Kirsty the Scientist

There was a video I watched a couple of months ago with an idea that's really stuck with me!  It's a video from another one of my favourite youtubers, Leena Norms ( justkissmyfrog ) where she talks about the idea that by telling others about your plans, you get the same satisfaction from the pleasing of others just by telling them, and you end up not doing the plan itself! Here's the video:  She describes the idea as a 'getting fulfillment from something without doing the thing' - the social 'praise' from telling your peers and others about something you want to do, but then you don't carry out the idea.  I think this is a really interesting thing - especially as I think I experienced this when I started this blog, although I didn't really realise or think about it at the time! I kept the blog to myself for the first few weeks, only telling friends and family once I'd written 2 weeks of posts! Initially after telling people about the blo...

Today is my last day working in the lab and it feels very bittersweet!   Over the past 10 weeks, I've had the best time.  A huge part of that was down to working in the most amazing group of people. Not only showing me the ropes of lab work, but welcoming me into their team with open arms. I also had the opportunity to learn from a fantastic supervisor - someone who really knows what they are doing and guides you under their wing whilst allowing you to explore and develop your own ideas.  So, although I'm really looking forward to the next stage - getting my dissertation written up and tying all my story together - I'm going to really miss working in the lab every day. This experience has completely changed my perspective about lab life. I'd never realised just how collaborative, supportive and friendly the environment can be (if you work with a good bunch!). And I enjoyed lab work more than I thought too - I loved problem solving at the lab bench, considering differ...

Only joking! Well kind of...!  The same guy who had his viva yesterday headed off on holiday for two weeks today... and he gave me first dibs on using his desk whilst he's away! (which is perfectly timed for me as I'm starting to spend much more time diving into writing these days!)  Today was mostly eclipsed by meetings and journal club. Journal club is a monthly meeting where the research team discusses a paper that is relevant to our research area but perhaps something that is not directly linked, chosen by a different person each month. Good chance to give some other work a roasting! 

You might have noticed by my slightly inconsistent frequency and length of these blogs that at times, I've found it quite challenging to post a brand new blog post every week day!  It isn't really for lack of ideas or even forgetting or losing inspiration - but working in the lab every day has taken it out of me much more than I thought it would. I've always thought that I get my best ideas when walking in the fresh chilly British air, and everyday I walk home brimming with ideas, reflecting on my day in the lab, drafting the blog post in my mind. But as soon as I get through my front door, it feels like the weight of the day hits me and the thought of sitting and editing my thoughts together into a good blog post becomes the least of my worries. And so a rough draft of my ideas gets scribbled down and other things take precedent - like food, dissertation writing and sleep!  I will continue to try my very best to get the right blog post out on the right day and I am...

A friend from our research group told me that I looked really peaceful today! And it was true I had quite a relaxing day, whilst still doing a full day's worth of work! :) It's been a manic couple of days - with quite a lot of things on my plate all at once. But today has been the first day where I've been able to just focus on my lab work, all by myself, with no-one watching or shadowing me, and it was actually really lovely.  Reflecting on February:  I've also realised today is the last day of February, marking a full month of lab work for me and the start of the last month of my project.  via GIPHY via GIPHY via GIPHY This month has flown by, but equally it feels like I have been in the lab for so long (in a good way!) and I've learnt so much whilst I've been here! Now, I've really got to start getting my head down into writing now and think about the final experiments I've like to do to pull my project together and bring my project to a fi...