A few weeks into dental school I feel I’m fairing decently. I have reached a point where I know everything will be okay, but am still disappointed at the [immense] amount of time it requires. There are so many things I wish I could do, but all of my projects need to be placed on a 4-year hiatus. I can bask in the satisfaction of the few projects I completed this summer, and I only hope that it’s enough to last me for four years. Dentistry, while important, is nothing more than emulation/repetition of what everybody else does. I simply have to satisfy my creative and ingenuitive desires in my hobbies, whatever they may be. For now, this website will cease to grow. Perhaps when I become more in control of my studies I will contribute to it, but in all likelihood I won’t be able to do anything worth writing about until 4 years from now [sigh]. With that being said, adieu, and goodnight.
I realized I never posted video of my finished prime number generator, so here it is. Full details are described on the project page. In brief, the 2-digit display on the left is the last two digits (in base-10, decimal) of a number currently being tested for primeness. This number is also displayed on the bottom red bar above the yellow lights (in base-2, binary). Once proven to be prime (by attempting to divide it by every number between 2 and its square root, every 1000th attempted number shown in yellow lights in binary), it’s loaded onto the top row of red lights (binary) and on the character LCD. N represents the Nth prime, with V representing its value. Half way through the video, the display says that the 16,595,044′th prime (N) equals 306,692,621 (V). Don’t believe it? Check my work.
I’m briefly suspending entries on this website. I currently have no projects I’m working on, and I’m going to try to keep it that way for a few weeks. I really need to re-gear my brain and get ready for dental school next month. I’m struggling with a plethora of random emotions, and I think the best thing for me is to take it easy for a little bit and try to let go of the things I feel are important to me (projects, electrical, mechanical, computational, painting, or otherwise). I’m going to try my best to organize data from my past life (about a decade worth) in an attempt to preserve it. I’ve been thrown back into my early teen years by uncovering ~10 GB of music I used to listen to. Nostalgia? Yeah, I’m feeling it. I had totally forgotten about random, obscure Japanese bands such as Rip Slyme. For example, Hot Chocolate [a must hear / must see youtube video]. In fact, [youtubes some more], check out this randomness [embeds below]. I love non-mainstream awkwardness. What’s that I hear? 8-bit tones?
I successfully defended my thesis yesterday, thereby securing the final facet of my degree requirements making graduation inevitable! A master’s in molecular biology and microbiology… Yeah, it sounds boring, but it is what it is – ya’ know? I indulged in a celebratory visit to Skycraft Parts and Surplus immediately after the successful defense, and spent the evening relaxing and winding-down after a stressful week of preparation. After a few hours of building, breaking, ghettorigging and accident-prone sodering, my wife and I had “breakfast” (french toast, pancakes, etc) at Denny’s at 11pm. Yes, what a relief. I will post more as to my current project in a later entry, but for now let me disclose the super-simple circuit diagram! I’m using a PICAXE 14M microcontroller to serve as an intermediate between my microphone and my ham radio. The goal is to use this device to control the “TALK” button, giving the option of a series of beeps before and after my talk (turned on/off by switches). Additionally, I’ve added two buttons. One of them will beep-out my call sign in Morse code when pressed (with the pitch of the beeps or the speed of the beeps set by a knob), and the other will serve as a manual Morse code keyer, beeping when it’s pressed (frequency controlled by the knob). I haven’t completed the circuit diagram depicting its interaction with the radio, but this is the schematic of the prototyping setup I’ve already assembled. It couldn’t be simpler! The whole thing is actually built into a disposable micropipette tips box similar to the one I built my homemade ECG machine in (although I don’t think I’ve posted a final picture of that yet).
After drawing this schematic in Inkscape I realized how useful such a design is for a general-purpose prototyping board. I mean, all 6 outputs control LEDs, with pin 13 controlling a LED and a speaker. All 5 inputs are used, taking in a combination of switches, buttons, and a potentiometer. Before you yell at me, yes, I understand that it is a waste to control LEDs directly by output pins and I get that. You could greatly expand the number of LEDs while reducing the number of output pins used by adding in a $2 shift register but since I don’t need it for my project, I’m not adding it! So there! I didn’t include the values of the resister because it depends on your input potential and current. Figure it out yourself. You could be like an electrical engineering student and perform mathematical calculations to determine the proper degree of resistance, or you could be like me and reach into a bag of random resisters and start testing them until you find one that makes the LEDs glow without getting too hot. Qualitative analysis. Nice.
UPDATE: I decided to also post a schematic more representative of the switches I used. Although the above schematic diagram is accurate, each of the switches are actually 2-way switches. Their function is not intended to be on/off (enable/disable), but rather switching between two modes (ie: using the know to adjust frequency or speed). I wanted lighted verification of the state of the pin in either case, rather than a single LED (where on means one thing, off means another thing). More specifically I wanted one LED on when the switch was one way, and a different LED on when the switch was the other way. I accomplished this with a minimum of parts and of ultimate simplicity using the following scheme. Briefly, power is supplied to the switch. If the switch is to the right, the right LED lights up, and the microchip (input pin) gets some of the power and a “high” sate is detected. If the switch is to the left, the left LED lights up, and the microchip (input pin) doesn’t get voltage so its state is “low”. To prevent a floating state (where the pin is connected to nothing, causing unpredictable behavior which makes the pin randomly and sporadically switch between high and low for apparently no reason) the input pin is grounded by a high-impedance resistor. The resister between the 5V and the switch is just to prevent the LEDs from getting too much power. Pretty simple and sweet. The final effect looks awesome, and doesn’t take up any output pins.
note: the “on” and “off” should probably be written as “high” and “low” and simply refer to the presence or absence of significant positive potential being applied to the input pin
As a motion of full disclosure (motivated by my persistent desire to reliably document my life), I present to you my dental application essays! Note that I was accepted into dental school (yay!) at the University of F|0R1D4. Why do I write it like F|0R1D4 instead of spelling it normally? Because would rather not have google associate me (and this essay) with the specific university I will be attending.
Initial essay:
Of all the knowledge and skills that I gained while pursuing my Master of Science degree, it is the experience I gained while conducting independent research that will contribute most to my career as a dentist. A future in dentistry will allow me to utilize my unique combination of talents to help people in need, and I know that the unique combination of my talents, academic potential, social skills, personal motivation, and my desire to serve others will allow me to excel in this profession. However, in order to fully appreciate the unique qualities I possess which set me apart from many other students my age who are pursuing similar goals, it is first necessary to understand how I reached the point where I am today.
Although I skipped my senior year of high school to begin college a year early, I found the transition to be an exciting one. Tuition assistance from F|0R1D4’s Bright Futures scholarship program gave me the flexibility to take classes other than those required by my major, without having to endure their financial impact. I was fortunate enough to have taken many courses in subjects I was interested in (including programming classes and math classes through Calculus III), expanding the field of knowledge I possess today. While pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Tennessee, I became very active in the biology and chemistry departments of my university. The more I learned about the intricacies of living systems, the more I became amazed by their complexity. I served as the elected representative for the junior class in Union University’s chapter of the Student Affiliation of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) and I spent many days volunteering in community outreach programs sponsored by the department. However, it was the introduction into independent research that proved to be the most life-changing. While developing my senior biology research project, I became captivated by the process of scientific investigation. I discovered that I was able to combine logic and knowledge with creativity, mixing my new understanding of biology with previous computer and math skills to create truly novel experimental designs. My senior project, “An Improved Assay for Measuring the Effects of Acetylcholine, Caffeine, and Nicotine on the Heart Beat Rate of Larval Triops”, won the faculty-voted award for the best research project of the department in the spring of 2007.
Although I intended to begin dental school in the fall of 2007, the admission departments had other plans for my future. Taking my initial rejection in good stride, but still strongly desiring to become a dentist, I decided to expand my knowledge of biology and develop whatever other skills I could by pursuing a graduate degree with the intention of re-applying to dental school. While pursuing a Master of Science in the field of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, I have gained more knowledge than I would ever have imagined. I also obtained valuable experience developing personal relationships in a professional environment, figuring out how to study at a graduate level, and polishing my fine motor skills by performing incredibly small and intricate surgical procedures on animals. Working under the guidance of Dr. Zixi Cheng, I am conducting cardiovascular research via multiple projects simultaneously. The most unique of which is the development of a method to measure the density of immunohistochemically-labeled neurites in thick heart tissue (something that has been previously considered to be impossible) with the goal of assessing the effects of diabetes on the heart and working toward effective treatments. Such research requires me to work with microdissection tools under a surgical microscope, performing intricate and precise procedures on the hearts of living mice. This has enabled me to develop a high degree of eye-hand coordination, familiarity working with microsurgical instruments under high magnification, and a level of fine motor skills that are becoming near those of a seasoned surgeon.
It has been my dream for many years to become a dentist, and following acceptance into dental school I will work hard to become a prominent figure in the community and a great example for all those who have similar dreams. My undergraduate and graduate school experiences have both equipped and energized me to pursue a career in dentistry, and the skills I have acquired along the way have prepared me well to pursue my dream of becoming a dentist.
Supplemental essay:
It is often said that a person is the sum of their experiences. To understand more about who I am as a person, why I have the personality that I do, and even why I am applying for dental school, one can look at the experiences I had that shaped me into what I am today. Growing up as a child in a family of dentists I had the unique opportunity to observe all aspects of the profession. Not only was I exposed to discussions of dental procedures and observed first-hand doctor/patient interactions, but I also had the chance to see the intricacies of how a successful practice was run, from maintaining and managing the office environment to developing strong relationships between the dentists and staff members. The importance of education was always emphasized in my family, and as a result I have a strong desire to work hard to make my own academic career a successful one.
One of the most interesting features of my personality is that I have a persistent, intense desire to excel at whatever I work on. This inclines me to be drawn toward hobbies, projects, and perhaps even careers that are notoriously difficult, but that have the ability to be mastered. In my early teen years, I enjoyed using computers, but my desire to master the subject pushed me to learn as much about them as possible. After becoming fluent in 11 programming languages, I was able to get a job writing software for a small engineering company that developed GPS tracking devices for fleet vehicles. When I began college, I enjoyed learning math, and my desire to excel pushed me to take (and master) extra courses in the mathematics (through Calculus III). When I began working on a senior biology project as an undergraduate at Union University, my desire to do my best led me to develop something far beyond the requirements of the project, eventually resulting in novel research data that was voted (by faculty) the best of all students. My strengths are my passions, and I become passionate at whatever I work on. I have been studying molecular biology and microbiology for the last two years in graduate school. When I started the Master’s program, I had little knowledge or interest in molecular biology, and knew even less about the intrinsic cardiac nervous system (the subject matter of my thesis). However, after I was given the opportunity to learn the material in the classroom and use my hands to practice delicate operations in the laboratory, my skills increased, my interest heightened, and I became passionate about what I was learning and working on. It is my desire to excel at my work that makes me succeed at whatever I begin to work on, and I look forward to beginning (and eventually succeeding at) my dental career!
Obviously, there is much more to dentistry than academics alone. After spending so many years in a college environment, it is easy to become detached from the rest of the world and assume that everybody else sees the world the same way that you do. One of my lifelong desires is to always be able to communicate and relate with the people I work with, and never lose perspective as to the needs of the people around me. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to be exposed to different cultures throughout my life. Surprisingly, a great source of experience in communicating with people from every conceivable background was a job I held for approximately two years as a waiter in a restaurant in the F|0R1D4 Mall in Orlando. Although it was not glamorous work, it helped me perfect my communication skills and learn how to relate with and try to please many different types of people from all walks of life. In 2002, I visited China for a few weeks while my family adopted my younger sister Hannah. It was an unforgettable experience that opened my eyes to the needs of the world. I saw first hand that, even near some of the most successful cities of China (Kunming and Guangzhou), absolute poverty prevented many people from obtaining even the most basic medical services. It is easy to look at America and assess its needs, forgetting that there is an entire world in need. My father’s parents (a dentist and a dental hygienist) taught me the importance of dental charity work, both locally and internationally. As a child I would listen to their stories about traveling to Guatemala and Peru helping villagers with their dental needs, working on people who had no ability to pay them back in any way. I always hoped that one day I could become a dentist too, so that I could help people in a similar way.
However, one does not have to travel the world to help those in need. My wife’s childhood story is completely different than my own, and getting to know her has really opened my eyes to the needs of the community. Growing up as the daughter of illegal Mexican immigrant with an African-American mother in poor health, having almost nothing, with barely enough money for food (let alone medical and dental services), my wife has opened my eyes to see the world from a completely different perspective. She had never been to the dentist before I met her (a concept that was shocking to my family of dentists!). Getting to know her has opened my eyes as to the way that much of society views many issues, including the field of dentistry. It is a service that is both a need and a luxury – something that must be made more available to all people, but in a way that does not diminish the quality of the work. I know that there is no perfect solution for how to treat all of the people who need dental work but cannot afford it, but that does not mean that we (dentists) can not try to improve the situation. I feel that there is more to being a successful dentist than simply being fiscally productive. I believe that dentists have the ability to make a true impact on the world, because they offer such a valuable service that so many people need. I have no doubt that I possess the skills, desire, and motivation to become a successful dentist, and I look forward attending dental school at the University of F|0R1D4 to help me reach my goal of becoming one. As a dentist, I will strive to continue my family’s legacy of providing quality dental work to those who can afford it, while also offering charity dental services both locally and internationally for those who cannot.
Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that impact your life the most. “Come on Scott, just pick something”, I remember thinking to myself a year and a half ago as I browsed through UCF’s graduate catalogue website. “This one will work”, I told myself as I clicked the “Molecular Biology and Microbiology” link. I didn’t really care what I studied, and I’d only be fooling myself if I tried to act like I wanted to study anything. The fact is that the whole graduate school idea was a surprisingly haphazard academic crutch – something I had to rely on because my career was crippled when I received my rejection letter from dental school. It was never my intention to apply to the Molecular Biology and Microbiology program. Why did I? Because I didn’t know what it was.
When I perused the other options in the field, I was discouraged because I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of them. Marine biology, conservation biology, general biology, ecology – I know what these are, and they’re ridiculous. What am I going to do with a graduate degree in marine biology? Beside, there’s no way I could sit through any more classes listening to some professor tell me about why environmentalism is so much more important than constitutionalism. The Molecular Biology and Microbiology seemed interesting only because I’d only taken one microbiology class before, and had never taken a molecular class (I didn’t even know what molecular biology was!).
That careless mouse click will either become a horrible blunder or an incredible opportunity for my future but it’s still too early to tell. I don’t know where I’ll be able to go from here, but I hope it’s somewhere. I know one thing for sure – I have absolutely NO interest in molecular biology. In summary, molecular biology studies protein-level biological processes. A gene in DNA is transcribed into mRNA, then translated into a protein which goes off and does something incredibly boring in the cell. The monotony of studying the subject in any detail is brain-numbing.
“Does protein A interact with DNA at location B, resulting in increased production of protein C when is transported by mechanism D to the cell membrane where it interacts with ligands E, F, and G to form a protein-coupled receptor for extracellular proteins H and I so that simultaneous binding releases protein subunit J which then binds to calcium ion channel protein K allowing calium to influx signaling proteins L, M, and N to become activated by further release of calcium by calcium-activated-release-receptors so that protein kinases O and P can phosphorylate proteins Q, R, and S allowing them to dimerize and be transported into the nucleus so they can act with nuclear T and U to form a transcription factor, binding to the DNA to stimulate translation of gene V which is then rearranged as mRNA, with exons W and X switched and introns Y and Z becoming degraded?”
While other students in the program are memorized by concepts similar to the one I described, I sit in class listening to rotating professors ramble in a manner reminiscent of incessant static on an empty radio station wondering if anyone would clap a few times if I stood up and screamed “I hate DNA!”. On second thought, quite a few of the students are heavily invested (intellectually) into the subject, and I’m sure they’d become quite hostile toward me. I’m not exaggerating that example either. Just google image search for molecular biology signaling mechanisms. This is an example result (the type that students like me are expected to memorize in large numbers). See how every little circle (representing a protein) has a random-seeming name? Try memorizing 100s of those little abbreviations (if you’re lucky enough to have to memorize proteins whose names actually stand for something) in bulk. I can just look this stuff up if I ever need to study it, why do I have to memorize this?
Don’t get me wrong – I admit and agree that the field can be important for medical research. It’s easy to convey how the study of molecular signaling pathways that influence disease is important. Yes, this field is a major component of medical research, especially cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. It’s just… [sigh] why does it have to be this boring. If this were my life – my future – perhaps I could learn to enjoy it, but it’s not. I don’t want this. I’d rather work at Mc. Donalds (Burger King, actually) than peruse a job studying molecular mechanisms of biological processes. Knowing this isn’t my future makes it that much harder to endure it. What is my future? When I was in high school and in the beginning of college, I was good at computers, electricity, engineering, programming, and logic-type stuff. I know that if I pursued this path, I would have excelled quickly, and gotten a job I enjoyed. Somewhere along the line I got screwed up thinking I had the grades to get into medical school. I have conversations with undergraduates at UCF in the cafeteria occasionally, and I’m sure I come across as mean when I tell them how hard it can be to get into and how it’s never a bad idea to have a backup plan. I wish someone firmly told me the same thing when I was in their position. My classmates, parents, friends, and even academic advisors were all like “yeah you can do it reach for the stars” blah blah.
A major component of my graduate work is thesis-based research. I’m incredibly thankful that the classroom-style component of the degree was finished after about a year. From here, the major component that stands between me and graduate is the completion of my thesis research. Basically, I have to discover something novel (and relevant) by designing an experiment, gathering results, drawing accurate conclusions, and presenting my work (in the form of a manuscript) for review by the scientific community (randomly selected reviewers from many universities). There are ~20 labs in the molecular biology and microbiology program I could have joined, and I was lucky enough to find the one that didn’t study either molecular biology or microbiology! I’m doing higher-level (pathology/physiology) studies investigating the effects of diabetes with the cardiovascular neural system. Yeah – the heart as brain cells on it, weird huh? Actually I should call them neurons, because a brain cell is a neuron in the brain, and I study the neurons on the heart.
Graduate school is like 3D video rendering. It’s hours and hours of work (like designing 3D models for a computer animation) followed by awkward periods of extreme boredom (waiting for the 3D animation to render). In actuality, my “work” is reading-type research study, confocal time, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) solution preparation. My “extreme boredom” comes from the short periods between experiments when I’m waiting for a batch of tissue to complete IHC. Yeah, I know I could always use my free time to start new experiments, but then when the original experiments begin to become more labor-intensive, the newly-started experiments will also require this labor-intensive work, and I’ll perform poorly on both of them (I try to maintain only about 4 simultaneous projects). Anyway, the reason I mentioned this is because I do have some free time (in blocks of 20 or 30 minutes a few times a day) and I would like to be able to write again. I’ve written ~1.4 million words over the years (about 7), but stopped abruptly 2 years into college (my undergraduate work was overwhelming).
I’m really sad that I stopped writing though – many amazing things happened over those two years that I wish I documented. I moved to another state, studied biology (which is INSANITY to most of the people who knew me prior to the move, who would have put big money that I would have continued a live of computers and engineering), met a cute girl, and even got married. Is this time lost? I wrote in a pen-type journal, not sporadically and in no where near the detail of this web log –the greatest accomplishment/creation/manuscript of my entire life (thus far).
Although I would desire to write regularly, I have so many other obligations. Coursework, thesis work, marriage, and planning my future are all hovering around me at the same time. Whenever I take time out of my schedule to work on one of these, it’s at the detriment of all the rest. I feel like a small piece of saran wrap trying to cover a wet bowl – It’s being stretched tightly, to the point where it seems like it might break, but at the same time the edges aren’t sticking very well, and there’s a good chance the whole thing will have to be wadded up and thrown away so the whole process can start over.
told myself as I clicked the “Molecular Biology and Microbiology” link. I didn’t really care what I studied, and I’d only be fooling myself if I tried to act like I wanted to study anything. The fact is that the whole graduate school idea was a surprisingly haphazard academic crutch – something I had to rely on because my career was crippled when I received my rejection letter from dental school. It was never my intention to apply to the Molecular Biology and Microbiology program. Why did I? Because I didn’t know what it was. 
clap a few times if I stood up and screamed “I hate DNA!”. On second thought, quite a few of the students are heavily invested (intellectually) into the subject, and I’m sure they’d become quite hostile toward me. I’m not exaggerating that example either. Just google image search for molecular biology signaling mechanisms. 
also require this labor-intensive work, and I’ll perform poorly on both of them (I try to maintain only about 4 simultaneous projects). Anyway, the reason I mentioned this is because I do have some free time (in blocks of 20 or 30 minutes a few times a day) and I would like to be able to write again. I’ve written ~1.4 million words over the years (about 7), but stopped abruptly 2 years into college (my undergraduate work was overwhelming). 
