TB!!!

So I got some weird news today. I had to fulfill a TB testing requirement for the admissions office at Northwestern, and I tested positive. Haha. It's still debatable whether it was a false positive reading or if I actually have TB bacteria in my body, but in order to satisfy admission requirements I have to go through some more tests and maybe a 9 month treatment. I had a chest x-ray following my PPD test, and I'm scheduled to go back on Friday. The good news is that I obviously don't have TB symptoms, so if I do have it, it's still inactive and I can't possibly infect other people. It just means I'm at risk of getting the disease sometime later in life. Anyway, everybody I've told thinks I'm dying or something, but I assure you I'm perfectly fine. I'm able to get the xray for free and the medication too if necessary, so I don't even have the expenses to worry about.

Yesterday I went to a picnic to meet the group members of the Mirkin lab. It was a beautiful day- sunny, no clouds in the sky, about 70 degrees. I spent 2 hours of my afternoon just meeting people in the lab, but still didn't even make a dent overall. So the lab has over 40 people, and I probably met 7 or 8 of them. I've got some work to do. I also went to a subgroup meeting for the biomaterials subgroup in the lab today, where I saw a few students present and had the opportunity to meet some more students. Lots of fun.

Since about 5 today I've been working on some homework for my Physics of Solids class. There are only 5 problems, but they've proven to be a bit mathematically challenging with all the integrations and such. Luckily, Eddie and I have the same classes at the moment so we can ask each other questions when we're having problems. Speaking of which, I need to get back to my homework, because I don't want to be working on it any more this week.

I hope everybody is doing well. If you have been anywhere abroad with me in the past year, you might want to strongly consider getting checked for TB. Later.