Presentations and Summer Plans

If you're ever given the option of choosing a topic for a presentation, and late-onset Alzheimer's disease is one of the choices, run - no sprint as fast as you possibly can - away and towards any other topic. I was working on a power point presentation for my biochemistry course all day long yesterday. See, the problem is that nobody really knows for sure what causes late-onset Alzheimer's disease and yet next Monday, I'll be standing in front of a room full of people pretending that I know something about it. I can't wait for the inevitable raised hand that will precede some question that I'll obviously be answering with, "I'm not really sure." The awesome thing about science is, sometimes that really is the right answer. Not knowing sure does make it difficult to present though!

Now for the good news! I heard back on Friday that my application to be a work-study student has been approved! I'm so happy to have my summer plans solidified and so relieved that I'll be getting paid for my research. I'll be working on a project, researching a disease called Arryhthmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy - basically its a disease that affects the heart and causes sudden death, especially under conditions of stress (think young, previously healthy athlete that dies during a sporting event). It's an awful disease that's usually not detected until a problem occurs - which oftentimes is too late.

 I'll be working with a really great researcher too. He's got a good sense of humor and makes sure to explain difficult concepts clearly. I made sure to work with someone I knew would be willing to teach me along the way because otherwise, research can get pretty mundane (I speak from experience). I'll wait until next week to fill  in the rest of my summer plans, but I'll hint that there will be some volunteering and travel - both of which I'm so looking forward too! Happy Monday!