Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Hi there. It's been over six weeks since I've found the time to even think about paying attention to my dear little blog. I moved yet still have not found the time to truly unpack and be settled, as I began the Nutrition & Dietetics program at Simmons College the day after I moved. I was also working thirty hours per week at Whole Foods Market and also trying to train for a half marathon, eat healthy foods, maintain some sort of social life and also sleep i.e. achieving some semblance of balance is basically impossible and my blog was severely neglected. I since left Whole Foods and started working as a research assistant at Harvard School of Public Health in the Department of Nutrition, which is very exciting. Dr. Walt Willett is one of the world's most respected nutrition researchers (my nutrition professor often quotes him) and I am so blessed to be working on two of his prestigious studies. I hope to one day get my MPH so it's a wonderful place for me to be, and also wonderful to be back at Harvard (since leaving HMNH in 2008).

I am taking three courses this semester: Intro to Psychology, Inorganic Chemistry and Intro to Nutrition. While pursuing my Art History degree at UConn, I took five classes per semester, so three seemed more than manageable for me. But within a week I realized that was absolutely not the case; this program is so different and requires a completely different approach to studying. Although art history did require a lot of memorization (title, artist, date, medium, location), it mostly focused around understanding concepts and explaining their relationships to other concepts; in other words, it is a fairly objective field to study. The sciences, on the other hand, are absolutely subjective. Everyone in the world learns the same chemistry, biology and psychology information and ends up speaking the same scientific language in a sense. You either know it and understand it, or you don't. You can't write an essay in place of a multiple choice question on an exam, you have to learn it and apply it. Each complicated concept builds upon another and another. If you're missing one piece of the puzzle, you're instantly lost.

It's honestly quite daunting and overwhelming for me, someone who never claimed to be a mathematician or scientist. I doubt my intelligence and capabilities on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. I have been through a lot the past few months and my faith and confidence in myself constantly changes. Frequently described as 'positive', 'energetic', 'enthusiastic', 'passionate', sometimes bordering on 'obsessive,' I now frequently give myself pep talks, remind myself how capable and determined I really am. I also have an amazing support network continuing to encourage and inspire me to reach my goals and achieve my dreams.

Since starting Gluten-Free Gina, I have made conscious efforts to keep my posts focused on food, not my personal life, which I share via my Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages. I've admittedly had difficulty finding the voice of this blog, but realized recently it's okay to post whatever I'd like. It's my blog after all! So whether it be restaurant reviews, recipes, race recaps, write-ups on social functions or ramblings on topics I'm studying in school, hopefully you'll find more posts on my gluten-free corner of the internet soon. Very soon...