Well, I'm a third-year student at Texas Tech University majoring in Chemical Engineering and minoring in Bioengineering, Chemistry, and Music. I was actually almost a piano performance major but I decided I didn't want to do the whole starving-artist thing after college. I hope to do an MD/PhD program after I finish at Tech and someday want to either do research in genetic engineering or work on improving neuro-prosthetic interaction.

I currently have a research fellowship with the Honors College at Texas Tech and I work over at the Health Science Center. My old research dealt with the effect of heat shock on the PEPCK I, III, and IV genes in daf-2 mutant and wild-type C. elegans. My project this year deals with AMPK and fat storage in worms. I'm basically using Nile Red to dye the fat inside the worms so I can quantify its fluorescence through image analysis. Sounds exciting, eh? Actually, I love my work and wouldn't trade it for anything. Most people would die if they were cooped up in a lab all day...but I absolutely love it. When I'm not in class or studying, I pretty much head straight for the lab...

So, up until this point, I probably sound like your typical stuck-up, straight-laced, nerdy girl who lives in her room and is always studying...well, that's totally not me. In fact, I'm probably as far from that picture as you can possibly get. My hair is usually multi-colored...ranging from brown and red to fuschia and blonde...I was in a weird mango-blonde stage as a social experiment until about January 13th when I got a random whim to dye it burgundy! So yeah, multi-colored hair, I kind of live in t-shirts and jeans...and I love to be outside. If I'm not in class or in the lab, I'm probably out running a few miles or swimming lap after lap. I love bouldering, absolutely hate those fake inside rock climbing walls, and love camping. Pretty much anything you can throw at me I'll at least try. I'm probably the most stubborn and most driven person I know...

I love photography, music, poetry, ranting about things that piss me off (http://www.xanga.com/Lishy04 <--go there for all my latest ranting...), learning, and I'm ridiculously fanatical about musicals...So basically I'm kind of interested in everything. I love talking to people who actually have something to say and want to make a difference in the world. If you're also on ET, I'm [ShadedFate] on there...so you can talk to me there, too.

Well, I suppose that's me in a slightly oversized nutshell...?