Posts by Laura Fernandes

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Posts by Laura Fernandes

Newest Member of the ‘Just Married’ Wagon

April 23, 2013 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

I have been on a hiatus since my last blog post. Coming here to U-M five years ago, I expected to graduate with a Ph.D. before changing my marital status but sometimes the least expected relationships happen at the most unexpected times. As though being a graduate student is not tough enough, I took on the additional role of planning a wedding! If you have read some of my earlier posts, you will know that I began dancing Argentine tango through the U-M Tango club a couple of years ago. One does not require a partner to attend the classes…

Published in: Student Voices

Back to the Grind

October 2, 2012 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

I feel like a citizen of the world!! I have explored two new countries and presented at two different statistical conferences since my last blog post. I had a very busy and eventful summer this year and now it seems like I have so many deadlines to catch up with, a sure cure for jet-lag! My trip to Istanbul included presenting at the international conference on probability and statistics that is held every four years. In my last blog entry I had mentioned my reservations and fears of processing my F1 visa in Istanbul, but thankfully by God’s grace I…

Published in: Student Voices

Summer Plans

May 11, 2012 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

As a doctoral student in the process of writing my thesis proposal the academic year is a big long blur of deadlines; spring break, summer break, winter break, graduation week, welcome week. They all seem irrelevant, it is one endless stretch with recursive events of meeting up with advisors, working on the thesis and then meeting up again! But this does not have to be something terrible - being a grad student offers me the flexibility of making my own schedule, setting up my deadlines, and carrying work around even when I decide to travel out of town - as…

Published in: Student Voices

A Successful Biostatistician

April 4, 2012 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

In the Department of Biostatistics we have a plaque inscribed with the names of exceptional students from past years. Early on in the academic program clearing the qualifying examinations and becoming a Ph.D. candidate is a relief and getting the award for the top scores in the examination means that one’s name is etched on the plaque. For a master’s student the equivalent is to be the best first year master’s student and/or a GSI with the best reviews. I did not make it in any of the categories! I would assume that graduating either with a Master’s or Ph.D.…

Published in: Student Voices

Why Did I Choose U-M?

March 6, 2012 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

As an international student my decision to come to U-M did not involve a campus visit, a meeting with a professor or experiencing the opulence of the department which seems defacto in decision making by most students. None of these are feasible for most international students given that procuring a visa to visit the U.S. is a long drawn process and the airfare prices are exorbitant. In such circumstances I had to resort to other non-tangible means of arriving at a decision to be at U-M. Under the constraints of a tight budget that could fund about eight applications I…

Published in: Student Voices

My Love For the Winter in Ann Arbor

February 6, 2012 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

I thought about this month's piece and decided that I had to speak for the people like me who love the snow! I absolutely love the snow and feel that the cold in the winter is the "price" to pay for this "fanciful" liking. And I say "fanciful" because most people think that I am crazy when I say that the winter is my best season in AA. Some find it even more incredulous when I say that it’s my fifth winter this year. At this point you have to know that I grew up in a place with only…

Published in: Student Voices

Exploring the U.S. Through Road Trips

January 3, 2012 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

During the Spring Break most students at U-M would go home, go on ASB (alternative spring break), sit in the lab or go to Cancun - but the adventurous ones go on a road trip. On one Spring Break four zesty girls decided to explore America from a different perspective - rent a car and stop at places along the way, eat along the road, soak in new experiences as they come. We decided to drive to Nashville in Tennessee, the capital of country music, with stops at the Smoky Mountains (Tennessee) and Mammoth caves (Kentucky). Our drive to the…

Published in: Student Voices

Faculty Connections: My Relationship With My Advisor

November 29, 2011 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

"What is it like working for/with your advisor?" I am often asked this question when we compare notes among friends on our relationships with our advisors. My advisor amazes me with the amount of energy and creativity he brings to every meeting. I see him juggling between offices in multiple buildings, teaching classes in the department, attending several meetings with his collaborators and presenting at conferences and yet making time to meet up with me and several the other students at least once a week! Although we often limit ourselves to discussing project or thesis related ideas we share a…

Published in: Student Voices

Balance: Sanctuary

October 28, 2011 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

I remember the first couple of weeks of my first semester, being bombarded with a constant stream of assignments and homework, moving from class to class and defining the start of my week by the day on which I hand in the homework. Towards the middle of the semester I felt I had to find a way to maintain my sanity in the chaotic and frantic pace of the classroom, the need to manage stress was highlighted when a study was presented on the havoc of chronic stress on the body, where women of African American descent consistently gave birth…

Published in: Student Voices

Meet the Bloggers: Laura Fernandes

September 28, 2011 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

Coming to the U.S. for the very first time from India was exciting. I had a sheltered childhood growing up in Goa, one of the tiniest states in India colonized by the Portuguese up until 1961. This information has been one of the best icebreakers in the U.S. – “tell me about your name” or “is that your English name” or “you must be from Goa!” The recipient of the last remark often gets a hug. It’s funny but your name can give away so much information in India; you can make a fair guess of the state, the religion…

Published in: Student Voices

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