Article Summary: I finished my thesis! FINALLY! My oral defense went really well because I got a lot of GREAT criticism and comments from people before I gave my final talk! I’m finally an actual PhD with LDs! WOO! I visited Cape Town to see my future lab and FELL IN LOVE with the idea of working there! It has …Read or listen to the rest
About Me
Writing My Dissertation…
Article summary: I’m currently writing my dissertation (thesis). A dissertation is a long report covering your research over your entire graduate career. Writing a dissertation is an incredible amount of work and it sucks a lot! This article is about tips I learned that are helping me write my thesis right now. Published papers can be chapters in your thesis …Read or listen to the rest
Walls and Jet Packs: Part 2. Jet Packs are Awesome!
Article summary: People and things that prevent you from succeeding are wallers. Wallers suck! Jet Packs are people that help you overcome these walls I’ve been fortunate to have grown up with many supportive people These people still help me succeed Everyone needs this support to be happy and successful Find your own Jet Pack! Be a Jet Pack! Jet …Read or listen to the rest
Walls and Jet Packs: Part 1. Dealing with the Jerks.
Article Summary: People that prevent you from succeeding are Wallers. Wallers suck! Wallers can actively stop you or indirectly stop you. I’ve dealt with Wallers my whole life. Wallers have told me: I’m dumb. I should quit grad school and change professions. I will be a terrible scientist! They are wrong! Use their negative words to help fuel your fire to succeed. Try not to dwell …Read or listen to the rest
Stupid Sleep: Terrifying Night Terrors
Article Summary: I embrace my disabilities. One thing I haven’t embraced are my night terrors. Night terror frequency increases with stress. They prevent my wife and me from sleeping well. I definitely don’t ‘have it all together.’ But I’m trying! We must not let the unfortunate consequences of trying hard and being stressed prevent us from doing what we want …Read or listen to the rest
Stupid Sleep: Bed Wetting
Article Summary: Sorry for the delay: I got married. I got permission to start writing my thesis. I got offered a post doctoral position in my DREAM LAB (in South Africa). I used to wet the bed almost every day. I wet the bed until I was in my early 20s. Bed wetting really hurt my self esteem. I tried …Read or listen to the rest
Run Away With Me
Article Summary: I believe that outlets are hobbies that make you happy while helping you become a better person. Outlets are needed by us LD and ADHD individuals to give us a chance to escape from the perils of our every day life. I use running as my outlet. Running helps me not go crazy over the ‘little things.’ Running …Read or listen to the rest
Adderall: The downside
Article Summary Adderall allowed me to study more than 12 hours per day, EVERYDAY. I felt HIGH when I took Adderall. It also increased my heart rate and blood pressure so much that I would feel my eyes pulsate every time my heart pumped. The side effects and the HIGH feeling scared me so much that I talked to my …Read or listen to the rest
Adderall XR: A new beginning
Article Summary: I’m not ADHD but I have multiple symptoms of the disorder. I get distracted VERY easily! I began taking Adderall before my freshman year of undergrad Adderall allowed me to read books (which was almost impossible in the past) It also allowed me to study an unnatural amount of hours Reading is hard! Listen here! Attention Deficit pseudo-Disorder …Read or listen to the rest
Empty Frames
Article Summary I’m an eternal (annoying) optimist. My optimism helps me deal with my disabilities. Scientists NEED to be optimistic. If all of us LD and ADHD individuals had the optimism of scientists I think we would have the potential to perform at the best of our abilities! Celebrate your accomplishments by displaying them in way that you can see …Read or listen to the rest