Saying Goodbye to Research and Hello to Medical School!

Goodbye LSU-SVM, Hello GA-PCOM!!!!

Wow, what a week! Today after four long years, I officially ended my career as a research associate, and in six days I will be making my move to Georgia and beginning my journey to becoming a physician.

This entire week has been an emotional roller coaster! I have absolutely loved my work over the years, but I am happy that I will finally have some time to unwind in the upcoming weeks. But as much as I have loved research in parasitology, I am happier that I get to go on and pursue my true passion now. I am sad to be leaving a project that I have worked so hard on, and I really hope some of the efforts that I was involved in hopefully lead to the prevention and eradication of at least one neglected tropical disease. The good news is that we had another paper published a few weeks ago, so things are definitely moving along. I'm certainly going to miss all the craziness of the lab, and I'm even more excited that I can now say that I have never been bit by an animal or accidentally stabbed with a needle in the lab!!!! I don’t think anyone else who has ever worked in the lab can claim this title, and it is certainly not an easy feat!

Gifts from an awesome student worker and friend :-)

But overall, my last day was pretty good. One of my wonderful student workers surprised me with some awesome gifts, red velvet cake (my favorite), and a card that almost made me cry. My boss even came and took us all out for lunch (my daughter included), and he gave me an awesome book that I will add to my LSU memory collection. I am blessed to have worked with some wonderful people in my time as a research associate, and today I was reminded of that. Over the years, I have also had the chance to mentor a few undergraduate students, and I know that they will all go very far in whatever career paths they decide to pursue.

Going to miss my awesome boss!

I have lived in Louisiana since 2005, and this will be the longest amount of time I’ve ever spent anywhere in my life. My lease is up on Monday, so I will be packing and getting things in order this entire weekend. From there, I will spend a few days in New Orleans and hopefully meet up with some awesome people and say goodbye to a few close friends. I’m going to miss the food, the culture, the people, and most of all the food, but nothing beats living your dreams!