The Art of the PERM

While this blog post mostly goes out to current first-years-going-on-sophoromes, I invite any who’ve participated in pre-registration before or need a few extra tips to comment below with questions or advice of your own!

This past week, most of the student population of the 5Cs participated in pre-registration, a long standing tradition which gives us the opportunity to plan out the rest of our four-year plans in detail, manufacturing stress levels that rival those of hall draw. I know that when I was a freshmen, I had little comprehension as to the severity of pre-registration and it’s effects on my academic psyche. It wasn’t until the second semester of my sophomore year when I was required to learn how “pre-reg” operates, and how to use it to get what you need.

As a science major, I was inevitably signing up for second semester Organic Chemistry. *shudder*  That semester, there were at least four different sections of the class and I knew that get into one of them. However, there was a bit of a scheduling conflict with one, and only one, of the sections and, wouldn’t you know it, it happened to be the only section available when my pre-reg time began. I quickly found the information of the professor to contact and emailed him right away. It wasn’t until two or three days later that I heard anything. He claimed to be swamped in something called PERM requests, a tool that I would eventually come to love and revere, and that I would have to submit my concerns and conflicts through the academic portal if I wanted my issue addressed. I was devastated. I’d felt like I had wasted so much time and that there was no way that I would be able to get into any section at that point and that I wouldn’t finish my major requirements and that I wouldn’t graduate… As you can probably guess, long story short, I calmed down, filled out the necessary request, and when the next semester came I was sitting in appropriate OChem class.

Now while this process isn’t always smooth, please be assured that the pre-registration system is a god-send and is set up specifically for the benefit of the students. The two biggest tips to making the system work for you is proper planning and an effective use of PERMs. As many of you may already know, before any of us are allowed to pre-register, all of the scheduled classes for the upcoming semester are displayed on the academic portal. My advice is to take this time to clearly and thoughtfully plan out as many alternate schedules as you feel is necessary. If you’re an underclass student, create back-up schedules in case particular classes fill up. If you need to fulfill major or graduation requirements, find alternate classes that fulfill similar prerequisites. If you want to try lots of different classes, develop schedules that include various disciplines so you won’t get bogged down in a single subject. The other point I’d like to make is to actively utilize PERM requests. For those who are unaware, PERM requests serve as messages to professors as an intent to enroll in a particular class and ask the permission of a professor to allow you into their class. Whether it’s because the class is already full or you don’t meet certain requirements, PERMs become the singular facet through which to communicate with professors. It is through PERM requests that you can actively make a case for your place in a class, which demonstrates initiative and motivation (even when it comes to the smaller issues like selecting your classes). PERMs make a first impression and get your foot in the (classroom) door, setting positive impressions on first-time professors.

I know that I sound like a broken record, calling on students to be proactive and to have a part in shaping their own education, but pre-registration is no different. It is an amazing opportunity to start considering the direction and progression of your academic career. It is a tool that you can actively control and manipulate for your own scholastic gain, something for which I will always advocate.

What I Want to do for Thesis

About a year and a half ago, I was working as a lab assistant in a professor’s lab at Keck science. One friday afternoon, we were about to start our weekly lab meeting, a time normally utilized to debrief and discuss our lab’s projects and goals for the coming months. However, on this particular day, we had a visitor drop by our meeting. She was a senior student who was just putting the finishing touches on her thesis project. She had asked my professor if she could stop in on our meeting to practice presenting her poster to all of us. As we all listened attentively to her presentation, I noticed something intriguing about the content of her project. It seemed as though she had worked in a hospital in between her academic semesters and had gathered research alongside a clinical mentor about the head sizes of pre-mature babies under specific conditions. As you can probably guess, I was immediately taken aback by the structure of her project. Since the beginning of that semester, I had begun to feel uninspired by the research I was conducting at my lab bench and this type of project was exactly the wake up call I needed. I became inspired by the work of this singular individual (whose name I can’t even remember…) to completely change the direction of my efforts.

Now I know thesis is can be an extremely stressful time of year for many students. But, to tell you the truth, right now I’m quite excited for it. The shear number of possibilities that can stem from the vague and multidirectional prompt of “thesis” is exciting, though a tad overwhelming. Because of this, I began seeing Jill Jones, the incredible pre-med counselor at Keck and she slowly began coaching me in the art of clinical exploration. She showed me how to aim for positions within my interests and skill set, while also encouraging me not settle because of my age or degree. She advised that I find unique, alternative experiences that would really help to expose me to my career goals and that would inspire me to perform excellent research. So I began searching everywhere! I called up every clinical profession within a 10 mile radius of campus, scouring for opportunities. I asked professors and administrators for advice and possible connections. I would actively wait every Sunday for CP&R’s Career Courier email for any applications or position openings I could find! You can maybe now understand why I was so thankful when I was contacted by a long time family friend who wanted to help me in my search. As a geneticist, she was not only interested in recruiting me for volunteer research, she also had a wide range of connections with doctors and professionals doing active research, people who I never would have been able to get a hold on on my own.

What I think I’m trying to say is that when it comes to thesis, and many other academic endeavors, exploring new and unlikely paths may just get you to exactly where you’re going. The inspiration, advice, and aid I’ve received for each of the women in my journey has been instrumental in igniting my thesis drive and, as a rising senior, I just can’t wait to get started.

Inspiration from an Unexpected Source

Many people, including my parents, often openly wonder why I am interested in science. Both of my parents are involved in advertising as art directors, so they’re very creative people. Even my younger brother is planning on continuing that creative legacy through some form of film production. I’ve been the odd one out in my family since middle school, when I started to revel in my science and math classes while my friends began dismissing them. More recently, I’m now majoring in Organismal Biology and happily on my way to becoming a genetic counselor, helping and providing resources to patients daily. None of us really knew where this scientific excitement came from, but after pondering over the years, we think we have an answer.

possible trigger warning: intense medical conditions and descriptions

You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I was born with a neurological defect known as Chiari Malformation, in which the back of the brain (or cerebellum) improperly descends on top on the spinal cord. This causes large pockets of spinal fluid to form around the brain, leading to motor and muscle damage. My condition was discovered when I was about nine and I was immediately treated in order to halt progression of the fluid. In October 2005, I underwent decompression surgery to open up the back of my skull and allow the brain to retreat away from the spinal cord. The operation was a complete success and my pockets of fluid cleared up very quickly. However, soon after my procedure, the secondary effects of nine years of stress on my internal systems became clear. The constant pressure placed on my spinal cord impacted the proper growth of many crucial muscles. As I got older, all of the muscles on the left side of my body, head to toe, became underdeveloped in comparison with my right side. While not only inconvenient and occasionally disorienting, my muscles could not adequately support my spinal cord. So I had two spinal fusion surgeries for rather extreme scoliosis during middle school and high school, both of which have been relatively successful.

Alright, let’s take a deep breath… Okay, you back? Great. It seems to me that the exhilaration I feel when it comes to science and medicine stems from these personal experiences as a patient. It would have been acceptable, even normal, to fear hospitals and doctors offices after everything I’ve been through, to cringe and tear up at the mention injury or surgery. Instead, understand the way in which the human body functions, and how it interacts with the surrounding world, inspire and drive me everyday. I chose to see medicine and the clinical sphere in a positive and miraculous light and have accepted them as an inevitable part of my life, whether I would have wanted it to be or not. Because of that, I couldn’t be happier with the life I’m living. It is vitally important to try to acknowledge the good in the world.  While some people can’t avoid the negatives, if you are privileged enough to be able to see the silver lining, please embrace it . Because it might lead you somewhere awesome.

Working with Others

As the semester drags on, many students like myself are faced with a grim reality. We’ve ignored it, pushed it to the back burner since the beginning of the semester, and hoped that it would simply go away. Group projects, papers, and presentations plague many a classmate and many with whom I’ve spoken believe that they are a creative and cruel ploy by professors to draw us out of our collective shells. Now, for the sake of transparency, as a science student, my classes often come with a additional laboratory component where I am “forced” to work with others. Recently, I’ve been blessed with a tremendous lab group (shout out to my peeps!), though I haven’t been spared of my fair share of challenging pairings in the past. As such, I’ve learned a few things about working effectively and stress-free with your peers.

Try your hardest to synthesize everyone’s POV, including your own. No one can complete everything at once, so learning to be flexible in group scheduling and time management is key. On the other hand, jeopardizing your schedule, or your sanity, doesn’t help anyone either and, if you respect your group members, you should be able to believe that they respect you and your needs. Finding the perfect balance between compromise and firmness may be your greatest asset in group communication. Though it may be hard when one of your group members loses a file or misses a meeting, try to stay calm and understand that every one of your classmates is only human. If needed, set earlier time windows for you and your group members to account for unexpected issue in a calm, collected way. If you find it becoming increasingly difficult to get anything done face-to-face…

Effectively employ social media and alternate forms of communication. When those early birds and night owls get paired together, frustration is bound to rear its ugly head. Use tools like Facebook Chat, texting, and Google Docs to complete your assignments on your own terms and avoid compromises.

Let your voice shine through in the right ways. Often, one of the most difficult parts of group experiences is the synthesizing of individual ideas and styles. It is the individual responsibility of every group member to make sure they are an active part of the project or paper. Using individualized language or verbiage is a subtle way to insert your voice into a cohesive paper, though it is sometimes important to step back and let others shine as well. If possible, compile the ideas of your group members into a cohesive argument that covers all bases. If, like lab groups, you work together on a weekly or monthly basis, this same concept can apply to the contributions you bring to the group. Some weeks you may be able to command the project, while some weeks you may have nothing important to say. While it is important to be always be actively engaged, don’t be afraid to contribute varying amounts. Hopefully, you can take over when someone else is feeling down, and they can support you when you need it. Speaking of,…

Don’t be hesitant to spread the work around. While I know this is not always instinct for some, including myself, you can rely on your group. Though you may want to get work done quickly or ignore assignments completely, know that your group members may be feeling the same. Discuss with them before hand how you believe you will be able to contribute, so you can all understand from the start how your group style may eventually develop. Your group members may be happy to pick up the slack occasionally, and maybe you can pick up some of theirs every now and again.

The number one rule in group assignments is communicate and address problems should they arise. Do not let group problems fester and built up. From my experience, many in-class groups tend to stay together multiple times over the course of a semester, so if you have a problem that is not fixed, it may likely plague you for many projects to come.

Planning from Day One

At the beginning of my second semester at Scripps, I remember attending a required, yet enlightening, Off Campus Study information session. I was one of only two freshmen siting quietly in a humanities classroom surrounded by ten or twelve second-semester sophomores. The off campus advisors present didn’t even have the appropriate planning forms for freshmen and they simply asked us to write down my contact information separately with which they would schedule us an appointment. Mostly, they just seemed a bit confused as to why these freshmen were so intent on getting a meeting with Off Campus Study so far ahead of time. Truthfully, from the beginning of my first semester, I knew that there would only be a small window of time to develop what I called my “study abroad strategy” and I wanted to get working on it as soon as possible.

Like I have mentioned many a time on Beyond the Elms, I am a science major. Though undeclared at that point in time, I found myself drawn to Biology and Physics classes and was excited to take each new prerequisite. As a budding Biology student, I knew that I would have to take a substantial number of classes for my major, so planning for my sophomore, junior, and even senior semesters was essential. However, these science classes weren’t the only experiences for which I was ready to start organizing. Since early high school, I had been mesmerized by the mere thought of traveling to Japan. For me, being able to see the wondrous sites of Japan in person excited me to no end. I knew that, once I was in college, an off campus study program was my opportunity to travel there. Unfortunately, my academic and “cultural” goals eventually became mutually exclusive; it would be very difficult to study any field of science in Japan, but additionally impossible to become immersed in Japanese culture staying here at Scripps. Planning for both required finesse and I was determined to start early and fulfill both of my dreams.

While my experience of scheduling early and time management revolved around study abroad, you can utilize this type of approach for many different scenarios. It is first important to recognize what is most valuable to you, either an experience, class, opportunity, etc. Once you determine a goal or two that seems to rise above all others, you can then compare the weight of your other opportunities against them to help you develop a hierarchy or desires. “Demoting” less desired experiences both clears up your scheduling in an effort to work towards those more important tasks and strengthens your desire for certain experiences by understanding why certain wants were eliminated. The next step is to find the people or institutions that can help you achieve those larger, overarching goals. For me, this was done by not only contacting Scripps Off Campus study, but also identifying Scripps during my college search in the first place. Scripps appeared to be an institution where I would have the resources and ability to both participate in science and study abroad. You often don’t have the funds or time to accomplish many of your most important goals all on your own, so finding those people with the connections, resources, and knowledge can help to alleviate that burden.

Given the opportunity to dress in a traditional kimono through my study abroad program

Given the opportunity to dress in a traditional kimono through my study abroad program

Eventually, I was able to get to Japan without falling behind and I am still actively on the road to graduation. Since returning, I’ve been reminded that, without the work I put in before I had even stepped foot in Japan, I may never have gotten there in the first place.