{"id":12,"date":"2005-10-01T19:44:19","date_gmt":"2005-10-02T00:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/astra\/2005\/10\/01\/be-yourself\/"},"modified":"2005-10-01T19:44:19","modified_gmt":"2005-10-02T00:44:19","slug":"be-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/2005\/10\/01\/be-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Be yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\nI wish I didn’t have to title my entries. I’ll figure out how to switch
\nthis into a date format, eventually. It shouldn’t take me too long if I
\nlook at the HTML script.<\/p>\n

The BMES conference yesterday, day three of four, was quite interesting and
\nI got to listen to some stimulating talks. My PI talked today, as well
\nas Sangeeta Bhatia at MIT\/HST, Elliot McVeigh from NIH, and Jay
\nHumphrey at Texas A&M. Their brief lectures were collaged into a
\n“Whitaker Symposium” celebrating the careers of said recipients of
\nWhitaker funding, and were about adaptation and learning, microscale
\ntissue engineering, real-time MRI for cardio applications, and modeling
\nof cerebral aneurysms, respectively. Biomedical engineering is a
\ntremendously broad field (yes, a realization of the obvious, but today
\nit was a visceral realization). I was inspired, but also began
\nquestioning whether I was really in the right lab, as my interests do
\nrather seem to be more in the tissue\/cell engineering realm than my
\ncurrent project in motor control. Perhaps it’s largely due to my
\nfamiliarity with molecular and cellular biology, but the application of
\nnano and micro techniques to the study of the basic science as well as
\nengineering-type manipulation of cells was exciting, and simply cool.<\/p>\n

I ran into Prof. Stanley at the symposium – it was very good to see
\nhim. Of the little nuggets of advice he hurridly delivered as we walked
\nout, “you’ve got to find the middle ground between micro-biology and
\noverly large systems level” was the nicest (if not most helpful, since
\nI’ve already realized that this is the huge dilemma I’ve got to
\naddress), while “you have to finish classes, write your thesis and move
\nto the next level, get to the PhD soon” delivered with a slightly
\nimpatient air, the least so. Slowly but surely, though, I’m nearing
\n100% conviction that what I’m doing now, in terms of both program and
\nlab, is the right thing. I will graduate with a skill set of both
\nbreadth and depth, more credentials, more lab experience, and most
\nimportantly, a good grasp of what sort of research I would gladly
\ndevote my life to. Hmm.. remembering Dr. Bhatia’s dynamic talk, I
\nshould revise my recent line of thought that a medical background is
\nmost useful for systems-level research, as opposed to research on the
\nmicro scale.<\/p>\n

          ‘Do you love your country? Then you, before others, should cultivate a strong personality.
\n          The reason there are no great individuals among us is simply because
\nthere is no one who strives with determination to become a great
\nindividual.
\n          Why is it that the
\nperson who sighs that there are no giants neglects to study to become
\none himself?’<\/span><\/p>\n

A quote by Ahn Chang-ho, Korean independence activist. I must regain my
\nworld view, my resistance to conformity, and proactive lifestyle. This
\nlargely amounts to reconstructing a pre-college version of myself. So,
\nI’ll start again. Consider this the third of my paltry “trials and
\ntribulations” which, failing to break me, will leave me stronger.<\/p>\n

Lastly, a short poem that speaks volumes to me.
\n         
<\/span><\/p>\n

He is quick, thinking in clear images;<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>I am slow, thinking in broken images.<\/span><\/p>\n

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;<\/span>
\n
\nI become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nTrusting his images, he assumes their relevance;<\/span>
\n
\nMistrusting my images, I question their relevance.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nAssuming their relevance, he assumes the fact;<\/span>
\n
\nQuestioning their relevance, I question the fact.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWhen the fact fails him, he questions his senses;<\/span>
\n
\nWhen the fact fails me, I approve my senses.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nHe continues quick and dull in his clear images;<\/span>
\n
\nI continue slow and sharp in my broken images.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nHe in a new confusion of his understanding;<\/span>
\n
\nI in a new understanding of my confusion.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n

\n– Robert Graves\n<\/div>\n

I lied, actually. I believe people can succeed at self-change (to a
\ncertain level), but only after a long and disciplined process.
\nOften at significant cost. Is this cost enough?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wish I didn’t have to title my entries. I’ll figure out how to switch this into a date format, eventually. It shouldn’t take me too long if I look at the HTML script. The BMES conference yesterday, day three of four, was quite interesting and I got to listen to some stimulating talks. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":745,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/745"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/astra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}