About

This is the first entry on philcopper.com, so I am going to try and describe who I am, what the site is, and why I've made it. I am a 20 year old Pre-Med student at the University of Michigan. I am midway through my third year here, and I took the MCAT last August. The MCAT is composed of four parts. Three of them are multiple choice sections called physical sciences, verbal reasoning, and biological sciences. These are the most important sections. Some medical schools do not even look at an applicant's score on the fourth section (writing), but this is the section that gave me the most trouble. I decided that maybe something like a diary would improve my writing skills. My mom has encouraged me to keep a diary since I was little but aside from a few half-hearted efforts, nothing came of it. What makes this different than my other attempts at starting a journal? Maybe nothing. But I do hope it's different this time because I've always been more interested in computers than writing on paper. Typing is also easier for me. In fact, I've been known to type out grocery lists rather than write them. So this site will be an outlet where I can record my thoughts and in doing so, hopefully become a better writer.

I don't want this site to be entirely a blog. Other sections of the site will probably not be in a blog format. The only thing that might relate the different sections is my interest in them. Regardless of what goes on the site or who reads it, it should be something fun to do in my spare time .
Contact: copperp@umich.edu

My life began in Athens, Georgia on April 28th, 1984. For the first four years of my life I lived in a duplex that bordered a small wooded area with a small creek running through it. In pre-school I got into my one and only fist fight. It lasted just one punch and as it stands, I am undefeated in my career.

When I was four we moved to a suburb in Miami, Florida. I developed interests in baseball, swimming, and piano. I think most of the kids in Miami learn to swim so they won't drown in the extensive canal system that runs through the backyards in many neighborhoods. For me, the perils of water did not include drowning. I was certain there were alligators lurking in those canals. My parents knew how terrified I was of alligators. So my dad made it a point to visit the Everglades on numerous occasions. I remember on one occasion we went canoeing with my aunt on some lake. It very windy that day and I knew the boat was going to flip, which was bad news because the alligators at the edge of the lake looked hungry. But now that I've grown into a 5'9 (and 3/4)", 160 pound young man, I'm fairly sure I could beat one up. Blindfolded.

I never got the chance though, because in 1997 we moved to Dearborn, Michigan. My birthday present that year was a 24 hour drive through the rain. Though I hated Michigan at first, I've grown to like it. I continued with my baseball, swimming, and piano. Because of piano I was able to take a trip to Russia one summer to study in a conservatory for a few weeks. I swam through high school and had a great time swimming on the team. Competitive sports is something that I miss more than I thought I would.

Dearborn High was an interesting experience. Its population was probably about half middle-eastern but though there were some exceptions, there wasn't much interaction between the ethnic groups. I don't fully understand the reasons for this but I see much of the same thing at the "diverse" University of Michigan. Maybe it's just human nature. Our school was put in the spotlight in some sense after the September 11th attacks. Media vans camped outside our school during the following days waiting for some kind of incident but to my knowledge, none ever happened. I read something disturbing on the web. Someone posted on a bulletin board that they heard somewhere that the arabic students at DHS started celebrating when the towers were hit. That never happened. We actually had a pre-scheduled half day that day and I remember going home around 11:00 AM to watch the news coverage at a friend's house. ESPN even did a story on our football team afterwards because of its ethnic makeup. They found a mediocre football team but no big race problems. I think as a student body we handled the situation pretty well.

My senior year I was involved in WDHS, the computer/video program at DHS run by Russ Gibb. I actually got involved with the program my sophomore year and was hooked. By junior year, I wanted out. But then during senior year I actually accomplished something so it ended up being a pretty rewarding experience. Russ wanted me to enter the Detroit Science fair by creating a program with Macromedia Flash. I had been volunteering in a hospital the last 2 years, so I created a program that combined the 2 areas of my interest. I might post the program in the Flash section. I ended up winning a few awards and getting some college spending money. If you're interested, there is an article about it. Simply stunning. The program is now posted in the Flash section.

After graduation it was on to the University of Michigan to study biology. I roomed blind. What a terrible idea. Actually, I became good friends with my roommate and will probably end up living with him for all 4 years. Someone strangely pointed out that most marriages don't last that long. Anyhow, after a semester of adjustment, things went pretty smoothly academically. I am a cellular and molecular biology major and this past August I took the MCAT so I can apply to medical schools this coming summer. The last two summers, I've been volunteering in an immunology research lab. It has been a very rewarding experience and I was even included on a publication. After the volunteering I was sure I wanted to do research after medical school, but this last semester I volunteered in a children's hospital. Now I'm not really sure what kind of medicine I want to practice. Ideally, I would do something that involves both research and primary care.

For now though, I'm just going to try and enjoy the last three semesters of college.

This page may be updated.