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"I think" - AngelWings' University Journal

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AngelWings:
Date: 18th May 2018
It's been a while since I last updated, hasn't it? Heh, oops. Might be a short update, because I've a bit to do right now.

A bit has been happening since my last entry, with a tiny roller coaster of emotions over the past 3 weeks (technically, past month). I've been chugging along - albeit slowly - with my project. Currently stuck at a point, but I'm not done trying things yet. (I might explain this properly in the future, but I'll see...) I've also been reading up on the current state of evolutionary biology and ecology a little more, which has been rather interesting.

Friends from previous years came back to graduate this week. It was a bittersweet moment to see them again. It's the feeling that you get when you see your friends from primary school again after many years. You feel like it's been a while and that you've changed, but you also feel awfully familiar with telling them what's actually been up with you and not the abridged version that you would tell an acquaintance.   

Oh and remember my last post about those issues I mentioned? Still working on it, but it's getting better. I made sure to be more social, exercise a little more and be a little less workaholic, although all of those are still works in progress. I tend to act all-or-nothing, so I find that I have issues hitting a good intermediate sometimes, but that's something I intend to fix about myself in due time.

AngelWings:
Date: 15th June 2018
Really quick update, as I've got an assignment due Monday Just thought I shouldn't leave this hanging.

I'm now about halfway into my Honours year and I've been pretty happy with my progress thus far. At the moment, I'm trying to figure a way to make my project more accessible and presentable. Despite a few issues (we had to redo a model once), things are actually going alright and pretty much to plan. I've been lacking the biological interpretation of what my models mean and that's something I'm hoping to elucidate once my assignment is over. Once I interpret everything, I should be able to start writing up a section of my thesis, although I still have a number of models to go. I've also added to the project since I discussed it in the literature review I talked about a few posts back (which was actually combined with a project proposal), so I've actually got a good chunk to talk about already.

Talking of which, I received the literature review back a while ago and didn't fare too badly. Seeing as I knew it wasn't the best and my project is complex to begin with (I was warned), I wasn't expecting to do well in relation to my cohort, but I actually did alright. So I'm pretty pleased with how that went. I also received my Bachelor of Science certificate (without Honours) the other day and can't wait to frame it up.   

I'll explain my project properly in due time, but once I'm out of the woods. The next few weeks will be composed of coursework assignments, practising for said assignments and starting some new models, which I've been researching relevant species for this past week. I've also got some personal events going on, hence the lack of updating time.

For now, I've got to sign off though... life and Honours are calling for me. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask below, whether it's "What's Honours like?", "How did you figure out you wanted to do a science degree instead of architecture?" or "What's your favourite colour?". Okay, maybe not the last of those, because it's off topic, but anything related to science, uni/ education, life, etc. is more than welcome. :)       

Joseph41:
Nice work on the lit review! And congrats on the degree. ;D

AngelWings:

--- Quote from: Joseph41 on June 15, 2018, 04:11:14 pm ---Nice work on the lit review! And congrats on the degree. ;D

--- End quote ---
Thanks J41!
Date: 13th July 2018
Missed meeting up with the AN VIC crew today :( , but pretty busy this week. Also, random tangent: every time I check this journal, it's literally a month later. How does time fly so fast?  :-\

--- Quote from: AngelWings on June 15, 2018, 04:08:24 pm ---I'll explain my project properly in due time, but once I'm out of the woods.       

--- End quote ---
The time has come. I've been procrastinating on this for a while, but I should probably explain what I've been doing for a solid 4-5 months so this journal makes more sense. Honours, at least in my department, is run in two parts - the research project and coursework, so I'll discuss these in two separate sections below. Hopefully, this will provide some insight into my experiences.

1. Research Project
Research ProjectThe research project is the part everyone knows about and thinks of when you tell people you're studying Honours. The question people always ask is: "What's your project about?" or something along those lines. Projects are an individual thing, so every Honours student you talk to will be doing something different.
 
My research project has been modified since the start, so if this doesn't quite match up with what I said earlier, that's the reason why.

Currently, my project discusses chromosomal evolution in mixed mating species. In its most fundamental form, I am looking at how different modes of reproduction - asexual and sexual reproduction (especially how combinations of these) - affect the genetic make-up of a population in the context of evolution. More specifically, how does parthenogenesis (a form of asexual reproduction) at varying degrees, affect genetic variation? To do this, my supervisor and I are using models to describe how this should work theoretically. Along the way, we make a bunch of assumptions that limits the types of genes and organisms that these models can be applied to.

Plan is to form 4 models, each with 3 different types of genes depending on which chromosome they're from (autosome, X or Z chromosomes), as that'll affect how they're inherited. The 4 models are distinguished by broad differences in how the asexual reproduction happens and the composition of each generation.

At the moment, I've been making several versions of the first model of the 4. It's taking a long time because we've made mistakes several times, we've  found specific cases (but weren't general enough, so we tried again) and we really wanted to confirm that what we got was right. Right now, I'm on a break from finishing this and graphing the results. Next week, I should be starting the next model, which is exciting news.

2. Coursework
CourseworkBesides the project, we have another mandatory component to ensure that we have the toolkit of a scientist. Things like analysing data to derive scientific conclusions, being able to discuss current research and present our research to the average layperson are essential skills. As a result, Honours students, at least in my department, are assigned a bunch of assessments that also count towards our grades.

About a week ago, I received my grade for the statistics assignment. I was relatively happy with my mark.
Around the same time, I had another assessment task. I was a little disappointed in myself about it, but I still hope I did well. (Marks haven't been released for this yet.)

Other News
Other NewsAside from the hectic assessments and my project in general, I've been trying to keep friends and classmates around me positive, as a lot of their experiments and such are just not working or they've lost a lot of motivation. I've been taking breaks regularly (as I am now) to ensure that I don't burn out. Something I also haven't mentioned yet is that there are two Honours intakes; I was a part of the first semester 2018 intake. The second semester intake begins next week, so I'm hyped to meet new people again. 

I've also been catching up with old friends and other life lessons/ events. New graduate programs, jobs and internships are popping up now as well, so I've been busy trying to apply for as many as possible. Talking of which... this reminds me of a few summer internships undergraduate students are able to apply for, so if any penultimate or final year (typically 3rd year) science/ health science/ medicine undergrad students are interested, please PM me.    

Overall, I'd say I'm over the largest hurdles of Honours right now and just need to sprint towards the end at full speed. Honours has been a pretty big learning curve so far and, just like I suspected, I've not just learnt a lot, but I've also been growing a lot personally. There are still many things I am yet to fix, but I'm working on it. I can say for sure that I'm trying my best right now, so that's what really matters, isn't it? :)
Anyway, I should probably go back to my project. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend or break, as the case may be, and I hope you're ready to go come term/ semester. To any currently demotivated VCE/ HSC students, please know that everyone has these lulls in motivation - even at Honours level and beyond. It is natural. If this is happening to you, take a day off when you can and just chill. Rest up (properly) and you'll be back with that motivational fire in your eyes in no time!  :D   

AngelWings:
Date: 10th August 2018
Another month gone by. I've had a few things happen, but all in all, it feels like the same old, same old. I guess I need to work on my spontaneity, but that's right after I work on taking more breaks. I realise I don't relax much (I think I mentioned I'm a little more workaholic than I should be before.) and need to ease on the accelerator sometimes. 

How's Honours?
Question of the hour. I seem to get this a lot now. Really don't know how to answer but "It's going ok.". It's a default answer like everyone says "I'm fine." to "How are you?".

In all honesty, it is going okay and it's no lie. If I had to be specific, I'm probably somewhere midway into the second model and we (my supervisor and I) think it'll be my last one for the year, just because we've run out of time. It takes roughly a month to do a model and, add in checking, troubleshooting, coding and simulating, it takes about 5-6 weeks now. Not to mention, I have just 2.5 months left until thesis is due. Slightly disappointed I didn't get to do more, but I'm still happy with my progress and current work. You always have such a grand plan and wind up realising you only can do a portion of it - it simply happens. Oh well. The stage I'm up to right now is just checking my models and seeing if they're right. I'll probably have this complete in the following two weeks or so.

I'm also starting to think of how I can present this to a general audience, as one of the final assessments is to give an oral presentation. Not exactly difficult, except for the fact that I'm doing my Honours in a field none of my peers have really done much on or previously studied much of before. Which means a solid chunk of terminology I use on a daily basis is out the window. Great. -.-

Aside from the pessimism, I feel pretty ahead on top of things at the the moment. I hope that lasts for a solid few months before the last few weeks of constant mayhem and panic of thesis deadline (late October) sets in.

Side tangent: My supervisor got a new Honours student with the mid-year intake and I've been teaching the ropes when he needs it.

What have you been doing besides uni?
I've tried to be more social lately, but it's just not happening with everyone because we're all equally busy. I did, however, attend a party, so that was good. Again, still applying for jobs and grad programs.

Beyond this, as I said at the beginning, trying to implement more breaks into my life (like right now). I'm also going to attempt to shorten my screen time, which is kind of difficult for the Honours project I've been doing. Exercise is slowly getting back into my life, as has a slightly healthier diet. My part-time job is about to see some changes, so I'm also a little anxious about that in the background.

Anything else?
I know that VTAC (and maybe UAC soon?) are opening for preferences. Feel free to drop a PM if you want someone to talk about the Bachelor of Science at Monash, especially if it's anything from biology, chemistry or first year maths (and Japanese, just because). You can also ask me about architecture selection (I tried out for Monash Architecture), having really random preferences, Honours --- pretty much anything.

If you're a student at Monash, feel free to also shoot me a PM for random career opportunities (part time, casual and full time) and such. Also, if anyone has a Year 9 sibling (or you, the reader, are a super organised Year 9) who wants to find work experience for 2019, I know of a list of places too.

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