Author: Luis Velasquez

Your Brain on Exercise

Your Brain on Exercise

Posted by | Aug 24, 2015 | | 0 |

We all know the benefits of exercise—weight loss, building strength, improved mentality, happier disposition—but I've developed a particular appreciation for what exercise has done for me. I've been living with a brain tumor for about 12  years now. It's been removed twice in that time, and it's looking like I'll need a third surgery soon. As scary as that sounds—and it does scare me, even though I've accepted the tumor as part of my life—I know that I'll be okay. I know this because it wasn't too long ago I found out that I had the power to beat the...

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The Changes You Can Control: Lessons From My Guatemalan Brother

The Changes You Can Control: Lessons From My Guatemalan Brother

Posted by | Aug 10, 2015 | | 0 |

Last Monday, I received a number of texts from friends I went to high school with back in Guatemala. They told me that one of us had died violently that very morning. This friend had been like a brother to me, and now he was gone. His life had ended senselessly in a random car jacking. He left behind a young family and a mother that depended on him financially and otherwise. The news was hard to swallow. I grew up in Guatemala and attended a boarding school throughout high school. Our experience there was life changing, and my...

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A Framework for Change

A Framework for Change

Posted by | Jul 27, 2015 | | 0 |

If I were to ask you to cut a single piece of paper into a round shape with a radius of 5 cm, you’d probably have no problem doing it. You’d just grab some scissors and a ruler, measure out 5 cm, and cut. But if instead I asked you to cut 1000 pieces of paper into 5 cm circles, I don’t think you’d go about the task in the same way. The logical thing to do would be to save time and effort by first cutting a round frame 5 cm across, and then using it to cut...

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Solving Our Problems, The Easy Way.

Solving Our Problems, The Easy Way.

Posted by | Jul 14, 2015 | | 0 |

When I was in graduate school and in the process to designing my research project, I had to do something that is called a ‘Literature Review’. A literature review is a critical and in-depth evaluation of previous work carried out on the subject you want to work on. A good literature review expands upon the reasons behind selecting a particular research question and the techniques and protocols that might help you further your research question. Without previous research, you wouldn’t know where to start and what to do. Science is built upon the work and research of others.   On many occasions,...

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By the Virtues of Coffee: Examining Transformative Change

By the Virtues of Coffee: Examining Transformative Change

Posted by | Jun 29, 2015 | , | 0 |

Are you the carrot, the egg, or the coffee? We’re not talking about food here, but about change. Change happens, and sometimes it’s so radical that it turns your life upside down. You’re transformed in the process and become a completely different person. My transformative change came through a brain tumor. My whole life shifted, and I had to reinvent myself. Suddenly I was divorced and unable to do my job as a scientist. I honestly didn’t think I’d survive the ordeal. I was recently sharing my story with a new friend, Diana, who is the author of the...

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