Who AmberGretchen, come on over!

[SarahLovesJS]

Do you have a Who''s Who thread? I didn''t see one!!

Would love to hear more about you if you''re interested in sharing!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Awww...thanks Sarah, I don''t have a thread here actually. Its very sweet of you to be so interested. I will probably fill it in in installments, but I can start here.

Let''s see...born in 1982, to over-educated but somewhat dysfunctional parents. My dad has a law degree and a PhD in business from Harvard (the latter finished in 15 months flat

), and my mom has two Masters'' degrees, one in Behavioral Science, on in Public Health, as well as a PhD in Epidemiology. I''m not really close with my dad, but am super close with my mom - she is my role model in many ways, a very smart lady. So that''s 5 graduate degrees, but they''ve also been married 7 times between the two of them (no longer married to each other)

I was a "physical impossibility" when my parents conceived me - neither was ever supposed to be able to have kids again, and they were both in their 40''s. Even once my mom got pregnant they never thought she would carry to term. But 9 months later, I was a healthy baby, just tiny (only 5 lbs!).

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. I was always kind of a strange child - it sometimes took me a longer time than normal to do things (talking), but then once I started, it was always full blast (or full paragraphs, in that case). My mom''s favorite story is how I started walking: I was 9 months old, in a baby store, saw something I wanted across the room, so I got up and walked across the room. Never crawled, just got up and walked.

Anyway, I think I''ve always been like that and still am - once I''m ready, I''ll go for it 110%, and I''m very determined when I really want something.

During elementary and high school, I did ballet for most of my spare hours. I''d always loved dance, particularly the challenge and the discipline, and I think it really taught me important skills and built my character in a way that nothing else really could have. But unfortunately, my body just isn''t built for it, so I decided to go to college instead.

Whew, OK, I better post this before I lose it all...

 

[SarahLovesJS]

AG yaaay!

Wow that is awesome, your parents are seriously educated! Lol I seriously love your walking story.

That is great!! Do you still enjoy shopping?

What''s your favorite color, food, flower?

 

[AmberGretchen]

OK, let''s see, college. College was always a great option for me - I''ve always been really intellectually curious, and I love to read (I read voraciously actually) and to learn. My favorite subjects in high school were history and biology.

When I went on my college tours, I fell in love with Brown University, so I applied there early action (non-binding), and was thrilled to be accepted.

I went to school thinking that I wanted to be pre-med and go on to med school. But I realized I really disliked the strong competitive culture within the pre-meds (I''m competitive naturally, but thought it was silly that your supposed future aptitude as an MD was dictated by your abilities at Organic Chemistry - I still think that''s odd...). So I cast a wider net and started exploring other areas.

I found I really loved two areas - Biology, and specifically immunology and infectious diseases, and public policy/political science. So I did a double major, and wrote my honors thesis based on research I did in a molecular immunology/vaccine lab.

Sophomore year, I met a friend of my then-boyfriend, who would go on to become my husband. We started dating our junior year at school, and although it was a little rocky at first, we soon worked it out. I think it helped a lot that we were friends first.

I seriously considered going on to law school or a graduate program in public policy or even medical school, but was encouraged to consider biology PhD programs as well - they had the significant advantage (in my mind) of guaranteed funding - I couldn''t expect any more financial support beyond my undergraduate years from my parents (though I''m incredibly grateful to them for funding my years at Brown), and I really didn''t want to be in debt when I finished my graduate education. In retrospect it was a decision that probably could have been made based on better criteria, and I probably should have taken some time off to really figure out what I wanted to do. But I was accepted into several excellent programs, and it was such an easy option, I went with it.

I wavered between two graduate programs - one at Harvard and one at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), but chose the UCSF program because it its strength in HIV research, my top interest. Also, my then-bf, now-DH, had been out to San Francisco to visit and had fallen in love.

So after graduation, we moved out to San Francisco together. He took a job as a software engineer, and I started my graduate program. Less than a year later, we were engaged. We got married in summer of 2006, two years into my time in graduate school.

Shortly after our wedding, I had a crisis of confidence in my decision to go to graduate school. I hated lab work, particularly the day-to-day minutiae of trouble-shooting and performing experiments, and missed thinking about areas outside of science, and also about science itself through a larger lens. After a great deal of self-reflection and research, I discovered a career path that I could take if I finished my PhD, that sounded like exactly what I wanted to do: management consulting.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 5/4/2009 4:31:05 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS
AG yaaay!

Wow that is awesome, your parents are seriously educated! Lol I seriously love your walking story.

That is great!! Do you still enjoy shopping?

What''s your favorite color, food, flower?

Teeheee - you are so cute. My parents are pretty amazing - I definitely credit them with my love of reading and learning, for which I am eternally grateful.

I LOVE shopping - clearly that was a precursor of things to come in more ways than one

favorite color: red (I''m such an Aries girl

)

favorite flower: roses

favorite food: that''s tougher, but another funny story. At age 5, I decided I was going to be a vegetarian. My parents were baffled, thought it would never last. 22 years later, I''m still a die-hard veggie - I''ve just never wanted to eat meat. I think my favorite food would be a tossup amongst the following: really good fresh pasta, chocolate, or really good cheese

 

[bee*]

Love reading about you AG! Do you regret not going to med-school?

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 5/4/2009 4:47:05 PM
Author: bee*
Love reading about you AG! Do you regret not going to med-school?

Thanks Bee*! I sort of stopped in the middle, but I promise I''ll try to finish it off today or tomorrow

I think I occasionally regret not going to med school. Much less so now than 3 or 4 years ago though. I''ve got an amazing job lined up for after graduate school that I''m super excited about. And I''m sure that if I''d gone the med school route I would have discovered things I didn''t love about medicine (certainly a lot of the doctors I know are pretty unhappy). I''m not a big dweller on things past, so I don''t give it a ton of thought, especially now that I''ve got this incredible future in front of me

 

[bee*]

No prob-would love to read more whenever you get a chance! Your new job sounds amazing!

 

[AmberGretchen]

OK, so I don''t think there''s actually that much left, biographically. To make a (very) long story short, after an intense season of recruiting, I got an offer with the company of my dreams, and will be starting work for them this Fall based out of their Houston office.

My lovely husband will of course be coming with me - he''s not sure whether he''ll look for another job, or go back to school, or what, but I''m sure whatever he decides to do we''ll be great.

I''ll be officially finishing my PhD this summer - my last day should be July 14th, which I''m thrilled about finally getting out of the lab and moving on to the rest of my life

Let''s see, in my spare time, my top favorite activities are training dogs at my local animal shelter (DH and I hope to be able to get a doggie of our own after we move to Houston), reading (I''ll read anything), and cooking (especially good when it involves hanging out with friends).

 

[Skippy123]

Yay, AG, I am so glad you have a Who''s who; you are one of my favorites and so inspiring!!!!

Now off to read about you

 

[SarahLovesJS]

I haven''t forgotten about you AG, I am going to come back and read this thread when I have more time to lounge tomorrow! I''ve been so busy..

 

[tigian]

Date: 5/5/2009 11:50:07 AM
Author: AmberGretchen

Date: 5/4/2009 4:47:05 PM

Author: bee*

Love reading about you AG! Do you regret not going to med-school?

Thanks Bee*! I sort of stopped in the middle, but I promise I''ll try to finish it off today or tomorrow

I think I occasionally regret not going to med school. Much less so now than 3 or 4 years ago though. I''ve got an amazing job lined up for after graduate school that I''m super excited about. And I''m sure that if I''d gone the med school route I would have discovered things I didn''t love about medicine (certainly a lot of the doctors I know are pretty unhappy). I''m not a big dweller on things past, so I don''t give it a ton of thought, especially now that I''ve got this incredible future in front of me

Hi AG! So nice reading about you. It''s great to hear that you are so excited about your future and not dwelling on things that you didn''t do. I was also "supposed" to go to med school but changed my mind as I was preparing for the MCAT''s. I love what I do and am so happy with my decision which sounds similar to you. When are you moving? What are you going to miss most about the bay?

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 5/7/2009 1:24:50 PM
Author: tigian

Date: 5/5/2009 11:50:07 AM

Author: AmberGretchen

Date: 5/4/2009 4:47:05 PM


Author: bee*


Love reading about you AG! Do you regret not going to med-school?

Thanks Bee*! I sort of stopped in the middle, but I promise I''ll try to finish it off today or tomorrow

I think I occasionally regret not going to med school. Much less so now than 3 or 4 years ago though. I''ve got an amazing job lined up for after graduate school that I''m super excited about. And I''m sure that if I''d gone the med school route I would have discovered things I didn''t love about medicine (certainly a lot of the doctors I know are pretty unhappy). I''m not a big dweller on things past, so I don''t give it a ton of thought, especially now that I''ve got this incredible future in front of me

Hi AG! So nice reading about you. It''s great to hear that you are so excited about your future and not dwelling on things that you didn''t do. I was also ''supposed'' to go to med school but changed my mind as I was preparing for the MCAT''s. I love what I do and am so happy with my decision which sounds similar to you. When are you moving? What are you going to miss most about the bay?

tigian - we move to Houston the first week in September. I will miss a lot of things about SF, I think mostly my friends here though. Also, the SPCA where DH and my mom and I all volunteer - its been so amazing working there with the dogs and kittens, and I will really really miss that.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 5/6/2009 8:51:27 PM
Author: Skippy123
Yay, AG, I am so glad you have a Who''s who; you are one of my favorites and so inspiring!!!!

Now off to read about you

Awww...thanks Miss Skippy - I feel like I really left out a lot of the details now that I''m looking back over this. And checking out some of the other WW threads, it seems like a lot of them are "illustrated" so maybe I should try to post some pictures...

 

[AmberGretchen]

OK, so to start off the pictures part of this, I thought I''d post a picture of me and hubby - I think this is the most recent one that I have (really must take some more!), here we are at a wedding of some friends last summer:

 

[AmberGretchen]

Here is us at our wedding (I was much heavier then, as you can see):

 

[AmberGretchen]

Another wedding shot - I loved my flowers so much

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 5/8/2009 10:39:43 AM
Author: AmberGretchen
OK, so to start off the pictures part of this, I thought I''d post a picture of me and hubby - I think this is the most recent one that I have (really must take some more!), here we are at a wedding of some friends last summer:

i love this photo! you look FABULOUS!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

AG you look beautiful in all the pics! Have you revealed yet your weight-loss secret? If you have, please share it again!

I am excited about your PhD, it''s getting closer and closer to being July!!

Do you have a party or anything planned to celebrate? Hehe I love your vegetarian story, people think we don''t know what we want when we''re younger/children, but sometimes we do!

What''s a book that you feel like really moved you? What''s a place you want to travel to?

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 5/8/2009 12:51:19 PM
Author: whitby_2773

Date: 5/8/2009 10:39:43 AM

Author: AmberGretchen

OK, so to start off the pictures part of this, I thought I''d post a picture of me and hubby - I think this is the most recent one that I have (really must take some more!), here we are at a wedding of some friends last summer:

i love this photo! you look FABULOUS!

Awww...thanks Ms. Whitby, I''m blushing

I do think its a cute shot - I love love love that dress. Actually, finding it was quite the PS-assisted journey - I believe the search for a dress to wear to this wedding started with here with the dress I ended up wearing in this pic, and all the beautiful accessories I found to go with it - I am actually thinking of wearing the whole ensemble again this summer to a different wedding

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 5/8/2009 12:56:33 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS
AG you look beautiful in all the pics! Have you revealed yet your weight-loss secret? If you have, please share it again!

I am excited about your PhD, it''s getting closer and closer to being July!!

Do you have a party or anything planned to celebrate? Hehe I love your vegetarian story, people think we don''t know what we want when we''re younger/children, but sometimes we do!

What''s a book that you feel like really moved you? What''s a place you want to travel to?

Thanks so much Sarah!!

I don''t think there was really a weight loss "secret" - it was a whole combination of things really. The first was just getting a handle on what I was eating and how much. I''ve always had a pretty healthy diet (lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc...) but I had really skewed portion sizes and ate more "white" stuff than I probably should have. So just keeping a food journal on Sparkpeople.com really helped with that.

I''ve always been active, but I tried to mix it up more, and inject some interval training into my gym time. But mostly it was the diet - I''ve really learned to eat much more realistic amounts of food in relation to what I actually need. I still enjoy all my favorites, including chocolate (I have a small piece of very high-quality chocolate every night actually), I just enjoy them in smaller amounts, and some things (like white pasta) only on special occasions

Oh, and in the interests of full disclosure, I should probably post some "before" pictures - here is one of me in Fall 2006, on our honeymoon in London:

 

[AmberGretchen]

And one more "before":

 

[AmberGretchen]

And I know I''ve posted this before, but this is an "after", Summer 2007:

 

[AmberGretchen]

Sorry Sarah, I didn''t answer your other questions. I think in terms of books that have really influenced me, there have been so many - I''m a voracious reader, and I go through them by the stackful (drives my DH crazy - I have to be really strict about not letting them accumulate in the house!).

I think the ones that have really had profound influences are too many to name here, but the farthest back I can remember are "The Coming Plague" by Laurie Garrett and "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts. My mom was involved in the AIDS epidemic from the very early days (she joined a team of other epidemiologists and of doctors in San Francisco the year I was born, 1982), but I don''t think I truly appreciated how pivotal her role and the roles of those she worked with were until I read these books at age 16. That was pretty profound. I think it really helped to fuel the fire of my interest in and enthusiasm about global health and especially infectious diseases.

More recently, there have been a spate of historical fiction and non-fiction books that have re-ignited my long-standing interest in both British history and American Revolutionary history - most notable amongst those were Antonia Fraser''s excellent biography of Mary Queen of Scots, and David McCullough''s biography of John Adams, who is probably my favorite historical figure from that period of American history. I actually really loved learning about history - I briefly considered switching to a history major my first year of college, but decided that while I adored learning about history, I wasn''t as into the academic practice of it.

I think another one that really influenced me was David Kessler''s book "A Question of Intent" about the exposure of the American tobacco industry and their extensive malfeasance with regards to deceiving the public about health risks associated with cigarettes, deliberately marketing to children, etc...I''m pretty passionate about tobacco control and legislation, and I think it stands to re-emerge as an issue of critical importance in the development of new and emerging economies, most notable China. I actually chose to write a term paper about the tobacco addiction epidemic in China for a global health class in college, and took a whole seminar specifically devoted to learning about all aspects of tobacco addiction, physiology, public policy, etc...fascinating stuff. I could have easily gone farther down that path if I''d ended up going into policy instead of science.

And then finally I think most recently, not books specifically, but writings by a wide variety of animal behavior specialists and specifically dog behavior specialists, including Jean Donaldson, Patricia McConnell, and Ian Dunbar. I''ve really become fascinated by the whole science and technique behind animal behavior and training of dogs particularly, mostly through my work at the shelter. I''m also incredibly passionate about animal-related issues, particularly humane treatment and proper care for domestic pets. I think my volunteer work at the shelter has been one of my favorite experiences in my whole life - I''ve learned an incredible amount, and I just love working with the animals.

 

[AmberGretchen]

OK, and since I went on and on about my love of dog training, I just have to AW for a moment and share some pics of some of my favorite moments in dog training. Part of my work at the shelter involves helping to teach Agility classes to people who bring their dogs in as part of our training program. Its honestly my favorite part of training - intense and challenging, but so rewarding - it really helps to build confidence in shy dogs and to help get super high-energy dogs more under control, and the dogs and the owners just love it. So I''ve got a bunch of cute pics of some of my favorite Agility doggies - some of these dogs have gone on to compete, and some have trained with us for a year or more

Here''s one of our long-termers - he''s also a therapy dog - he goes to the library every week and lets schoolkids climb all over him while they get read stories - SO CUTE!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Here''s another long-termer, and one of my all-time favorite dogs - if I could clone this little girl I would seriously consider it

She''s a Corgi/Papillon mix, and she just tears it up on the Agility course - one of the fastest dogs we''ve ever had

Check out how high she gets on this jump!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

And this border collie was COMPLETELY out of control when she first came to us, and now is beautifully trained and will be going on to compete

 

[AmberGretchen]

This is the trainer''s dog, who I''m COMPLETELY in LOVE with - we all are, I think there''s a waiting list a mile long in case she ever decides she doesn''t want him (yeah, that''s about as likely as...well, let''s just say its not going to happen

). but in the meantime we get to play with him and use him as a demonstration dog every week when we teach class

 

[tigian]

Love the dog pictures! Amazing how dogs can transform with routine, discipline, and love, isn''t it?

 

[whitby_2773]

this is fabulous! i love the positive nature of this!

we had a rescue dog for some years before we re-homed her with my best friend who lives in LA. she is still my dog and i fly over to spend a week or two with her every couple of months. she''s a deaf english field setter who was getting rough-housed a bit too much by my two hearing show dogs who can be quite dominant. they''re friendly, playful dogs, but she just couldn''t hear them coming, and it freaked her out increasingly over time as they''d pounce on her to make her ''it'' for their canine game of chasings. she LOVED chasings as a game when she knew it was coming - but when it started with her being tagged from behind...well....not good.

so she started getting tense and nervy and in the end we decided to re-home her (sort of). so now i spend my time running back and forth across the country between my home and her new home!

anyway, great to see them all so happy and responding os well. we''ve done various types of classes with all our dogs, and can really vouch for the therapeutic nature of building a dog''s self esteem through performance.

good job, ambergretchen!