As I began my third year, I anticipated a more peaceful, research-focused experience. In time, it became that, but there were many unexpected challenges along the way. In the end, this has been my best year yet. I’ve fulfilled numerous responsibilities, explored new aspects of life, and gained fresh perspectives from my experiences. It’s reassuring to find hope in the culmination of these three years.

First, I completed the course work and TA duties required for graduation and officially became an ABD (All But Dissertation) student. I was eager to finish the requirements as soon as possible, and I’m looking forward to the time when I can focus soley on my research. This is a privileged moment, where I can dedicate myself fully to research without the typical responsibility of a student or lecturer. Even faculty members must balance diverse responsibilities involving teaching, service, and administrative work. I’m determined to make the most of this phase, which may extend into my postdoc years, and to cultivate myself as an independent researcher with vision, insight, and passion.

In research, I’m proud to say that there were many accomplishments this year. I completed the preprocessing and data cleaning for the IMENSA data, which includes fMRI, physiological, RNA-sequencing data from peripheral blood, and behavioral data from 91 participants. The fMRI scans used multi-band and multi-echo imaging, so I developed my own preprocessing pipeline using fMRIprep, tedana, and ANTs. Building on that, I dove into analyzing the data and had the opportunity to present the results at SANS 2024 in Toronto and OHBM in Seoul!

Social Affective Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting, April 2024, Toronto, Canada

OHBM in Seoul was incredible. Thanks to the generousity of CNIR and Wani, Tor and I were invited to the IBS CNIR open house event the day before the conference, where I had the honor of presenting my IMENSA results to the Cocoan Lab and other researchers. I also assisted Tor in hosting the Dartmouth party on the third evening of OHBM, where we enjoyed Korean food and beer at a nearby pub. I loved meeting new people and was thrilled to see both old and new friends come together-it felt like a huge crossover episode. Afterwards, we headed to karaoke, which was wild and so much fun. This was my first time attending OHBM, and it immediately became my favorite conference.

Organization of Human Brain Mapping Annual Meeting, June 2024, Seoul, South Korea

This year, I started learning new things and embraced Upper Valley life even more. Last summer, I took up swimming again after many years, and I’ve kept it up for over a year now—it’s the perfect cardio for me. We also enjoyed winter sports more than ever. I started skiing and fell in love with it! It’s now the reason I look forward to winter. We explored more of the Upper Valley, trying activities like visiting lakes, sledding, canoeing, and berry picking. Recently, I even baked a cheesecake for the first time in my life.

While navigating challenges in my research journey, I lost both a friend and a family member this year. This gave me time to reflect on my first two years of my PhD, my journey from college, and my life as a whole. I’ve discovered new aspects of communciation and thought deeply about who I am. I’ve realized how important it is to understand myself better in order to communicate more clearly with otheres. Moreover, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on what my partner and I have achieved over the last ten years, both in my career and personal life. Now, I’ve reached a point where I want to savor every step of my journey, rather than letting frustration and anxiety fueled by uncertainty drive me forward.