Exciting News and Accomplishments

September 24th, 2024:

To fund travel expenses to the same NAWEA conference I attende last year, I won a travel grant as part of the NAWEA/WindTech Graduate Student Symposium Travel Award Program. I'm super honored and look forward to attending both the sympsium and the main conference in November! More information on the conference and the symposium available here.

May 11th, 2024:

Ok hiiii, I can’t believe I haven’t updated anything on here since August…time is flying by way too fast, man. But honestly, not updating is probably more representative of being a PhD student anyway, ha. I’ve been so incredibly busy that time to keep up with posts on here is limited, and because it’s not super user-friendly to upload here I often don’t feel like it when the time is there :/ That’s one thing I’ll give to social media - posting there is so easy whereas it’s a process here.

So what have I been up to? Well, the source of all this craziness has been a mix of conferences, presentations, and, mainly, paper writing. I’m excited to say I’ve submitted one first author paper, I’m about to submit another, 2 co-authors papers have been accepted, and I will soon be contributing to another co-authored draft. SO. MUCH. WRITING. I’m super happy I’m deep into writing papers because it’s something I’ve felt laggy on around the last time I posted here. On the flip side, though, writing over a long period has really allowed me to improve my delivering a scientific story. This was super necessary, and I think it paid off. What’s funny is my second first author paper is the one that’s already been submitted and it was just written in a few months. No one said this Ph.D. would be linear, right?? So I've personally been itching to publish, but it's also important to keep in mind every Ph.D. is different and when you start writing (if you write papers at all) depends on when the field project ends, how long it takes to process and analyze data, deciding the direction of your paper in coordination with what’s possible to do with the paper, etc. In any case, once all the papers have been accepted I’ll post their links in the publications page (which I’m so happy will actually have more content than my master’s thesis!) Looking forward to what’s coming, but for now here’s a short timeline of news, events, or pictures that I haven’t announced due to work and attempting to have a social life in the midst of non-stop deadlines:

1) I attended the NAWEA/WindTech 2023 conference in Broomfield, Colorado near Boulder. There, I gave an oral presentation on my progress working with AWAKEN data so far. I presented work on spatial comparisons on the nocturnal low-level jet during the AWAKEN campaign, which is work I’m currently continuing (will likely be my next paper). It was a super fulfilling conference where the other talks involved research most closely related to what I was doing, which of course made networking much easier than somewhere like AMS. What I presented actually got nominated for the ‘Best Presentation’ award! It apparently can take up to the next conference to find out who won, so if I do I’ll update. In the meantime, here’s some pictures from that week (though admittedly I was stressing the whole week about my presentation that pretty much all of these are clouds and nature pics from hiking afterwards).



2)To help fund the NAWEA conference, I applied and got picked for a conference grant from the Student Government Association, which was super rewarding!

3) I also attended the AMS 2024 conference in Baltimore, MD, where I presented a poster detailing an overview of my initial results. This was fulfilling like NAWEA, but more for presenting my work to a larger, broader audience than for networking with people with similar work. It also allowed me to see several friends in the program present, all of whom did a great job. In my downtime, the famous OU reception took place at the National Aquarium which was INCREDIBLE. I got to see family who lived in the DMV area, and I also got to catch up with some friends from my undergrad at a hotel get-together, and a couple of us also explored D.C.! Overall, it was a wonderful time (except getting REALLY sick and still dealing with lingering sinus symptoms months later. Ugh).



4) The OU College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences goes all out with their scholarship award ceremony. It was an honor to be recognized by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. Great food, great company, great experience!



5) I wrapped up my final letter to my penpal in the Letters to a Pre-Scientist program. It was so cool, and I really recommend anyone in STEM to check it out and try it. Sending that last letter was so bittersweet. I’ll forever remember my penpal and be rooting for them on the sidelines!

7) I'll be serving as Treasurer for the SoMO organization. More info about some of the past events we've done is in the Community Outreach tab, or at our website!

8) I’m sooo excited I can finally say this, but I was an extra in the new Twisters movie coming out in July! I filmed for a day in Oklahoma City back in summer 2023 and did get to witness Daisy Edgar Jones, Anthony Ramos, and Steven Spielberg…I’m super proud of myself for keeping my cool because it was really not easy #professionalrighthere. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures on set but the movie trailers are below. I played an NWS employee and I *might* be able to be seen in one of the scenes — if so I’ll post it when it’s out. It was an awesome to be there regardless. I was only there for a couple of scenes, so I don't know much more about the plot than anyone else, but they're taking an interesting direction judging from the trailers. I’m really curious how it’ll go and can’t wait to see it!

Other notable occurrences that I detailed in the Weather Recordings tab (and I can’t begin to tell y’all the luck I had for the first and second points):

- Northern Lights IN OKLAHOMA
- The 2024 Solar eclipse
- The crazy storm season thus far (both the beautiful and the bleak sides)

August 11th, 2023:

I’ll be serving as the graduate student council representative for the School of Meteorology (SoM) this year! The main duty of this position will be discussing matters within the department with higher-ups at OU, including the president of the school, such as updates, things that work well, areas for improvement, etc. It’s essentially a voice from the students, faculty and researchers of SoM that would otherwise have difficulty reaching the rest of OU. After all, meteorology students attend class at the National Weather Center, which is literally secluded from the main OU campus, so a messenger of that sort is needed. This is another way I feel would be great for expanding my leadership and outreach skills. I find out more about my role come the start of the semester, so I shall update once I start :D

September edit: I had my first meeting the other day and I gotta say, I'm already loving my decision to join. As senators, we graduate students can choose from some available committees to be apart of that best cater to our interests. It's probably no suprise that I chose the Sustainability Committee, where my team and I will focus on ways to improve campus from an environmental standpoint. One issue in particular that I'm really passionate about resolving is confetti that gets left on campus after graduation pictures are taken. It's an everyday occurence around graduation season, and, if it gets picked up at all, it's by the custodians or helpful volunteers who shouldn't have to do so. If left, the plastic harms the environment and animals that eat it, and it is technically a littering offense. At the very least, there needs to be some enforcement of only using biodegradable types of confetti, but even that can still take months to decompose. Plus, there are plenty of other cute photo alternatives! Sorry for the mini-rant, but it upsets me that the students doing this wanting pictures representing their school are the same ones soiling it. I already talked with my team about this and was met with agreement, so I'm hoping the rest of the Senate aggrees to this and we can pass legislation. I have other ideas related to better connecting the National Weather Center to the rest of campus so meteorology students don't have to feel like they have to stick in that bubble if they want to venture out to other campus activities. In any case, I'm also wanting opinions from my fellow SoM students, so inviting their ideas is my next step. All in all, I'm already loving this role and can't wait to update about the progress we make!

August 10th, 2023:

I’m super excited to say I’ll be involved in the Letters to a Pre-Scientist program this year! Students in grade-school get matched with STEM folks who serve as a pen-pal and write them letters to learn about their jobs, passions, and even hobbies they enjoy outside work. The number of schools that participate increases each year, and the program particularly targets under-resourced schools that may not otherwise have the means for students to chat with a real live scientist. It’s a really cool organization that stuck out to me from the moment I heard about it, and after talking to a few people who had nothing but good things to say about it, I knew I had to apply. First of all, I love writing letters. I used to move around a lot as a kid and would write letters to my friends to keep in touch, and it always fascinated me how friends from across the country can receive a message encompassing all my creativity to them. And I still write letters to my friends! Well..when I have time and energy that is, because if you’ve written a letter lately you know it takes way longer than email or text. So it usually ends up being more of a special occasion type thing.

But this program will force me to get back into it, and with an aspiring young individual exploring their interest in STEM! I love talking about weather to anyone, but I’m especially looking forward to communicating with kids because they can see all my derp drawings. I’ll be paired with my match soon and I’m excited to see what’s in store! More about the program can be found here.

June 10th, 2023:

Hey hey! So if you’ve been here before, you might notice something different in the tab you clicked to get here. I extended it from having just “news” with the addition of “updates and more.” What prompted this, you might ask? Well, this website is technically meant to be a more career driven and the ‘resume-ish’ type, but if you read down you’ll see I’ve already written about some of my passing thoughts or experiences that may or may not be reflective of purely meteorology. I think those who visit — employers, friends, and family alike — can find value in even the non-meteorological areas I decide to share (to an extent, anyway). In fact, I’ll do a write up right now about the other reason I added ‘and more.’

I’ve recently directed friends and family on my social media to this website if they’re curious of my whereabouts because I’ve truthfully wanted to deviate from the socials for quite some time. As someone who has moved various places in my life, it’s a difficult decision when those virtual connections are admittedly the best way to keep in touch with those close to me. But having already shifted in this direction the past couple weeks has already done wonders for me without even needing to deactivate/delete my accounts, especially when I can and do still use the messaging parts for keeping in touch. See, there’s always been that double-edged sword between mental health and social media, and I think most of us are aware of it. It can be amazing for business promotion, a great way to see events in the area, it gives anyone a chance to showcase any hobbies (e.g., my Instagram art account is a great way to save my drawings, so I’ll still use it!), and I do love seeing the successful endeavors of those close to me. Plus, it gives underrepresented people a voice that they wouldn’t have otherwise. But that power also gives a voice to others wanting to promote misinformation or even hurtful discrimination. Couple that with an overall lack of regulation, the stress of trying to protect your data, and the typical mental impacts that I’ll touch on more below, I’ve always felt that the negatives outweigh the positives. This subject has always interested me, maybe enough to have been a possible career path if I didn’t love meteorology so much. Anyone else ever get an essay prompt in school like, “How do you think social media impacts our society?” Bruh, I went wild on those, HA.

Anyway, I’ll get into my perspective. On the more extreme side, it’s not difficult at all to find racist or derogatory comments on more publicly-oriented like Twitter, a site I usually avoid but will occasionally check for efficient weather updates. When that happens and something controversial is trending, it’s easy to get sucked into viewing the hateful comments. Looking for things like that certainly is not healthy. As far as the sites that consist more of my friends and family, I often feel the need to keep up with it liking their posts or they’ll be upset with me, or I will wonder if being upset with me is why they won’t like my posts. Or I’ll even worry that someone seeing my presence in their news feed is actually bothering them. I have taken social media breaks when I knew I needed them, but I always felt like I’d have to announce it or people will be mad that I’m less active with them, but then there’s flip-side and I worry people will think I’m announcing it for attention. It’s crazy, I know. Deep down, I’m fully aware nobody actually cares this much, and even if they did I shouldn't care what people think! But welcome to the mind of a turbulent thinker. I’m not sure to what degree others feel this way, but for me it’s just not sustainable, especially while in a Ph.D. program.

So! As I’ve mentioned before, I’m constantly trying to find ways to combat things that increase my anxiety or negatively impact my mental health. This website feels like my own safe space. I don’t feel like I’m trying to please or impress anyone, and I’m separated from the liking system that I feel like I can never win. I just feel like my authentic self :) Right now, the one thing I know I’ll share everywhere is when I get my Ph.D., and I’m thinking that will be a good official finality to my social media life. But who knows, maybe down the road I’ll decide all this is temporary after all. All I know is I want to be the happiest and healthiest I can possibly be, and I think this is a great first step in doing so. So, my updates may not actively appear on the news feeds, but you, reader, are more than welcome to visit here whenever you like. And I hope you do, because what originally started as a small HTML exercise for my undergraduate coding class became a site I fell in love with expanding ever since. I would’ve never thought it would go this far, but it’s been a blast blending my creative side with science. There’s still plenty more schooling to finish, people to meet, memories to make, and learning to do, but I hope you’ll stop by here every so often to see how I progress. Onward I goooo.

May 5th, 2023:

It's been several months of the grind, but I finally get to update this website! I'm happy to announce that:

1) I passed my general exam and am officially a Ph.D. candidate! Being in candidacy means I have the green light to defend my dissertation when it's ready (and get a pay raise, whoop whoop). I still have PLENTY of work to do, but I'm technically in the final stretch of becoming Doctor Arianna Jordan!

2) I won the 2023 David James Shellberg Memorial Scholarship, for which I submitted my general exam manuscript! More information is available here, but in short, it's awarded based on the utility of surface observations, which just happened to be what I applied during my exam. I'm super honored!

Now, it'd be easy to end this news update at that. But in truth, there's been lots of trials and tribulations along the way leading up to both of these accomplishments. I decided to be open about some of my experience, which I think will help avoid the notion that this Ph.D. is easy as 1,2,3 the way news and pictures on this website might sometimes portray.

If you don't know, Ph.D. students are required to take some kind of comprehension examination, also called qualifying or general exams. How the exam is administered differs depending on the institution, but here at OU we do a research project over the course of six weeks. Typically, a topic is delivered from your committee that is somewhat related to your main dissertation research, but only to an extent. Then you spend the next several weeks drafting up a research plan, collecting data, executing and analyzing results, then writing a 20-ish page paper and orally presenting/defending the work. So the format is kind of similar to a class project, but with much less time (procrastination isn't an option). You also work completely independently without any outside help from anyone, and you defend in front of your entire committee where they question your knowledge on the subject like with a dissertation. It's a stressful process even for the best students and is usually seen as the hardest part of the Ph.D., at least in my program (though everyone's experience is different) due to the fast-paced workload and necessary isolation from peers. Having a completed paper and presentation of critical anaysis in six weeks means time management is a must, and getting too fixated on something could throw off your entire groove, which is one thing that happened to me. But that's before worrying about delivering an efficient presentation for your committee members.

Long story short, I ended up having a panic attack during the questioning part of the oral portion of my exam. It happened during an averaging question that a literal sixth grader could answer, but I just completely shut down and could not think anymore. When I realized my mind was no longer processing anything, I started freaking out and crying. I. Was. Mortified. I'm writing this some time after this happened and have had a little while to understand what prompted it (aside from the typical nerves that comes with this exam). There were a couple reasons: one was over-studying. I was told to study the basics, so I started off that way, but then I got scared about curveball questions and ended up studying too much of the complex stuff and had difficulty rerouting back to the fundamentals. Remember below when I said I have extreme test anxiety? When I mentioned it before, I laid out the step-by-step process of how my mind sabotages itself, and that's exactly what happened here. Which brings me to the other reason: my anxiety medication that was supposed to help control this failed me. I had an inclination that it was no longer doing its job while writing the paper when I felt more high-strung than I have in a long time, but I figured that was just the inevitable pressure of the exam. Unfortunately, I now believe I've gotten too used to my meds and need to switch to something else. Couple all this with exhaustion from no sleep out of fear that this exact thing would happen...well, it did.

Breaking down like that was extremely humiliating and a little bit scary; I've had the occasional stress cry alone in my room before, but I've never completely froze and panicked like that in front of others, especially higher-ups. Luckily, it wasn't a very public presentation where students could attend, but freezing in front of my peers has now become an irrational fear that I've never really had before. The experience was also incredibly frustrating because the questions I was given were not difficult (they were easier than my seminar questions). Halfway through I wanted to dash out of that room, out of NWC, drive home, hideunder my covers, and watch Clifford the Big Red Dog. Somehow I avoided doing so during the rest of the questioning, and still managed to choke up some answers here and there. But by then, I was pretty much convinced I failed. When I was told to leave the room for them to deliberate on whether or not I passed, I started crying all over again outside the room for about ten minutes. But when they called me back in, they said I passed. I was so confused and honestly thought it was a bad joke at first. But they told me I could really move onto candidacy... and then I cried again lol. All the while, everyone was extremely sweet and consoling me, reminding me the process can be unforgiving and this is not how we as scientists work in the real world. I felt like they were probably regretting taking me on as a student, but they comforted me in a way that seemed to understood I was freaking out and didn't get that far in my career not knowing how to average. Still, I did not feel I deserved to pass and despite them telling me to feel happy about it, I just couldn't.

So fast forward to the next day, when I'm feeling slightly better after some rest but still very much in my emotions. My alarm goes off to submit the paper I wrote for the exam to a scholarship that was due in less than 24 hours. I didn't have time to apply for most scholarships during this process, but this one in particular stood out to me because it called for abstracts and papers that utilized ground-based observations, which is what I used for my work. However, I knew the due date would be only a couple days after my oral portion, so my original plan was to quickly make some much-needed revisions to the paper and submit it as soon as possible once I finished my oral presentation. Needless to say, I never even wanted to think about this project ever again after what happened, so I almost didn't submit anything. A few hours later, I decided I would just take the few minutes to submit the paper without looking it over. Then I saw the title of the manuscript and thought about ways I could make it roll off the tongue a little better. After that, my eye caught a few sentences in my abstract where I could refine just a few words. I started remembering that I actually really loved the assigned topic, which was examining the spatial variability of a boundary layer characteristics. The research I did on it wasn't perfect, but I felt it was interesting and my committee seemed to think so (at least, before this whole ordeal). Well, before I knew it, I had stayed up the whole night revising the paper and submitting it the morning it was due. If you asked me how I mustered up the strength to do that after everything that had just went down, I wouldn't have an answer.

Now, fast forward to just the other day, I was collecting AWAKEN data with a friend up in Enid, and I got this email:

It took everything I had not to cry (again). It was an instant bliss that I hadn't felt in so, so long. I can't even begin to explain how overjoyed I was to read this. This was my confirmation that my oral defense was a bad day, not bad research. The shame that was weighing me down was finally starting to lift. This was especially endearing after being slightly envious of many of my friends winning scholarships and awards for which I couldn't make the time to apply. I tell ya though..it's a good thing I decided to make those revisions. Tiny mistakes in your general exam paper are usually forgiven because of the time crunch, but I doubt I would have gotten this scholarship if I didn't fix up some of my writing. In the end, something really good came out of this whole experience (you know, besides a hard core learning lesson).

Still, as happy as I am to have won this scholarship, whether I won or not was not within my control. What I can control (or at least help maintain) is my mental health, and unfortunately this exam experience did take a toll on it. So shortly after, I scheduled a counseling appointment, something I've wanted to do for a while but have struggled with taking the step to make that call. But I finally got the courage, knowing deep down it will not only help me find more compatible anxiety medication but also assist in other areas I've been neglecting, such as imposter syndrome and racially-related struggles. I've also been doing other smaller things like limiting social media time and cutting out bad junk food habits I've picked up during this process. Also, getting back into exercise, but luckily that one's easier for me! And of course, spending time with family via FaceTime and friends via fun activities :D

The leftmost picture is some celebration cakes and gushers my advisor got for me to celebrate finishing. The rest are of other friends in the program also going out to celebrate with me (bonus: with a nice manmatus sunset!) I've had to isolate for so long and being able to be around these people again without the weight of this general on my shoulders is unmatched. I almost forgot how much I loved them all. I couldn't have gotten this far without everyone's constant support, and I'm so truly grateful. After all, not everyone gets that in grad school. This was by far my hardest semester at OU to date, and I still have difficulty coming to terms of me deserving to be a Ph.D. candidate, but with counseling, receiving this scholarship, and support from my advisors, friends, and family, I will eventually move forward completely. And once I do, you better believe I'll be basking in the fact that I how I'll NEVER HAVE TO TAKE A TEST/EXAM COUNTING TOWARDS A DEGREE AGAIN.

February 24th, 2023:

A few months ago, some boundary layer students were needed to create coptersonde visuals for the annual OU footage they show at football games. A couple of my coworkers and I were up for the task, and the video came out earlier than expected! It was a cool experience, and allowed me to show off my (not-so) advanced acting skills ;) Check it out here! My colleagues and I are at 0:11 seconds and 0:45 seconds.

January 23rd, 2023:

I attended the American Meteorological Society (AMS) conference last week, and it was a blast! It took place in Denver, CO, and I was initially worried about the what the weather would be like up there in the winter, but it was actually quite nice with only one really cold day - and we got snow flurries to make up for it :D I learned a ton, presented research with an oral talk, caught up with friends and faculty from my undergraduate, and got to visit the Meow Wolf exhibit in Denver. It was so nice to be back at AMS in-person...though the one downside was I unfortunately did catch COVID-19 as a result, despite being boosted and the mask requirement. Still, I'm appreciative of the #AMS2023 experience I got to have (especially now that I've recovered!) Here's some pictures and shorts from the week:



Edit: Some pics from the photographers at the conference came out. Here's a few with photo credit to Josh Gold!

January 1st, 2023:

Here's just some OU School of Meteorology memories to close out 2022. Let's see what 2023 brings!!!

September 8th, 2022:

TORUS, the field campaign I was involved in during the summer, was featured in the New York Times! I got to meet a couple of the photographers that tagged along with us as we chased these storms. Such a cool (or terrifying) experience this must have been for them! It's so amazing to showcase the types of projects we work on in the School of Meteorology, especially in such a distinguished news source. Check out the story here, and you can learn more about my personal TORUS experience here.

And, just because I may never find myself even remotely inside a Times article again, here's me in one of the pictures from the article. You can't see me at all, but, hey, I'll take what I can get. At least my Lion King bag got a cameo!

May 10th, 2022:

And, just like that, I am finished with my last grade-based course ever! As interesting as I found all my meteorology classes, I'm at the point in my life where I'm really excited to focus solely on research (a sentiment I share with almost all my other Ph.D. friends). My next steps over the summer are TORUS fieldwork, getting my first journal article submitted and published (draft 1 is finished, yippee), and my general exam. If I wasn't a busy bee already, I will be now, so wish me luck!

March 26th, 2022:

The other day, I completed my last ever course exam! And I can't even begin to explain what a weight off my shoulders this will be. Let's just say I'm not the best test-taker. Never have been, never will be. Honestly, I don't agree with the current American education system as a whole, but that's another story on another website.

In all seriousness, taking midterms, finals, or standardized tests has always been something I've always struggled with throughout school. Sometimes I'd have easy classes where everything is fine, but for exams that needs extensive studying, this my process:

1. Set aside plenty of study time
2. Study what we were told to review (if we're told the specifics)
3. Get scared of potential trick questions so try to study everything else
4. Realize that's too much, get frustrated, give up
5. During test realize I should've spent more time on what I was told to study but MY DUMB WHISHY-WASHY BRAIN WAS ALL 'BUT WHAT IF...'
6. Finish, leave, then go to my room and cry, even if I do well because the stress was too much T_T

Alternatively:
1. Study what I'm told
2. On the test are trick questions I would've known if I studied everything else
3. Die inside

You know that old Spongebob episode where Spongebob can't pass his drving test even though he knows all the answers so Patrick tells him what to do through a walkie-talkie in his head? That's the epitome of me...except the walkie-talkie thing. You would think being in 20th grade I would have grasped the test-taking process by now, but to no prevail. The one thing that did help this past year was my anxiety medication, which made me realize how psychological this problem was rather than my actual ability to convey the material. I'm thoroughly grateful to my OU professors for prioritizing my comprehension of the lessons over the effectiveness of my short-term memory. If my success in this program was based solely on how well I did on exams, there's no way I could go to grad school. I just couldn't do it to myself. And what a bummer that would have been when my desire to learn all things meteorology is strong (maybe the fact that I put myself through all these tests so far is an indication of my passion for this field).

But my current professor is a great example of removing the stress from understanding the class. I just finished a take-home midterm, which was open-note and not too horrible (shout out to you, Dr. Scott Salesky). There's no final, just an end-of-the-year project, and that's where I shine. Research, volunteer work, networking, internships - that's how I got where I am. Test scores...not so much. So, if you want to continue learning in your field but feel held back by test anxiety, or anxiety in general, there is a light at the tunnel! Especially in grad school, where usually research > grades. Once my current course ends this semester, it will be the last class of my academic career, and my first completed milestone of my Ph.D. Woooooo.

February 19th, 2022:

Thank you to OU's College of Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences for featuring what I have to say as we celebrate Black History Month! Check out the link in the Twitter post to see some amazing people of Black descent in the college who have been spotlighted.

Twitter

January 23rd, 2022:

Welp, I'm bummed that I can't attend AMS in person, but at least I still had the opportunity to share my poster at the student conference. Check it out here! If you're itching to know more about different methods to estimate boundary layer depth, I'm your girl.

January 9th, 2022:

So this isn't really news as much as a general update of my life as I head into 2022. As one would expect for a PhD student, I spend most of my time on classwork and research, all of which you can keep up with in my 'Research and Class Projects' tab (wink wink, nudge nudge). However, in the midst of working hard to fulfill my passion of becoming a meteorologist, I recognize the importance of keeping a balanced lifestyle. That's why I'd like to post about my progress (or lack thereof :P) in other parts of my life, whether they relate to meteorology or not. Starting...now!

I gotta say, I'm super surprised with how social I've been with other students in the program. I tend do fairly well gravitating towards people I know I want to build relationships with, but my shyness throughout the years has probably prevented me from meeting really great people. Yet, my life at OU has not presented that problem...well, at least not as much. I'm still very much an introvert (INFP to be exact :D), and I enjoy embracing time to myself when I need it. But it's been so nice not to be burdened by the crippling anxiety I've felt in the past. I'll be open in saying I'm taking anxiety medication for the first time in my life, and I'm perfectly comfortable in admitting that it has helped a TON. If it's something you've ever thought about, I'd highly recommend talking to a doctor to see whther or not it's for you, especially in you're in college. After all, mental health should take precedence above all else!

There's a few things my OU friends and I enjoy doing when we're not working. To my pleasant surprise, Oklahoma has quite a few nice hiking spots around, such as the Wichita Mountains and Roman Nose State Park. And thank goodness...the Californian in me would've died! Hiking, camping, or just being outdoors has always been something I've loved ever since I was little. I'm so glad my mental image of Oklahoma being flat as a board isn't all true. But that's not all I'm finding myself involved in: for the first time ever I've been introduced to the glorious activities of rock climbing and volleyball. These are hobbies I've never seen myself partaking in (somehow Quidditch is an easier sport to see myself playing???), but the welcoming environments towards newcomers and improvements in my physical strength keep me coming back!

In addition to working for the National Weather Museum and Science Center (see 'Community Outreach' tab), I've also been getting really involved in pet-sitting. Now, if you know me, you know I LOVE animals, and dogs and cats are no exception. While attending Howard University, I worked for the app Rover in which I would get bookings to watch pets. But so many people in OU's School of Meteorology already have pets that I don't even need the app anymore! So along with my human friends pictured below, I had to add my furry friends too. My phone pictures are basically weather, Spongebob memes, and other people's pets lol.

I've also done a lot of growing this year in terms of what type of meteorologist I want to be. For one thing, living in Tornado Alley has helped me develop empathy towards those impacted by destructive weather. I mean, my goal has always been to understand as much as possible about the atmosphere and make discoveries that can potentially help people. However, nowadays it's a little less about taking pretty pictures and more about strengthening the actual science. My window got damaged from April's hailstorm last year and still has yet to be patched up, which SUCKS. But it doesn't hold a candle to the devastation that many have faced with some terrifying storms this year. Worrying if your home and precious belongings are going to be blown away every spring is not fun to have in the back of your head.

So, I aspire to be someone who contributes in some way to strengthening the understanding of our atmosphere. While I enjoy research, I'm happy that there are many realms of meteorology and related fields I can find this in when my future self enters the workforce, so I'm still open to a variety of opportunities. For now, though, I will go with the flow and see how things evolve!

That's about it for now, so enjoy these various pictures from the past year :)

November 16th, 2021:

I just finished presenting my first seminar titled, "A Sneak Peek into Techniques for Improving Boundary Layer Height Measurements." I will also present a poster at AMS with the same name, so if you'll be at the conference make sure to stop by!

May 1st, 2021:

Recently, I received a nomination for outstanding teaching assistant, referring to to when I served as a teacher's assistant (TA) last semester. I didn't win, but it was honestly just such a privilege to be nominated by the School of Meteorology. My primary job was grading, but I sat in on in-class lectures in case anyone had questions I could answer. However, I never directly contributed to lecturing, and even though the instructor and I agreed this would be the case, I worried I wasn't able to contribute more to the learning of the students. I'm not sure if its students or faculty that can nominate, but the fact that I was in the running means someone thought I did a good job, which is very much empowering!

February 8th, 2021:

I got to be showcased as a NASA MIRO intern on their social media! I should note they got my school name wrong (should be "University of Oklahoma"), and there should be past tense with the research since it's not the work I'm currently doing, but it's really cool to see myself on NASA's social media. Thank you, NASA!!! You can view them at the following links:

     Twitter
     Facebook

June 19th, 2020:

I just defended my master's thesis today...AND PASSED. For the cost of no sleep, that is. It is June - a little later than I had planned to be done - but when a crazy pandemic plagues the world some things just don't go as planned.. So I'm going to be happy that I actually made it! Plus, I got to defend on Juneteeth, which made it even more special. If you look back at the previous dates on this page, you'll see that I was terrified when I first got accepted to Howard. Well, I'm feeling the same emotions about University of Oklahoma, but if I can finish with the same thrill that I'm experiencing now, then I will power through. Besides, tornadoes happen in Oklahoma. 'Nuff said.

May 14th, 2020:

Got accepted at University of Oklahoma to obtain my Ph.D. fully-funded!!! Next stop...Dr. Jordan ;)

August 10th, 2019:

I just finished my internship at the National Severe Storms Laboratory! I met a ton of amazing people, learned a lot about verification techniques for models, and got to sit in for one of the annual forecasting experiments. I ended the summer by presenting my research for NSSL personnel, and I was the most nervous I've ever been in my life...and I think it showed. But I'm glad to have done it and to have an awesome topic for my master's thesis.

November 5th, 2018:

As part of the requirements of my grad program, I get to pick a NOAA facility and mentor(s) at said facility to complete a 12-week paid internship of what will eventually become my master's thesis. As luck would have it, I attended a site visit at the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) where I met several forecasters, researchers, and faculty of the University of Oklahoma. I probably would have picked this location merely due to my unwavering love for studying severe weather, but getting to see it in person solidified my choice. Looks like I'll be back in Oklahoma this coming summer analyzing probabilistic models!

April 15th, 2018:

Today, I found out I was accepted to Howard University's Atmospheric Sciences Program! It will be a fully-funded fellowship as apart of the same NCAS-M program that I participated in during undergrad. Words cannot describe how ecstatic and nervous I am. I didn't feel entirely confident that I was smart enough for graduate school, and to be honest, I'm scared it will be too rigourous for me. But they wouldn't accept me if they didn't think I can do it, so, as the cliche goes, I'll just try my best!

June 1st, 2017:

I received a one-year undergraduate fellowship from the NOAA Cooperative Science Center in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology (NCAS-M)! This award will fund my final year of college so I can focus on research and classes instead of balancing a job ontop of it all.

August 23rd, 2017:

The Great American Solar Eclipse occured this day, and I got to be apart of the experiment! Radiosondes were launched, data was collected, and I got to see this once-in-a-lifetime event in complete totality. 11 students and faculty from San Jose State's Meteorology and Climate Sciences department took part in collecting radiosonde data before, during, and after totality of the eclipse in Newport, Oregon with researchers from other institutions. To add to the excitement, several news outlets were curious about the work we were doing. I listed them all below, and being on the news was rad (even though I felt cringe). Check out some of the links below, and some of the pictures here taken along the way!

     NBC Bay Area News
     KPIX-TV
     KGO-TV
     KCBS-AM
     NDTTV
     Bay City News/SF Gate
     Bay City News/The Patch
     SJSU Newsroom

April 2017:

Today, I was notified of receiving two scholarships for the upcoming year. The first is the National Science Foundation-STEM College of Science Research and Teaching (NSF-STEM CoSRaTS), which is awarded for students with goals of continuing on to a higher-level degree. The second is the California State University Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CSU LSAMP), which is provided for underrepresented students in science and engineering. Both these scholarships will help immensily financially, and motivate me to pursue degrees after finishing undergrad.

August 10th, 2016:

This day marks the end of my 10 weeks interning at NASA. What a ride! Through the help of my amazing peers and mentors, I was able to crank out my very first research project. Over this time, I analyzed the urban heat island effect on thunder day frequency (more info about it can be found here).

The last day of the internship consisted of a poster session where all interns presented their findings over the summer. Among all the incredible projects, I managed to place first in the science category, and hearing my name called up was one of the most exhilirating moments I've ever experienced. I'm often plagued with imposter sydrome, but this was confirmation to myself that I do belong in a difficult field like meteorology. I will make sure to remember this when things get stressful!