Greetings!

To write for an audience or not to write for an audience? Blogs beg the question, but I'll save my answer for a later time. For now, here's a brief summary of who I am and why I'm choosing to contribute to this blog.

Most people call me Lisa. I graduated in May as a member of the Class of 2007 (our Facebook group asserts, "We're the best Class of 2007 ever"), and I'm currently living and working in Philadelphia as a clinical research specialist at an academic medical center, Thomas Jefferson University. The study that I'm working on is investigating the correlation between cardiovascular risk factors (like diabetes, hypertension, etc.) and cognitive decline (memory loss) in older adults. Day-to-day I enjoy what I do, although there are some days that are particularly rewarding/depressing. As a Penn Band member, I was a member of the clarinet section, served on the 2006 Bored as President, conducted at a fair number of women's basketball games, perfected the face painting art of 'quadrants', and lost my wallet at a Burger King in Connecticut on the Harvard/Dartmouth road trip (thanks for spotting me money for Subway once we got to Hanover, Greer).

Why do I choose to blog? When I was in high school, I desperately sought out any kind of personal accounts or experiences Internet strangers were offering to share about life at their respective universities, and, now that I have time to live a life devoid of homework, exams and paper deadlines, it's my turn to give back. That, and I certainly have had a memorable love affair with the Penn Band (no, not in the Humbert Humbert way)-- sometimes stories just need to be shared!

Next up: the Fab Five Gen X et al. take a roadtrip to Baltimore...