Huge News!!!

HEY GUYS!!!

So here's the scoop:

You know how I mentioned meeting with Sarah Freeman about Graduate School? So that meeting happened today.

I was hurrying out of my previous class to get to the meeting in time (it was in a new building) and I couldn't find the lobby. I thought this was a horrible start to the day. It was snowing too, which made it a bit better. Thankfully I ran into a guy entering the building (it requires badges normally unless you find the lobby door) who was really friendly and even gave me a short tour of the building and led me to her office.

She had a meeting right before me, so I was waiting outside the door very nervous about all this. Eventually I was invited in and she asked me how I pronounced my name, asking me if it was "Yanna" or "Janna". I had to smile because it was like Australia all over again, and I loved it. She's a really nice looking lady (not like attractiveness wise, but she makes you feel comfy because of how she looks if you get what I mean) and she asked me why I was so interested in microbiomes (I had sent her an email containing what I was interested in). I got to give her my whole schpiel about the Microbiotic Me class I took in high school and even the fact that guts affect the gut-brain axis and how it sort of related to Autism, which both Mas and I had.

Ironically enough, she studies the neuroscience behind social interactions, including Autism. She showed me this long presentation about what she was studying and it sounded so awesome. I could spend a whole hour talking about her stuff, but I need to focus and get this out before I forget stuff. She had mentioned in her email that she didn't really work with the stuff I was interested in, but had two ideas of what I could do, so I thought that she was just going to shuffle me off to someone else at another university.

I was wrong.

She started talking about research involving social attachment in socially monogamous coyotes down at the predator research facility. What I would do if I decided to go that route was visit Midvale to get the samples of different microbiome sources from the coyotes, like breast milk and food. She was interested to see if socially monogamous coyotes would have any differences in microbiome diversity depending upon relation and family attachments. It would basically be measuring behavioral impacts of microbiomes in predators.

I was floored with her first idea, especially since she is now working on coyote oxytocin centers in the brain.

And then she brought up her second idea. She is apparently close colleagues with the CEO of Evivo, a company that focuses on making probiotic supplements for babies who are lacking in Bifido infantis. About a year ago, the two of them were curious about how the gut-brain axis might be influencing the outcomes of their Evivo probiotic pills. Dr. Freeman had asked the CEO to preserve the brains of the germ-free mice they use for gut microbiome experiments for cross sectioning when they both realized that they didn't know anyone who would be even interested in doing the actual bulk of the research.

She had honestly forgotten all about the project until last night apparently. She quickly had the CEO email her about what they had talked about just for a refresher. She even told him that she had "Finally found someone who might want to do this for us." The CEO was just as excited she was about finding someone and sent her what research he and his company had done.

Basically, they have three types of mice: one with high E. coli in the microbiome, one with high Bifido bacterium, and one with high claudstia (or something like that, she said it so I don't know how to spell it). They then split the mice of each type into two, one who gets the Evivo probiotic treatment, and then the control. What they wanted was someone to see if this changed any of the brain development of these mice.

I was over the moon with excitement. I wanted to do this so bad. This was exactly what I wanted to do. I mean yeah, turtles are awesome, and I would love field work, but I could get that in the microbiome field anyways if the coyote option was any indicator. I can still do that. However, I am still very much in love with microbiomes. This was a gift from Heavenly Father. I have never been more thankful. And Dr. Freeman loved me. Or at least she seemed to like me. She told me that talking to me was like talking to a fellow colleague and that she would love to be a mentor to me so we could both learn from each other.

Yep. That's right. I just got someone to agree to have me as their grad student.

I got in.

Now all I need to do is the rest of the steps.

And the cherry on top? She said if my GRE score was bad, she would waive it.

She wants me as a student.

I get to study microbiomes.

I have been riding a high all day because of this.

Honestly. Best day ever! (For this semester at least)

Well, I have people waiting on me to celebrate. Talk to you all later!!!