Shoutout Stephen Gilbert! He gave us a lecture on how to apply to grad school. Going into it, I thought I knew what that process would be like, but I was surprised to realize I knew very little about the details! I learned a lot from the lecture about different professors styles, the way that masters and PHD differ, and the importance of making connections. It was also really cool when Stephen came with us on the car ride to the University of Iowa, and when he gave us our luncheon lecture. I feel like I got to know him better. Grad school doesn’t seem as intimidating anymore.

Also, Shoutout Eliot Winer! Today we had our second Ethics session. I like how he encouraged us to consider things from other perspectives. I agree that stopping at “this thing happened, and it was bad” is not good enough. The importance of examining cases like the Theranos company is finding out what went wrong. What were the motivations and pressures that lead to the unethical action? Why was it unethical? What is the nuance to her decision? These are the sort of mind-opening questions that Eliot had us consider.

Overall, 7 weeks in, this program has been really cool. I feel like I’ve learned a lot, and I’m glad to be here. 🙂