One thing I learned over the past few weeks is that a smile will take you a long way.

I learned really recently that I've gained a reputation in the lab as the happy, peppy, enthusiastic intern. 

"Does she like, just wake up like this?"
My housemate: "…Yeah."

That's kind of cute, right?  I mean, my boyfriend of almost six years broke up with me hardly three days before the first day of my internship, and I was pretty much on a nonstop eight-week-long rant about my depression.  Yet, in my internship, I'm the girl that's known for my cheeriness.

But I know why.  It's 'cos I freakin' love my lab.

Sometimes, I feel down on my luck.  Sometimes, I feel numb.  And sometimes, I feel like I'm collapsing under the weight of my own heart.  But every single beating moment in that lab coat is nothing less than truth.  It's far and few between, but there are actually days now where I can go almost the entire day without thinking about Phuc, because I'm just concentrating so much about my pancreas cell progenitors and about regulatory T cells.  I'm way more stoked to do chores than I should be.  My post-doc is back, and I'm honestly nothing but smiles and giggles whenever we work together.  I wake up already so excited to chat with everyone in the lab, because they're all just such interesting people.

My lab manager did an impression of me, and it was the most high-pitched hamster-like thing.
".............................. WAIT, IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE ME??!"
"...He's pretty damn close, actually."
"GODDAMNIT"

It's gotten to the point that my lab manager stopped his normal assumptions that every single undergrad wants to go to medical school, never asking me what I'm planning to do in the future.  But where he used to ramble about how I'm going to be a doctor, now he goes, "Yeah, you're going to go into a PhD program, right?"  Damn.  

So whatever enthusiasm I have, it's evidently showing much more than I could have possibly realized.

So this was just my secret way to have a chance to just ramble on more about my lab to someone, because I talk about it non-freakin'-stop with everyone I spend any time with, and I want them to not shoot me to shut up. XD

SUCCESS