17 October 2000 - Lindsey Hillesheim ('99)

Since I wasnn't able to make it down to Indiana for homecoming, I thought I'd send you an email letting you know what I've been up to. Although if I had been planning ahead I would have sent it before homecoming!

First of all, I can hardly believe that its nearly mid-term of my 2ndyear of graduate school. I have found that moving from a TA to an RA is a much bigger adjustment than I had anticipated. When you TA and the grading/prep work/office hours are done, you can go home and relax. When you RA, there's always something you could or should be doing. Its hard sometimes to set limits. It seems I'm either here too late and have no time to do other things or leaving early and not getting as much accomplished. I'm like an underdamped oscillator--eventually I'll get to equilibrium even though I'm going to overshoot a few times. (insert groan for bad physics joke here.) I miss teaching quite a bit but I don't miss grading. I have been tutoring to fill that gap--all the benefits (and then some--I don't tutor for free!) with none of the drudgery .

I am currently working at the University of Minnesota's Magnetic Resonance Research Center (CMRR) or "The Center" (sounds rather ominous doesn't it?) I am working with a physicist here on brain metabolism using MR Spectroscopy (and Imaging of course.) Part of my training has been to learn how to do rat surgery. My advisor believes that the best place to start is with animals because if you mess up its only a $14 rat(unless you've infused about $500 worth of 13C labeled glucose into it.) It was a rough start and I still would rather work with humans but I'm adjusting. I also building RF surface coils and working on pulse sequences. The first is all EM and the later is entirely QM. I can't say yet that I'm enjoying myself--I haven't got any data yet and lets face it, you sometimes just need to get something to sink you teeth into (perhaps thats not the best cliche to use in this case...) One thing that may be of surprise to you is that my research group is over 50% women although not all of us are physicists. My advisor said that he's just been getting more qualified and motivated female applicants then male applicants of late. Its a big strange to be doing physics and have so many women around, particularily at the post-doctoral level, but wonderful having them as a resource.

I have a fairly light load this semester for classes--no physics in fact! I've got a stats course and am taking a graduate level philosophy course titled "Social and Cultural Studies of Science." The course question is: What is scientific knowledge and how is it constructed? I am the only scientist in the course--the rest are philosophers, rhetoriticans, and historians. I've been reading some very interesting stuff which seems to have alot to say to the people mentioned above but as yet has little to say to the scientist. Perhaps I'm missing something. I'm also auditing a biochem course for my research. Next semester it'll be back to physics courses again and beginning to prepare for oral examinations (which I will probably take next summer or fall.)

On some level I think I'm encountering a second year slump (sort of like the sophomore slump.) But now its for different reasons. I feel like I've been putting my hobbies and other pursuits (piano, painting, reading) on hold for nearly 6 years while I studied. I enjoyed my studies immensely, but they are not substitutes for hobbies and recreational pursuits. But like my sophomore slump, this too shall pass. So I try not to worry about it too much.

My family is doing well. My brother will graduate from the U of M inMay 2001 with a BS in Geophysics. He has an interview with an oil company to do field work coming up this next month. My parents have been traveling on weekends to see fall colors. Minnesota's colors have been exceptionally brilliant this year. I live only a few blocks from the river and bike back and forth to the U along the river parkway. My ride has been spectacular for the past 2 weeks. But I'll be taking the bus here in a week or two. Its just getting to be too cold in the mornings to bike in. I suppose I'm a bit of a fair weather bicyclist in that regard.

Its been quite exciting here at the U's physics department this fall. As you probably know, the tau neutrino has been found and much of the work was done by the graduate students of Ken Heller and Roger Rusack, both faculty at the U. Both gave quite nice colloquiums. Between that excitement and hearing about the "g minus two" experiment from a good friend of mine here, I sometimes think that high energy physics sounds much more interesting than biophysics. But then I remember my friend will be spending the entire 2nd semester out at Brookhaven working late shifts, and think that I've probably got the better end of the deal ;)

Well this "note" is longer than I intended, so I had best bring it to a close. I hope this finds you in good health and good spirits. If you get a chance, I would really enjoy hearing what you have been up to.

Take care,

Lindsey