Statistically Significant

Summer is officially here in Somerville: after a gray, rainy May, we’ve got forecasted 85°-90° days for at least the next week. Just in time for a certain someone’s birthday, too…

My most interesting work-related episode this week was a trip down the Jamaica Plain Veteran’s Hospital. A biostatistics professor of mine from senior year, Dr. David Gagnon, is one of the head statisticians with the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC). A recent influx of new projects left them in need of statistical programmers, so I went over there to discuss opportunities. It was very interesting to hear about the projects and the massive data collection/analysis capabilities they have there as one of the leading VA establishments in the country. Some of the new projects sound fascinating, too, including a huge genomics study gearing up.

One of my favorite parts of my visit was a conversation I had with a few recently-hired mathematical programmers. At Biogen, I’m one of the oldest summer interns there (most of the interns are in the process of completing their undergraduate degrees) and one of the few individuals with a more mathematical, less chemistry/biology/hard-science background. While I really like the people I’m working with this summer, I sometimes feel like a bit of an outlier when hanging out with the interns for these reasons. The programmers I spoke with at the VA, though, were more on the same page as me. Two of them had just completed the first year of their master’s degrees in biostatistics at BU and the third had a couple of quantitative/public health degrees from BU. It was great to be able to joke with people about SAS programming (which is what I’d be doing if I worked there) and discuss math graduate programs, job prospects for people with more quantitative backgrounds, etc.

On Saturday, I finally made it down to the Isabella Stewart Gardner (ISG) museum, something I’ve been meaning to do for about 3 years now. I was fortunate enough to have Julia accompanying me, and we had a wonderful time perusing the various beautiful, often eclectic works. My favorite part was the courtyard in the middle. Unfortunately, the no-camera policy means I don’t have any pictures of the interior (I found the courtyard picture online). And while Julia and I were talking about the theft that occurred here a few years, I realized after I left that I didn’t actually see the empty frames that are supposedly still on display. Maybe next time…

After the museum, I grabbed some sushi (my one non-vegetarian indulgence) from my favorite Boston sushi place, Shino Express on Newbury Street, and headed down to the Esplanade for a picnic with Tori. Unlike the ISG museum, I’ve been enjoying the Esplanade ever since I arrived in Boston. I used to wake up early and go running along the river or go for a casual bike ride on Saturday morning, weaving my way through the people walking their dogs and lounging around in the sun. We had a great time sitting down by the river, watching people and boats going by, listening to music, and enjoying the sunshine.

A little personal project I’ve been pursuing lately is the two-hundred squats program. I don’t remember where I heard about this, but I’ve always been a little bit disappointed with my leg strength and thought it would be an easy, structured way to get a good leg workout. I did 100 squats for the initial test, skipped to the right-most column of Week 3 as they suggested, and am currently in the middle of Week 4, right column. No problems doing the prescribed squats yet, and I decided to always do 100 squats for the final set. I should be at 200 before I know it! (Of course, once I’ve done that, the next stop will be either two-hundred situps or one-hundred pushups, but I’ll cross those bridges when I get to them.)