It’s going to be a busy semester

Somehow,  I had arranged the semester to be fairly light allowing me to work on my research. I was only signed up for one class, the work of which parallelled the work I have to do for my degree, namely write up a dissertation project proposal. On top of that, I was slated to teach one lab section, so overall my class and teaching load would be light. Funny how things actually work out. I am taking 3 classes, though one not for credit, and teaching two sections of lab. 314 lab isn’t really that bad, it’s all computer-based, but the extra time committment and grading will be a minor annoyance. The bioinformatics class will be fast-paced and full of work, but I should come out of it with the basic tools to analyze  gene expression and sequencing data that will surely be a part of my dissertation. And Quantitative Genetics is just something that I need a firm background in since we are primarily a quantitative genetics lab. So all of that, topped with a research proposal and a manuscript of the selection data I presneted last week, and I’ve got a busy semester ahead of me.

So much for having a breather.

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