4 years to get what?

My fellow labmates have started writing their thesis. This act in itself makes me extremely jealous, even though I know they have been here longer and have more data (well some have more others I am not quite sure how they are graduating or what exactly they are going to defend ...another blog another day). Hearing about the few pages they have typed I get motivated to start analyzing my data. I may have over a year left, but when they tell me I can go I want o be ready. I have done one particular assay over and over for the past four years I have been here, not all successfully, but needless to say repeated many many times. I decided I could pick a hand ful and analyze them and do some statistics on them. I included tests I know didn't work , but I thought ..it should all balance out in the end. NOPE. I have spent four years of my life doing an assay just to get overlapping error bars. How sad. I knew I wasn't saving the world and finding cures for cancer, but all this hard work for overlapping error bars. hmph. Just will please someone bring some meaning to me. I would like a menu where I can order meaning on a silver platter. WHY am I still here? I guess it is for hopes that one day I can do an assay and get error bars with some space in between them! Sad life I live .

Making an impact

A few days ago I heard news of the death of a very sweet woman, the grandmother of a friend. She was definitely the type of woman that people feel blessed to have known. She was always with a kind word, a supportive smile, or a loving hug. She was a nurse who has helped and supported many people over the years. She taught me about life, love, and faith. Everyone that new her had nothing but kind things to say about her. This led me to think about my own life. I always think about making an impact by finding some cure for some disease (probably won't happen err) but that really isn't the only way to make an impact. It is in the smiles you give, the ears you lend for listening, the warm touches and embraces, the soft words you use. I feel like why fret on the petty things. To truly make an impact one must strive for the ability to touch a heart to help a soul. These are all things one should think about when deciding how to make an impact. Therefore smile at someone today, say a kind word, forgive, and understand.