A little about me...

My name is Brian Ballantyne and I am attending school full-time at Arizona State University West Campus, majoring in Biology. This is my final year in the STEM/TRAIN program at ASU with a projected graduation date of December 2023. I currently study the behavior of Black Widow Spiders under the mentorship of Dr. Chad Johnson and plan to continue lab research through the end of my senior year.

I moved to Phoenix my sophomore year of high school from a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I enjoy biking, rock climbing, road trips and eating. One of my favorite places to eat is Welcome Diner. The fried chicken biscuit with gravy is easily the best dish they serve.

Spring 2023 Semester

 Hi All!

I'm heading into the Senior year of my Bachelors degree and things feel pretty great. School has been challenging (in a good way) and I'm still learning something new with every class. I still feel like I have a number of different interests career wise and am not quite sure which direction I'd like to go. I'm also contemplating a Masters program but again am unsure which one to choose.

This semester, I'm taking Cell Biology, Invertebrate Zoology, Daoism, and an Independent Study with Dr. Johnson in the Black Widow Spider lab. I'm excited to spend a little more time doing research in the lab and the fact that it counts as an upper division 3 credit class is a bonus. I'm also really looking forward to taking the Daoism class during session B. I think it'll be a great opportunity to learn a different perspective of spirituality.

My goals for this semester are to work on a better school/life balance. I'm not great at balancing these two things and often get that "burnt out" feeling from doing too much of one thing. I'd like to be better at practicing set times and intervals of study, then giving myself a break to change gears, but we'll see how well I can practice that this semester!