[tamim83]

Hey everyone,

I realize its been a long time.  Things have been crazy in the world of chemistry graduate school.  Here is a brief summary.  My advisor was diagnosed with jaw cancer in the summer of 2008.  He took leave in September of 2008, which left me with the responsibility of maintaining the lab (I was one of two grad students) and advising undergrads in research, all this on top of my teaching and research responsibilities.  Sadly, my advisor passed a way last February.  It was very sad, and I really miss him.  He was perhaps the best teacher I have ever had and was a really nice person.  You can imagine how this affected me academically.  I took my comps without an advisor (at my school, its an oral exam), which was difficult but I passed.  I had to close up the lab, finish my project (which did lead to a paper), and join a new research group in the past year.  So it has been a difficult time.  Things are going well in my new research group and I still expect to graduate on time (my thesis is going to be interesting though).  

Anyway, I hope to spend more time here; I missed answering questions and discussion with you guys.  

[Borek]

Glad to see you back, sad to hear your story - but it sounds like you are getting back on track.

We kept seat for you

[Mitch]

Welcome back! That sounds like an awful experience to have to deal with, I hope the rest of your grad career is less eventful.

[tamim83]

Thanks guys, great to be back