An Interview with Emma Laurent, Research Assistant
Emma is in fact a Libra but today she's embracing her 'archetypal female with creative imagination' with Cancer. Not only is Emma a natural beauty, she is a research assistant at a neuroscience lab at New York University – casual!
Why are you wearing Cancer today?
“I’m wearing Cancer because I am a very curious person. Cancers probe deeply and learn through absorption – I work in a lab. My job is all about getting down to the bottom of why and how things work.”
That makes sense because Cancers are intuitive. It’s typical for a Cancer to nurture new ideas until they blossom as a creative skill. What are your strengths?
“I am very passionate both about what I do career-wise and about the people I love. I care a lot. My boyfriend calls me ‘Questions’ because he can’t get through two minutes without me asking how or why (that’s the reason he doesn’t watch sports with me). And I am definitely a perfectionist. I know everyone says that about themselves… Would it be OK to talk about my OCD or that I’m neurotic?”
Of course, whatever you’re comfortable with!
“I think one part of why I’m so fascinated with neuroscience is that I myself have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and went through intensive behavioral training to combat it. It has made me very interested in how the brain works, including how different environmental and genetic factors contribute to it. I am a perfectionist, but I think that’s all a part of who I am and I like it that way. Yeah.”
Thank you for sharing that. It’s a comforting reminder that we’ve all got our different paths and our differences make who we are. It’s awesome that you embrace this about yourself are are pursuing a career in helping others. So cool. A weird birthday memory? We would love to know…
“One birthday memory that I have is that my best friend/current roommate’s mom planned a birthday dinner for me. But I ditched my own birthday dinner midway through to go see a boy play guitar at our high school’s talent show. That was the first and the last time I will ever leave my friends for a boy. Once, when I was really obsessed with Top Chef, I was able to go back into the kitchen and meet Stephan. He’s a chef and owns a restaurant called LA Farm in Los Angeles (where I’m from). I watched him make the meals we ended up eating, which was pretty cool.”
Sounds like you got your priorities straight very quickly. What is your favorite geometric shape?
“Oh! One of my favorite geometric shapes is the right triangle and I think that’s partially because I’m studying for the GRE (admission test for grad school). So, every time I see a right triangle, I get really excited about using the Pythagorean theorem. Another one is a hexagon because that is the shape that honeybees’ cells are. Honeybees have basically found the most efficient way to use the least amount of wax to maximize their storage of honey.”
Emma, you amaze us! They say you learn something new every day – you made that true today. Good luck in graduate school and keep on questioning! Be as curious as Dooz Muse Emma, and put on your thinking cap (aka Cancer Sweater-T and Cancer Céleste Bag)!
