I recently graduated from Dave Freedman’s group in the CNS graduate program at UChicago. I came from an academic background in computer science, motivated to study neuroscience by a strong but mostly general interest in the scientific mysteries of the brain and cognition. My training as a graduate student sharpened the focus of this interest dramatically, and in the process equipped me to independently articulate and pursue good scientific questions. It also was great fun—even when experiments didn’t work!—because of the program’s warm and collegial atmosphere.
A few personal highlights: celebrating an epic first day of data collection with a feast of Thai food; the annual holiday party’s ugly sweater competition; joint lab meetings with the groups of Marlene Cohen and John Maunsell.