First Week of Graduate School

Classes started on Wednesday and so far my first week was fairly uneventful. I am taking a bunch of classes, because at the recommendation of several experienced graduate students, this will be the easiest semester so I might as well take a lot now. So I am taking:
- Introduction to Major Human Diseases
- Virology
- Ethics (required)
- Professional Development (required)
- Student Seminar
- Pathology Seminar
I'm really excited about my new classes, the courses sound really neat and it really is what I'm excited to do and learn about!

So the way that graduate school works at Wisconsin is that the first semester I choose 3 labs to rotate in for one month each. These are 3 labs that I really like and am really interested in, and from these 3 I will pick one to spend my graduate school years doing research in. I will have enough classes for roughly the first 2 years, and after that I will present my thesis to a committee that I select and if I pass, I will be a dissertator. I will then spend another 3-4 years completing my PhD. I have set up my first 2 rotations so far, and I will be doing work in an Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) lab, and multiple sclerosis (MS) lab, and possibly a tuberculosis lab (although I have not confirmed my 3rd rotation). I'm very excited to start! The first rotation begins on Tuesday, so I will be working there full time while taking classes. Stay tuned for more updates!