Jer Pin Chong

I am not a blogger. I feel like writing a blog is no difference than writing a diary, in which everyday you have to THINK of something to write, different ways to write. For a lazy person like me, my diary was almost the same day after day, and eventually ended up copy-and-paste to reduce my workload. That diary habit didn’t last long of course.  That’s just me.

There were several times I found myself in a very funny position.  I received my master degree in Wildlife Biology from Utah State University under the department of Wildland Resources. Our department is mainly focusing on researching plants and terrestrial animals.  However, my research was studying the phylogenetics (which should be in Biology Department) of freshwater mussel (should be in the department of Watershed Sciences).  Sitting among a group of terrestrial animal/plant students and asking questions about aquatic organisms and genetic has always been awkward, but I’ve got to get used to it.

After receiving my master degree, my professor and I both think that writing is one of my major drawbacks. So I’d registered an English writing class that was designed for undergraduate students. Again, I was in an interesting position because that was the second time I took the same course. All the course materials were the same from last time, except that this time I’d learned so much more from it.  The reason was very simple: when I was an undergraduate, I took the class because I needed it for my degree; this time I took the class because I wanted to learn from it.  I started to realize how a simple change in attitude can affect our rewards.

I think everyone who learns evolution is familiar with Red Queen Hypothesis. The Red Queen said, “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” I’d heard the concept over and over again in different lectures, until it brought a new meaning to me in one excellent seminar. The speaker applied the Red Queen Hypothesis onto human: “We have to keep changing in order to maintain at where we are.” I think it is so true.  

In every lab, no matter molecular or field work, there are many things to learn other than the techniques, such as how to prepare a field trip, how to organize field workers, how to schedule lab work so that we have something to do while waiting for the PCR, how to avoid contamination, how to keep things in order, etc. People who think they’ve learned everything will stop learning. People who think there are more to learn will have the motivation to continue.  

If one eventually learned most of the things and finally became an expert in certain field, doing similar thing everyday may be kind of boring. A little bit of changes may keep us motivated. Changing in living environment or in career direction will give us more things to learn. Changing is scary, but it is a progress of life.  We will learn the most when we put ourselves in another group with different specialities. That’s why I think what I need are the right attitude for learning, and the courage for changing.

These are what I have been thinking since I started to join the XTBG program. Everything here is so new to me, so everyday is a new challenge. I don’t know how persistent I can be to maintain the right attitude and the courage. It is always easier to say than actually doing it.  But so far, I am really enjoying the progress.