Week 8: Momentum Shift

Weekly Report #8 Week 8 Momentum Shift: A Great Week on and off the Board

The final week of the first nine weeks was, for the most part, fantastic. We have already finished ¼ of the school year, which is hard to comprehend. I believe I should start by saying that I have a mentor! He was the Texas A&M professor I spoke with a few weeks ago, and on Sunday he emailed me back saying that he is willing to serve as my mentor! Dr. Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato is a distinguished physicist and biomedical engineer who teaches at Texas A&M University and the University of São Paulo. He is well-known for his contributions to quantum turbulence, cancer therapies, and biophotonics. It is a privilege to have him as my mentor at ISM, where I will be researching light-based cancer treatment options and antimicrobial control. This week was also shortened because of Fall Break, which I valued as a chance to relax and refuel. This week’s good point was finding a mentor who would help me all year long and, if chosen, hopefully in ISM 2. It was a good week overall; the only negative aspect was that I didn’t do as well as I had wanted on one of my examinations.

On Thursday, my friends Pratyush, Sid, Abdullah, and Khajan joined me for a game of basketball. Despite the close contest, our team won (Me, Pratyush, Abdullah). We also played tennis on Friday, which was thrilling. I also had some time to play chess and regain my rhythm, and by the conclusion of the break, I want to have raised my rating by fifty points.

The most significant development for ISM is that I have found a mentor. However, my mentor lives far from Frisco, so we will primarily communicate via video conference. In addition to continuing to engage with this professor, I have reached out to other local professors to inquire about potential opportunities for hands-on laboratory experience. My contact list will be updated with the additional professors I emailed today (Sunday, October 12), and I hope to hear back after the weekend. In addition, the Original Work Proposal and Research Assessment #7 interview is due next week which I intend to finish as soon as possible, and we have a meeting with Mr. Ratliff and our ISM 2 coming up. Well, that is everything for this week.

Closing this chapter, opening the next.