San Diego

Just before my flight to San Diego, my Grandma lovingly fixed the hem on my pants. My mom bought me a nice suit for my interviews at UC San Diego- I spent like 3 or 4 hours the night before screwing around with hem tape and then trying to simply stitch the pants when the tape didn't work. The end result looked like a sloppy Home Ec. job. What can I say? My whole life seems to be a sloppy Home Ec. Job, I don't even know how to iron-it seems like when you get one part ironed it wrinkles in another. I know, it's lame.

My grandma says that ironing is the secret to a good hem. My grandma is really good at ironing and sewing.

Did you know my grandparents are famous?

Their picture appears in numerous Ensigns, Friends and Lesson manuals.

Check out page 65 of your Teaching of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith manual- they recently appeared there too.

Thanks Grandma for fixing my pants!

I think the interviews went good. I met with 5 different faculty members and had a 40 minute interview with each. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm competing with Harvard lab workers and other Ivy- leagers for a position at UCSD- it would be cool if I got in.

Here's a view of the Salk Institute- named after Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine. If I'm admitted to the biology program I would have the option to pick an advisor whose lab is there. I could probably spend five years researching in this building...

Citrus trees at the Salk Institute

View of the ocean from the Salk Institute. There are some stairs leading down to the beach.

This is a view from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, if I was accepted to the program I might be able to do a lab rotation here.

They closed the Scripps Birch Aquarium to the public and hosted a private dinner there for the Biology "recruits." We had drinks (or diet coke) and cheese/crackers while we socialized with the faculty. Just before dinner, I took off to look around the aquarium.

Look at these creepy-ass eels. I tried to get some more pictures but they turned out too dark. I didn't want to freak out the fish with the camera flash.

Here's another picture of the UCSD campus on some benches between two of the biology buildings.

We went on a harbor cruise and saw some of down town San Diego (UCSD is located north in La Jolla).

I'm glad the whole interview weekend is over- it was stressful acting intelligent and alert to put on a good show for the faculty. I really hope they let me in.