I had a lot of positives and negatives over winter break. My two major positives (besides seeing family and friends and not getting COVID) were finishing all of my grad school applications and submitting my first paper for publication. These two objectives took up more time than classes last semester and are both massive weights off my shoulders going into my final semester at Penn State. Applying for grad school, as some of you reading are likely aware, feels like applying to undergrad but even worse because it’s more complicated. Not only do you need to consider all of the factors that influenced your decision to spend four years at Penn State (location, tuition, major, etc.) but also now you must find an advisor you want to work with for at least four years, a healthy lab environment, stipends and funding sources, and a myriad of other variables. I sent out ten applications and I am now in this limbo state of waiting back from schools.
I have been working on this research project since my first year at Penn State and started writing the paper in August 2020 so submitting it for publication has been a long time coming! The manuscript (with figures and tables) is over 60 pages long, includes three tables, six figures, and almost 150 references. Hopefully this is the first of many papers in my academic career and is able to survive peer review and will be available to read on American Journal of Botany before I graduate!
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