Men's Basketball Wins 86-85

I finally made it out to a UMBC Athletics game tonight in a similar way that I made it to a UMBC Theater production - I wasn't doing anything else and just decided to go. UMBC students get to stroll right in for free, which started the experience off on the right foot. The game went neck and neck the entire way, and even though I'm not that much of a sports fan, I found myself on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, and numerous other cliches that suggest I was excited about it.

I was happy to see a respectably-sized crowd mostly comprised of UMBC fans, who did a wonderful job making lots of noise during Hartford's free throws while silencing the room during UMBC's. I wasn't able to spot True or Trudy Grit, although that may have been because I was a bit late into the arena.

Just into the one-minute mark, Hartford brought the score 83-85, and a few timeouts and some running around later, there was no change but only about 3 seconds left to play. Suddenly, the heavily guarded Brian Hodges made a 3-point shot, winning the game for UMBC 86-85 in the final second. What wonderful way to end my first game experience!

While by now I'm relatively certain that folks who read this space are also familiar with some of the other UMBC-related outlets, and have heard their urgings to support UMBC athletics, I feel compelled to add my voice to theirs. Even if you're not especially into sports, it's a great way to hang out with a few friends and get a healthy dose of school spirit. In addition, there are some rousing music numbers from the UMBC Pep band (aka the Down and Dirty Dawg Band), performances from the lovely ladies (and one guy; I loved the handsprings) of the Cheerleading Squad and Dance Team, and some first-rate baton-twirling from Stacy Kabalevsky (?), who, while she appears to share a name with the famed composer, is fantastic in her own right.

As a side note: Athletics, please put more information on your website about your spirit personnel - they deserve just as much recognition in that space as the athletes.

Undergraduate Research - Follow Up

A while back I posted a rather frustrated entry about my experiance pursing an undergraduate research opportunity. As a result of that post, I was contacted directly by Mrs. Janet McGlynn, who was able to offer me a number of encouraging suggestions. Since them, I have secured an excellent position at the University of Maryland School of Medicine - here's what I learned:

• Being persistant means to try a number of different options, not banging your head against the same few places again and again. Spreading your net wide increases the chances of getting a response.
• Start early. A lot of people take forever to respond to emails and you don't want to be stressed out while you wonder if they've seen your message or not. By starting mid-fall semester I was able to secure a position starting in January without much trouble, but that was a considerably advanced start.
• Don't be afraid to go to the top. I contacted directors of several programs in subjects I was interested in, and often they were able to direct me to others within their departments whom I could contact.

If you have additional suggestions, feel free to add them in the comments section!