I was really inspired by a post on Meghan’s blog recently [well, I’m inspired by all of her posts, but this one in particular] because she shared some very personal, very unique attributes about herself and then invited others to do the same. You know, in this online world of blogging, she’s right that its very easy for us to pick and choose how we present ourselves. We edit our images, we spend loads of time crafting individual pieces – almost like writing a book, we delete characters we don’t want presented, even if that’s just a simple subset of our own quirks. So here are ten things that make me “weirdly me”. 1 //  I can tell which of my friends or family is approaching me from behind based on the sound of the way they walk. I guess I pay a lot of subconscious attention to your feet.   2 //  Some days I prefer to spend my time alone with just my dog and no other people. But I also have a …

Home again, home again. After so many hours of flying, I’m finally back to the island and back to reality. This one-week long adventure to the west coast was a bundle of “firsts” for me in travel and my professional career as a scientist. I discovered a lot about myself on this trip to California, and I’d love to share some insight. This was the first trip that I’ve done solo for my profession. This was the first time that I booked a BnB for only me, booked a flight for only me that arrived at a location where no one was waiting to get me (except a taxi), attended a conference on a ground breaking topic in genetics solo from my lab, and made my way across the grand city of San Francisco to find another Puerto Rican amongst the masses. So, I did it. I really did it on my own, and it’s about time. I’m 25 after all, that’s an adult right? Why shouldn’t I be capable of this kind of travel …

I’m off the island again – this time, in California! I’ve heard the phrase “Join Science, See the World”, which I think is just finally starting to apply to me. I’m in Walnut Creek, just outside of San Francisco, for a week-long workshop on metagenomics. If you have no idea what that is, then you’re in the same boat as me. That’s right, I’m sitting in a workshop about a topic that I currently know next to nothing about. Yikes! I prepared as best as I could – read several papers on the topic, constructed a poster detailing my work and how it will utilize this technique… but I’m still no geneticist. I’m a ichthyologist. I’m a biologist that studies fish – big things we can see with the naked eye, not microscopic things. I’m out of my element! But this is an adventure for me! This is actually the very first time that I’ve traveled for science on my own with no colleagues, to a place I’ve never been (the Joint Genome Institute), with …