this pathway in the future. What career are you hoping for? Research and Development? Sorry for all the questions I'm just really intrigued!It is pretty cool haha! I'm really glad you're considering it! I'm leaning towards the research and/or development, or clinical trials side of things atm, but that may change, who knows haha! :)
It is pretty cool haha! I'm really glad you're considering it! I'm leaning towards the research and/or development, or clinical trials side of things atm, but that may change, who knows haha! :)oooh would you be looking into the medicinal drugs side or the make-up side? Apparently Vic has a lot of pharmaceutical industries!
Don't be sorry for asking questions, I'm way more than happy to answer!!! ^-^
oooh would you be looking into the medicinal drugs side or the make-up side? Apparently Vic has a lot of pharmaceutical industries!I'm looking towards more the medicinal side of things, personally! (That may be influenced by why I chose the course in the first place haha :) )
Noice a Trello user. Have you tried Notion before?I've heard of it, but it seems too cluttered for my liking. I'm a uni student, I don't need more clutter in my life :)
I'm looking towards more the medicinal side of things, personally! (That may be influenced by why I chose the course in the first place haha :) )I love the leafy east! tbh more pleasing to the eye than the west. Did you choose the course so you can help make medicines better/ safer?
Also true! We have quite a few pharmaceutical companies around Melbourne/in the leafy east! :)
I've heard of it, but it seems too cluttered for my liking. I'm a uni student, I don't need more clutter in my life :)
I love the leafy east! tbh more pleasing to the eye than the west. Did you choose the course so you can help make medicines better/ safer?Same, but I do live in the south-west aha :') I chose pharmsci as I've been surrounded by medicines and doctors and stuff ever since I was little, as mum was sick. I've always been interested in the science behind them, so it lead me to here! ^-^
I've heard of it, but it seems too cluttered for my liking. I'm a uni student, I don't need more clutter in my life :)
Hi insanipi,This made me so happy to read, but no, thank you!!! :)
I just found your journal and I would just love to say that it has been nothing but a pleasant read. I literally spent 45 minutes reading from the start of your journey to now haha. As a nurse now, a lot of the things you've said somehow resonates with me a lot. I also love your vlogs. :D
Can't wait for more. Thank you for making my night :)
Just posting my rest of semester to-do list here, to keep me accountable, because ...I'm in a real bad slump. It's worse than a reading slump, I'm telling you. At least it's all over in now under 5 weeks, I guess! :')Reporting back in!
This is a mix of stuff that is kinda urgent, as well as final assignments, and a bit of exam study- as my exam timetable is not ideal and doesn't give me a lot of time to really study for anything during swotvac lol.
(https://i.imgur.com/CUUaPM6.png)
I'll report back at the end of the week (hopefully), love y'all! ^-^
I'm curious as to what "fluffy snake" on November 5th entails? ;)It's just a timeline that I've had to make for one of my units, that my lecturer calls the fluffy snake aha! 😅 I'm planning to use scratch to make mine kinda interactive and will be actually doing all the scratch stuff during Swotvac (next week), I've been working on the "avatars" and info I need to add all semester aha 😊
I got so lost reading the journals my supervisor initially sent :( ). It honestly feels weird not knowing what I'm really in for, and mildly terrifying that I'm not entirely expected to know what the heck my supervisor's on about from the get go and having to actually go look stuff up all the time.That's the Honours life for you! It's one of the biggest learning curves and it's absolutely OK to not fully 'get' anything until like a month into your actual project (I didn't).
I spoke too soon- last week was a non-lab week for me, so I stayed home and did my stuff here. Little did I know that I'll be doing that for the next month haha 😅
As it stands, I'm still required to be in at uni whenever I need to be in, however, with all the rapid changes Monash has made (including shutting both the library and Monash Connect (as of tomorrow) down at Parkville, alongside no cafeteria (since last week)) in the past 24h, I'm seriously unsure if I'll not be on some sort of leave of absence by the end of next week at this stage! I'm trying my best to stay home and work when I don't have to be at uni though, which is the best I can do in the very touch-and-go situation.
Honestly, I'm excited to be heading back into the labs in the near future, and hopefully my experiment planning actually goes somewhere soon!My experiment planning is still not going too well- I had a step in the right direction over the weekend, but this new lead kind of is actually hard to work with (or so says my PhD pal), so I'll just have to wait and see what my supervisor says tomorrow -grits teeth in suspense-
THE BASIS OF MY WHOLE PROJECT ACTUALLY WORKS! 😍That’s amazing to hear! It’s not often that things actually work, especially something experimental (and harder still when it’s during a pandemic). Congrats on this milestone!
I ran flow cytometery on Friday for measuring the fluorescence of my cells and I got around 2% positive! This isn't much, but we know it works- so all my hard work so far has been worth it!
Great news! Well done - happy for you. :)
So happy for you <33💚💚💚
Despite my not understanding practically anything about this stuff, it's really interesting. :)Don't worry, I'm still getting my head around it too, despite being nearly 9 months deep into the project haha :P
That’s amazing to hear! It’s not often that things actually work, especially something experimental (and harder still when it’s during a pandemic). Congrats on this milestone!I was genuinely expecting it not to work, but alas, it worked! I still cannot get one of the delivery methods to work though (trialling with plain cells to GFP), no matter what I do- it doesn't work aha :P
A bit of a quick update today! It's been nearly a month, and I haven't really acheived much else aside from getting replicates for the data I already had.Following on from this, last week I had a terrible cell contamination event happen so I couldn't restart my experiments when the broken machine got replaced 🙈
This week already has been a drainer and a half- I had a lab class Monday, and I'm in the middle of preparing for my journal critique assessment tomorrow- which is on top of me just setting (just under) half my assays I had planned- I was meant to get another two started, but a machine that I absolutely need busted itself Tuesday, so I don't know when that'll be fixed because I kinda need to get my stuff done and obviously can't (there's only one of this machine on campus, so that's a yikes and a half if I ever saw one :'))
On the bright side of things- I got some pretty cell images yesterday night, and I now have the right to keep my scrunchie obsession up haha!
That's all for now, toodles! <3
Following on from this, last week I had a terrible cell contamination event happen so I couldn't restart my experiments when the broken machine got replaced 🙈That’s absolutely horrifying! 😱 Wishing you good luck from here on out. You’ll make it, Insanipi!
That means that I'm having to squeeze 14 assays into the next fortnight; I hope I can do it, because I have a deadline to meet!
Hoping I don't go too insane from it! 😅
Following on from this, last week I had a terrible cell contamination event happen so I couldn't restart my experiments when the broken machine got replaced 🙈So. I had more bad things happen to my labwork in the past fortnight, so I'm still doing lab work. But! I'm working it out time-wise so that I'm also doing the bulk of my thesis before my last experiments have had their run! (See also: my thesis writing thread in Accountability and Motivation)
That means that I'm having to squeeze 14 assays into the next fortnight; I hope I can do it, because I have a deadline to meet!
Hoping I don't go too insane from it! 😅
All the best for your presentation!! You got this!
Hope it went well!! :D
Sending ~good vibes~. Hope it went/is going/goes well!
Goodluck insanipi! I hope it goes well and you will smash it :DI think I did okay! It finished earlier than I expected, but I wasn't given too hard a question, honestly (which is weird because this was worth 25% of my year, yikes!)
Coolmate 8)