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Parasites on the Brain
What's eating me
Created on 2004-06-29 05:26:50 (#3640558), last updated 2006-03-09
251 comments received, 577 comments posted
Basic Account [Gift]
88 Journal Entries, 15 Tags, 0 Memories, 0 Virtual Gifts, 6 Userpics
Basic Info| Name: | Invertebrate with dreams of stardom |
|---|---|
| Birthdate: | 06-12 |
| Location: | Antioch, Tennessee, United States |
BioLessee... I'm largely made of water, with enough nucleotides to keep it all interesting. Also, some PVCs from industrial pollution. Yay, industrial pollution!
Being unsure as to what counts as a vital statistic, I'll at least say what it is I do, and the rest of the details can be filled out later. I'm 30, I'm starting my PhD in Science Education at Vanderbilt (Peabody College, technically, but it's all part of VU), and I'm hobby-tastic.
"So why science education?" That's a very good question, anonymous voice, and thank you for asking just the question I wanted to answer. You're much better than that other voice that tells me to kill. No, mother, not now! Yes, of course I still love you the most! Where was I? Oh yes. Because the way we teach people how science is done, and the way we teach people science, are completely at odds with each other. We tell students that science is an investigative process, where scientists are encourage to think, to share ideas, and to collaborate on interpreting data. Then we tell students to keep reading silently and memorize all this, because there will be a test on how well they can repeat the information they just read. This, as some of you who have suffered college biology/chemistry/physics can attest, remains the status quo even at the college level. Y'know, college, where people are encouraged to become free thinkers and functional, voting members of the hoi polloi. No wonder 50% of Americans think Creationism is a science; they're told to listen silently in church, too, so science class is no real stretch.
I intend, in my own way, to make changes to that. Not sure how yet, but that's what the PhD program is for: To break my will and make me submit. Also to encourage me to do a project that gets me a degree and a job waiting tables.
I tend to be sarcastic but light hearted, dorky but awe inspiring, so yeah, I'm me. And humble, too, did I mention? I am madly in love with my fiance Kelli, and while we're apart geographically, we're very close in all the other good ways. My recent hippie streak emergence and putting that into plan is all thanks to her, so yeah.
My big thing is buying a house, and that's unlocked a lot of catering to my many hobbies, such as gardening, nature photography, fighting my grand tendency to be slovenly, and writing. Hence, the LiveJournal. It helps me track my days, collect my stories, and who knows, maybe make a few friends.
Being unsure as to what counts as a vital statistic, I'll at least say what it is I do, and the rest of the details can be filled out later. I'm 30, I'm starting my PhD in Science Education at Vanderbilt (Peabody College, technically, but it's all part of VU), and I'm hobby-tastic.
"So why science education?" That's a very good question, anonymous voice, and thank you for asking just the question I wanted to answer. You're much better than that other voice that tells me to kill. No, mother, not now! Yes, of course I still love you the most! Where was I? Oh yes. Because the way we teach people how science is done, and the way we teach people science, are completely at odds with each other. We tell students that science is an investigative process, where scientists are encourage to think, to share ideas, and to collaborate on interpreting data. Then we tell students to keep reading silently and memorize all this, because there will be a test on how well they can repeat the information they just read. This, as some of you who have suffered college biology/chemistry/physics can attest, remains the status quo even at the college level. Y'know, college, where people are encouraged to become free thinkers and functional, voting members of the hoi polloi. No wonder 50% of Americans think Creationism is a science; they're told to listen silently in church, too, so science class is no real stretch.
I intend, in my own way, to make changes to that. Not sure how yet, but that's what the PhD program is for: To break my will and make me submit. Also to encourage me to do a project that gets me a degree and a job waiting tables.
I tend to be sarcastic but light hearted, dorky but awe inspiring, so yeah, I'm me. And humble, too, did I mention? I am madly in love with my fiance Kelli, and while we're apart geographically, we're very close in all the other good ways. My recent hippie streak emergence and putting that into plan is all thanks to her, so yeah.
My big thing is buying a house, and that's unlocked a lot of catering to my many hobbies, such as gardening, nature photography, fighting my grand tendency to be slovenly, and writing. Hence, the LiveJournal. It helps me track my days, collect my stories, and who knows, maybe make a few friends.
ConnectInterests (38):
alternity, biology, cartoons, cats, charles darwin, cooking, don hertzfeldt, evolution, fossil hunting, fossils, gardening, heckling movies, insects, invader zim, johnny the homicidal maniac, making dvds, mst3k, mulberries, naturalism, npr, parasitism, peace, pickling, roleplaying, rollerblading, savage worlds, science education, squee, star control, stargate sg-1, tapeworms, teaching, theta xi, vermiculture, video game music, warcraft, worlds of warcraft, writing
Schools:
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Alexandria, VA (1988 - 1992)Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - Blacksburg, VA (1992 - 1996)
North Carolina State University - Raleigh, NC (1996 - 1999)
University of Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH (1999 - 2003)
Vanderbilt University - Nashville, TN (2004 - present)
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bluemeg, cindrax, daerath, e_r_e_n_e_t_a, et_blackbird, geoectomy, physicaleast, tyratae, vrgrrl, wahyagar
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15minuteficlets, _sustenance_, endcreationism, gamemusicfans, news, not_quite_rural, pantry, politicartoons
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