Today I successfully defended my PhD dissertation!

Overall it feels amazing to finally cross the finish line after years of work. After completing such an important milestone in my life and career, I have many thoughts about where I have been and where I am heading next. After my defense, several people asked me if I feel any different now that I have earned my doctorate. While I don't think there is any tanginble difference from one hour before the defense to one hour after, there is a massive difference from the start of grad school to the end. It is no secret that even under normal circumstances, the road to a PhD is not easy. I started my PhD in 2018, my 2nd-4th years of the PhD were quite abnormal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding many additional challenges throughout the process. Over the years I have started to build a growing body of research that I am extremely proud of.

Despite the often strange circumstances of past few years, I have overall been very fortunate to have a lot of good times, happiness, and prosperity throughout my PhD thanks to all of the wonderful people in my life. It helped immensely to have a great and hugely supportive thesis advisor, just as amazing labmates, and a tight network of non-academic friends who have helped me keep my sanity. I will always remember Orange County very fondly as my home during my PhD and my mid twenties. In the spring of 2024 I am excited to announce that I will join the lab of Dr. Holger Heyn at the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico as a computational biology postdoc. Here I am in this photo enjoying a beautiful sunny day in Barcleona from my trip in July 2023 when I visited the lab. I am also writing a series of blog posts on this website to document my experiences as an American moving to Europe for my postdoc. While I will be sad to leave my home of Southern California, I am extremely excited to start a new chapter of my life in Barcelona!