It's been awhile...

I've been a bit silent this past year, as my first year of graduate school was crazy! It was definitely one of the hardest things I've done: navigating research rotations, graduate level chemistry courses, and TAing responsibilites - all on top of living in a new place, starting a new life, and beginning a life-changing relationship with my partner.

And then, I never expected to finish my first year of graduate school during a pandemic and a social rights movement. The last term was all online. People are dying at record rates. The news is littered with people fighting against wearing masks in grocery stores and their opponents fighting against racially motivated police brutality. This is a moment in history.

I'm finally in the lab full-time, rebuilding my laser with Larry and Andrew. We wear masks all the time. Some of my colleagues still aren't researching on campus yet due to COVID restrictions. Meanwhile, in group meetings we take time at the end of each presentation to discuss a term related to Black Lives Matter, and our chemistry department held a town hall last week to discuss how we can combat racism and support minority groups in our workplace.

I expect I won't be posting much more here this summer, but, if you are reading this years into the future, reflect on where you were at this moment. What were you doing to help human kind? How can we educate ourselves? How can we support others and fight our internalize prejudices? How can we make the world a better place? What side of history do you want to be on?