Winter Break 2012-2013, Part I--Beauty Is Only Skin-Deep

I was hoping to only shadow Dr. J on Wednesdays this break because those are her long days when I get to see more. However, with my work schedule (which I didn't feel like fighting too much), I ended up with most of Thursday off, so I could go with her on her short day. I started off in surgery with Dr. N and Mrs. J, her tech. Mrs. J has been very influential in my pre-vet clinical education. She really makes me work when I am there, and for that, I am very grateful to her. She started me off with making up a bottle of cefazolin (an antibiotic) and filling a syringe with it. She then instructed me on how to set up new bags of IV fluid, which I was pleased to see is something called lactated Ringer's solution, something similar to what we have been using in Physiology lab for our frog dissections. It's just cool when I recognize terms like that. She also showed me how to use a Doppler to assess blood pressure during surgery. That was a new thing for me to consider on top of writing down numbers for anesthesia monitoring. Later, I got to help Mrs. J catheterize and intubate a young dog. He had a brother with him, and I got to walk the brother outside for a bit. He had had an accident in his kennel, so I was instructed to take him into the snow to wipe his feet off. Of course, the minute we were out the door, he assumed it was puppy playtime and wouldn't hold still for more than a second at at time. This made trying to clean his feet something of a lost cause, but I did the best I could before bringing him back inside.

However, all of these activities sort of paled in comparison to what I got to do late in the morning. A certain Dr. M, a veterinary dermatologist, came to do an allergy test on a French bulldog that belonged to another one of the techs, Mrs. B. I thought I would just get to watch--it's not often you get to learn about veterinary dermatology! However, Mrs. B told me she was feeling too nervous about the test to help the doctor, and no one else was around, so I became his assistant! In an allergy test, the doctor marks three rows of 10 dots on a shaved spot on the dog's side. Then, he administers 60 subcutaneous allergens and watches for a reaction. I could empathize with the dog in this instance because my mom took me in for allergy testing when I was about 10 or so because of persistent phlegm. I got 27 pricks in one arm and three in the other--only about half what the Frenchie got--but it was still unpleasant. Anyway, the dog was sedated for the procedure, so my job was to hand Dr. M each syringe as he needed it, and the whole test went really quickly. I had to juggle taking the old syringe from him with picking up the next syringe and making sure it was in the right orientation for him (bevel up). I had to tell him when each 10 had passed so he knew when to start a new row of intradermal injections. It was a bit nerve-wracking because I didn't want to mess up, but everyone told me later that I was doing a good job. Mrs. B was especially thankful that I was there because she was too addled to be able to help Dr. M like I was. I also got to write down numbers for him as he assessed the relative reaction of the dog to each of the allergens, which ranged from cotton to human dander (yes, animals can be allergic to us!) to dust mites to mold. Each reaction is rated from 1 to 4, with 4 being the most severe. Those with no reaction are not noted at all. Those with a reaction are noted with a plus followed by the number. There are two controls in the mix, just for good measure. The positive control is histamine, and the negative control is a simple saline solution. Overall, it was so cool to watch Dr. M at work and to hear him talk about skin scrapings and Gram staining to look for cocci as well as immunotherapy, both of which I sort of understood from Microbiology and Immunology. I love applying what I learn in school to what I see at the clinic. I've probably mentioned it before, but it just gets truer every time I go in.

This is an image that might give you a good idea of what an allergy test looks like. This animal seems to have a reaction to just about everything on the list (not fun). Photo courtesy of www.gcvs.com.

I was just starting anesthesia monitoring on the first puppy when Dr. J came to tell me we were leaving for the day. It was only 12:30, which is such an early time for me to leave. I was honestly disappointed. There were about three more surgeries that day, one of them a TPLO, which I wanted to see, but Dr. J is my ride, so I could not say no. This day was really significant for me because I was honestly doing something every minute I was there. I felt like a real tech, even though I am nowhere close. It means a lot to me that they treat me like that  because it means that they trust me to do a good job and know they can count on me to give reliable help. I feel like a vital part of the practice when I am there, instead of a passive, unhelpful bystander.

I am taking a week off shadowing because Dr. J does not work much this coming week, what with it being book-ended by two holidays (Christmas on one end and New Year's on the other). So, I will return to the clinic next Wednesday for a long day like I am used to. I will get to do a full half-day of surgery with Dr. K and Miss H, who is one of my favorite people at the clinic and the tech I spent most time with this past summer (since I only shadowed on Wednesdays during the summer). I am quite looking forward to it, as you probably can imagine by this point. With any luck, I will have heard from Kansas State by then!

In the mean time, Merry Christmas and Happy 2013! I hope you get everything on your list and that you ring in the new year with joy! It's gonna be a good one. :)

Merry Christmas from the Hart Family and our little tree!

Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 5--The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

All in all, I would say that the week leading up to Christmas Break was pretty manageable. I did well on my first Physiology exam, despite being worried that adding the extra consideration of vet school interviews was negatively affecting my studies. I feel like my other classes are probably going well, too, if Physiology is. I still make mistakes on a fairly regular basis in Microbiology lab, but I really can't be good at everything, so it's good for me to have something that challenges me, something I need to work at.

Sarah was really good as Lucia on Tuesday. I really enjoyed the program. It's funny because Saint Lucia is originally a Sicilian thing that migrated to Sweden, and Sarah is both Sicilian and Swedish, so she was perfect for the role!

Thursday night/Friday morning was the premiere of The Hobbit. It wasn't quite as good as The Lord of the Rings trilogy but was still watchable. I think it would have benefited from being just one movie instead of the first of a trilogy. There is a lot of extraneous stuff that verges on the ridiculous and unnecessary. However, the music and cinematography--not to mention the set design and makeup/costumes--were fantastic. But all the visual and auditory marvels could not make up for the lack of a certain charm and poignancy that the original Lord of the Rings movies possess. Perhaps the second two movies will be better.

Of course, the biggest part of the last seven days was my interview at Kansas State! It was quite the weekend. I got home around 9 PM on Friday and had to leave at 7 AM the next morning to make the eight-hour drive to Manhattan, Kansas. It was pretty grueling. We stopped at a really good rib joint called Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, Missouri because Dad wasn't about to let us drive through without some good KC barbecue. That's my dad for you.

We arrived in Manhattan around 4:30 PM, so we had about an hour-and-a-half of down time before we had to be at K-State for a pizza party. Once there, we sat in on a student panel, which was really helpful! We learned a lot about the school and life in Manhattan.

The next morning was the big day, my second vet school interview. I felt just as nervous for this one as for the first one at Iowa State, which kind of didn't make sense to me. I was almost nauseated. Maybe I was just worried about making the same mistakes at K-State as I made at Iowa State. Anyway, I found everyone there to be so nice and welcoming. I learned about the great support system they have in place, with professors more than willing to answer questions, participate in club activities, and the like. I heard that residents are also willing and eager to help, and the school allows first years to have second-year buddies and fourth-year mentors, so I'm really excited for those opportunities. I also learned that the food-animal faculty there is great and that there are many food safety experiences available. My interview team told me that I might look into getting a dual DVM/MPH (Master's of Public Health), and I could complete the MPH courses during the summer when my vet courses were not in session. Overall, I got a really good vibe from the school. The area is pretty nice, and I like the rolling hills. It also seems like a very safe place. You know, K-State was the very first Land Grant university established, which I think counts for something. The interview itself went much better than Iowa State, I think. It was a more traditional-type interview in which I got asked questions about more vet-related topics and about my schoolwork. It was overall less behavioral than Iowa State, and the interviewers here (two faculty members and a Kansas practitioner) knew much more about my application than the two Iowa practitioners with whom I interviewed at Iiowa State. It's just interesting to see how different schools operate differently. Probably the best news I got was that I will find out about my application status as early as the first of the new year! This is sort of nerve-wracking for me because I did not think that I would find out so soon. I was prepared for a long wait and not finding out until I was back at school, but it looks like I will know before break is over. You gotta love the schools that do not mess around and get results out as fast as possible. Now, I intend to enjoy the rest of break. I will hopefully get to shadow a couple of times as well as work and complete some pretty major homework assignments. This is what I get for attending a college that's on trimesters where Christmas Break is right in the middle of a term. Oh, well. I always get done what I need to.

Greetings from Manhattan, Kansas! Photo courtesy of www.hannush.com.

Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 4: Make New Friends But Keep the Old

"...One is silver, and the other's gold." So goes a little ditty we learned as Brownie Scouts when I used to be a member of the Girl Scouts in elementary school (Daisy Scout is as far as I got, which I think is only one level up from Brownie, but I digress).

Anyway, the title is appropriate because I got to reconnect with a good friend of mine this week. We had dinner together in the College Center on Wednesday, and then we went to a book sale at the Rock Island Library on Thursday. That was so cool because most of the books were just 25 cents. I got 12 magazines for a nickel each, including a couple of stocking-stuffer cycling magazines for my brother. Score!

As you might imagine, the Christmas season is in full swing here at Augustana. There are fake and real Christmas trees as well as lights literally everywhere. The only thing that could make it more Christmas-y would be some snow, but I've seen the forecast for this coming week, and it doesn't look exceptionally promising. However, I have it on good report from home that Minnesota got absolutely walloped with snow over the weekend, so I think it's gonna be a white Christmas in the Mini Apple.

This past week, I had midterms in Microbiology and Physiology. As you might expect from me at this point, I was worried about how they would go because I've felt a little distracted by all of my preparations for vet school interviews. I haven't seen the grades yet, but I feel fairly confident.

Not much else happened in class or in my extracurricular activities this week. I suppose that's a good thing because last week was chaos. On Saturday, I did get to do some volunteering, and I really enjoyed myself. We went to a local Methodist church to help them serve their Saturday lunch to the homeless people in the community. There is just something I love about being in the kitchen and feeding people. I think it's the Italian in me. I was in charge of dishing out fruit, and what's better than that? I felt so good knowing that I was helping them get a good, healthy meal. I didn't even mind cleaning up after! Dishes is just one chore that I actually sort of like (as much as you can like a chore). We got to talk to some of the older members of the church, including an elderly gentleman named Frank. He was so hilarious and adorable. I just love talking to old people. They have so many stories and so much wisdom to share.

Yesterday was a pretty good end to the weekend, I must say. At the Mortar Board meeting, we got to write Christmas cards for our troops overseas, and I just felt really good about that, too. I hope that whoever receives my cards gets a smile and encouragement out of them. I also went with Sarah to the Julbord, a traditional Swedish Christmas meal put on by the Scandinavian Department. We ate such delicacies as cheese with bread, a relish made with herring and beets, meatballs (made by Sarah) and potato sausage, potato and sausage wraps with shrimp, red cabbage with apples, ham, rice pudding, and cookies. Needless to say, I was stuffed! In an effort to defray the costs of feeding about 20 people, they charged $5 this year. I would have gladly paid, especially since I feel bad eating someone else's food when I did not help nor am I affiliated with the Scandinavian Department. However, Dr. S, the chair of the department, offered to cover my share because he had already paid for two people who did not show up. I was delighted and surprised at this kindness, especially since I feel like I have taken advantage of too many people's generosity already this term, what with going to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving and borrowing Devon's car to drive to ISU. I just feel so blessed. I hope I can reciprocate soon.

This week is shaping up to be pretty excellent. Tomorrow I get to watch Sarah as Sankta Lucia, Wednesday we are going to Denny's to try the Hobbit menu before the movie comes out, Thursday is a Christmas party and going to the theater for the premiere of the movie, and Friday I get to go home! I'll only be there for the night, though, because we have to get up early on Saturday to drive to Kansas, but it'll be nice to touch base there and see Emmie before our trip.Then, I get to come home for three weeks of bliss! (And working and shadowing, of course!)

With that, I leave you to admire some Christmas-themed photos. What do you love best about this time of year?

This is one of the few real trees on campus, located in the lobby of Founders Hall. It smells SO GOOD. Nothing evokes the warm, happy memories of Christmas for me more than the aroma of a Douglas fir.

I just love Grumpy Cat. I don't know why. Meme courtesy of thefunnyway.com.

So, the story with these next four is that I wanted to cut some snowflakes, but I didn't have any construction paper. I did, however, remember that I have some Christmas wrapping paper. Behold the results!

When studying on Friday evening in the quiet room on the first floor of the library, I couldn't help but notice this lovely tree.

Winter Term 2012-2013, Weeks 2 and 3--The Shortest Week and Back to Blue and Gold

Hello, and welcome to another long-overdue blog post, also known as "Hannah's been a really bad blogger lately." I apologize most sincerely. Life has been nothing short of wacko since I started this term, but I'm not complaining. It sure as heck beats the alternative. Anyway, so many exciting things have happened to me in the past two-and-a-half weeks!

First, I'll start with the pretty routine stuff. I had a lot of fun with Sarah and her family. I enjoyed my time in Cincinnati. I saw many cool sites and ate lots of good (free!) food. I really enjoy downtown Cincinnati. I think the area is just gorgeous with all of the rolling hills, the Ohio River, and the cute neighborhoods.

My birthday was also pretty good. Sarah got me the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Mom and Dad sent me a Road ID. It's basically a wristband with contact information on it in case something ever happens to me when I am out for a run. It really adds to my peace of mind, I can tell you that. I also bought some new running duds for myself because it was just time for my old ones to go. Sarah and I went out to dinner at Panera on Wednesday of last week, so that was really delicious.

New Balance running shoes are by far the best. I love these! So comfy, and the support for my low arches is great!

 Classes are going pretty well, too. I am enjoying both Physiology lab and Microbiology lab. I have great people at my lab tables in both of them, which makes things even better. In Physiology lab, we have already dissected the gastrocnemius muscle (calf muscle) from a leopard frog to study its contraction, and we are about to dissect another frog to view its heart. In Microbiology lab, we have performed various staining techniques on bacteria, including Gram stains. Those are always fun because I can never get away from lab without staining myself in addition to the bacteria. I feel like a kindergartener again every time I do the Gram staining procedure! Luckily, I am not the only one who gets messy.

And finally, I can talk about my Iowa State interview! What an experience! I had a bit of a panic moment on Saturday because I went to pick up the rental car, and I found out that it was going to cost more than I was able to put on my credit card, and more than I could spare from my checking account. The rental place told me they couldn't run my card for another 24 hours, and I needed the car right then. As it turns out, Sarah was with me because I needed a ride down to the airport to get the car, and overhearing my plight, she informed me that Devon had a car with her that she said I could probably borrow for the day. Excited, I sent a text to Devon to ask her if it was okay. Being the incredibly kind individual she is, she said yes! I was so relieved. I wouldn't have to take a rental car back on Monday! I went to Target the day before the interview to pick up some pre-trip things (like CDs to listen to on the way, of course).

I woke up around 6:30 on Sunday. It was pretty foggy out, so I was a tad nervous about the drive. I walked over to Devon's, where she handed me the keys to the car and sent me on my way. Armed with my CDs and directions to Ames, I set off. It actually wasn't too bad of a drive. It's a pretty straight shot from the QCA to Ames. I basically just drove on 80 and 35 the whole way. I ran into some bad fog about an hour-and-a-half into the three-hour trip, but I just prayed and hoped I wouldn't hit anything. Fortunately, I made it out okay, and I finally arrived in Ames. I found the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) much easier than I expected, and I sat in the car and waited for Mom and Dad to arrive, which only took about 20 minutes after I got there. We walked into the Admissions building together. I was feeling okay right then because I knew it would be about three-and-a-half hours before I would have to go in, and I wasn't about to lose my cool prematurely.
 

Once inside, I got my own name tag and proceeded to put my stuff in the Alumni Room, our base for the day. We got a very warm welcome from the Dean of the College, and then it was time for my tour. I really enjoyed that part. We got to see very state-of-the-art classrooms equipped with awesome technology designed to make the learning experience the best it can be. Vet students at most schools are required to purchase a tablet PC, and this allows all students to run on the same network with the same programs (it also allows quick repair because the IT group just has to work on one model).  Professors can upload slides, lectures, and other material for everyone to quickly access and share. It's a very streamlined process. We saw the Anatomy labs, where first-years spend a lot of time. The CVM has undergone some pretty impressive renovations over the past few years, both to the Large Animal Hospital and to the Small Animal Hospital. We got a glimpse of one of the large animal surgical suites and peeked inside the Dermatology room in the Small Animal Hospital. The reception area of the Small Animal Hospital is really cool because it is separated into cubicles based on species (dogs, cats, and exotics). The CVM is also filled with art because of a law that says that 1% of all construction costs must be devoted to art. There is the ubiquitous Gentle Doctor statue as well as several other cool pieces, including a glass etching that spans a whole corridor and succinctly delineates the history of veterinary medicine. It was quite a charming atmosphere. My tour guide was from Bettendorf, IA, which is crazy because that is just across the river from me here at Augustana, basically.

This is the famous Gentle Doctor sculpture. He has large hands because the hands are the most important thing a veterinarian can use when assessing an animal. He has large feet because veterinarians must be on their feet for many hours per day. Finally, he holds a puppy to symbolize the human-animal bond. Photo courtesy of vetmed.iastate.edu.

 After the tour, I grabbed a quick bite to eat before the student panel started. I enjoyed hearing them tell me about what vet school is like on a daily basis. Who better to learn from than someone in the thick of things? Mom and Dad attended the financial aid session while I was on the tour, so we found out about some good options for making vet school affordable. Basically, if I want it badly enough, I'll find a way to make it happen, although it probably won't be easy. I've already resigned myself to being in debt the rest of my life, and I don't really care. What I care about is making a difference in the lives of both people and animals, and if money follows, great. I just want to live comfortably and well within my means. I'd be happy with simple apartment that allows a dog friend or a cat friend.

When the panel was over, I had about 45 minutes to wait until my interview. At this point, I started to get more nervous. I was comforted by people who told me that it was really more like a conversation with two doctors than like a in-depth, scary interview. Another student who was applying came out and said that it wasn't as bad as she expected. So,  I was able to relax just a bit. Mom and Dad hugged me goodbye just before I left, since they would leave, too, before I was finished with the interview. Before I even knew it, my name was being called, and I met a very nice doctor who led me to the interview room. From this point, I can't disclose anything much. The interview was behavioral, so I basically got asked questions about what I did in certain situations in my life or what I would do. I enjoyed meeting both of my interviewers, and I think it went okay. I was a bit awkward at times, but I hope I can still make the cut. I learned earlier than our academic performance and application were evaluated separately before the interview invitations were extended. All those achieving a certain combined score were invited, and there were about 400 of us in this category. Of those 400, about 150 of us will be selected, so the odds aren't horrible. We'll just see! I won't know now till February, so it's time to focus on my Kansas interview!

One thing I can say from the day is that it only reinforced how much I want this! I could see myself as one of those students on the panel, and I think Ames would be a lovely place to spend four years. It's very conveniently located for my family, so I'm hoping the CVM thinks I'm a good match, too! My dad teared up a bit when he heard about the White Coat Ceremony, which is for new students, where they present us with our white lab coats that we will wear as fourth-years when we are doing our rotations. Trying on one of the lab coats was part of the experience on Sunday, and that also helped me feel more like I'm meant for this. It just looked so right on me! But like I said, only time will tell!

Another benefit of the day was improving my driving skills! I got some bad weather driving with the fog and then some night driving on the way back, all at pretty fast speeds. I also listened to some Christmas music to get me in the mood for the season. Win!

Stay tuned for an update on Week Four, coming to you late this weekend!

Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 1: The Beginning of the End

One week of my final term as an undergraduate is over. I only have nine more weeks of class, plus finals week. This is so crazy. Life has returned to its normally-hectic state, as I jumped right into my full schedule of classes, proctoring, and extracurriculars. Oh, yeah. And I have another interview to prepare for before Winter Break. This one came as a curveball because I was not expecting to have another interview before Kansas State. But, I do. And it's with Iowa State! My second choice after good ol' Minnesota! At first, I was really worried because I wasn't sure how I'd get there and not miss class. I thought I would have to  take the Greyhound, which would require 14 hours of travel roundtrip. Instead, I have taken a big leap as an adult and booked my first rental car. They do allow you to rent as an under-25, but there's usually a fee or surcharge associated with it. Which I get. But, anyway, I found a discount code for Hertz, so that fee will be deducted from my total. All in all, for the same price as a roundtrip bus ticket, I have the freedom to make the three hour drive there and back all on my own schedule, and I won't miss class at all! Now, I will be very tired probably after my interview, but I think I will be fine. There is not much else that I can do. For right now, I have put interview preparation into hyperdrive, spending upwards of an hour-and-a-half to two hours each day formulating my answers to some of the questions I anticipate will be asked of me. It can get tedious at times, but on the whole, it is wonderful to really clarify my stand on lots of veterinary issues and to really come to a good understanding of who I am as a person and who I want to be in the future (i.e., my goals and such). I feel really prepared already, just from having answered some of the questions. I think I will go into the interview fairly confident. After all, like I said earlier, they want me there! It's quite the accomplishment to be even invited to interview, so I can take that with me. I will probably also need to treat myself to some CDs to listen to on the way there and back, just to make the drive more enjoyable and to calm my nerves. On the whole, I think it will be a big adventure, and I love those, deep down.

My classes are going pretty well so far. I need to make sure I can focus on them well enough to keep my grades as high as I would like them. I have been worried that my work quality might slip because I am preoccupied by preparation for my interviews, but now that I have a set schedule down, I can relax a little more and focus on each thing one at a time. I have the same professor for Microbiology as I did for Immunology, and I am glad, since she is a really awesome person. She is so funny and intelligent. It makes for a really great lab and class experience. We get to listen to music in Micro lab, which is sometimes fun and sometimes really distracting because I want to sing along. We also get to use the lowest grade of research microscopes, which are the highest grade of student scopes available. That is just really cool to me to be able to use such high-quality equipment. I feel like that class will really teach me things that I will use as a veterinarian.

My Human Physiology professor is a really great person, too. I talked to him a couple of days ago about my interviews and how nervous I was, and he said he felt the same way when he interviewed for a job at Augustana. He made me feel a lot better. What also makes me feel better is that I read that the interview committees understand and expect me to be nervous, and they will take that into account when they are evaluating me. Part of the test is being under pressure and for them to see how you do in an unfamiliar situation when you are off your game a little bit. I just have to show them that their invitation to interview was not a mistake!

Animal Communication is going to be a pretty interesting class, I think. It is taught in a more grad-school-type format, where most of the class will be taught by student groups presenting on a topic in the field. I have a pretty good group, and we get most of class time to work together, so I won't have to worry too much about lots of outside group work for that class. That will be good, since I have a group project for both Human Physiology and Microbiology. I had two group projects last term, so I don't think one more is going to kill me. I don't think, anyway...you can never be too sure...(I kid, I kid...)

On Friday night, I gave myself a well-deserved break from studying and went to see The Bourne Legacy in Olin with Sarah and Devon. It was a pretty good movie, mostly because of Jeremy Renner. But the original Bourne movies are much better.

Yesterday, I got to go to the animal shelter again after quite a long absence. Most of the dogs had been walked, and the FIV room is still closed (le sigh...), so we sat in the normal cat room. There were actually a couple of really affectionate cats in there, which is weird. Crazy Lucy is now not allowed out except at night when all the other cats are put away because there have been too many "incidents." I sort of feel bad for that cat, like she's a little misunderstood. She's kind of bipolar, one minute being very cuddly and the next trying to bite or scratch her handler, but for the most part, she's fine.



Finally, this week will be pretty short, as it's Thanksgiving on Thursday, one of my favorite holidays! I was really hoping and expecting to get a ride back from a fellow Minnesotan, but she is leaving too early for me. I can't miss my class on Wednesday because I have a non-makeupable quiz (yes, I know that's not really a word, but work with me here). However, being the awesome friend that she is, Sarah has agreed to let me come with her to Cincinnati for the break! We are going to her grandma's house, and Sarah said that she's looking forward to introducing me to the family and especially her grandma, who she says I will like. What would I do without my friends? I have never been to Cincinnati, so I'm hoping it's a good experience. At the very least, it will be an exciting eight-hour road trip with my best friend, which is always a recipe for insanity. I imagine much belting out of songs and dancing in the car will occur. I will really miss my family, and I was hoping to work some over break (and celebrate my birthday as well as pick up some little Christmas gifts for my roommates), but that's just how things worked out this year. This is what is so hard about going to school 380 miles away. The only thing that I would change about Augustana is its location. If I could, I would totally move it to Minneapolis, with all the same people and everything. But life doesn't work like that.

Anyway, I wish you all a very happy holiday weekend! I know I have a million things to be thankful for. What about you?

(P.S. Sorry about the lack of pictures...maybe I'll have some from Cincinnati for you next week?)

Fall Break 2012--All the News That's Fit to Blog About

Well, here I am near the end of my last Fall Break of college. I've known Dr. J for three years now! That is just crazy to me to think about. Anyway, it's been quite the break. I did very well in all of my classes this term, despite the extreme stress I felt myself under during most of it. This gives me hope that I can manage stressful situations in my life without resorting to emotional breakdowns/hysterics and that I can come out on top. I understand that the rest of my life will be very similar to the last few months, so this was really just a foretaste of things to come. It was really good for me, in retrospect, and I guess I have nothing to regret whatsoever.

I got some exciting news on Monday night. I will be interviewing at the Kansas State University (K-State, from here on out) vet school on Sunday, December 16th. I am both excited and nervous. This is NOT a guarantee that I will get in, but it does mean that the admissions committee wants to talk to me. I am given much confidence by this thought alone. I really have nothing to lose. I will go in there as well prepared as I can be. I will be myself and show them how capable I am as a student and as a person. I will be driving down to Manhattan, Kansas with Mom and Dad early the day before so we can be in time for a pizza party on the eve of the interview. It will be good because I can meet other pre-vets and talk to vet students, who can answer some questions I have about finances, what daily life is like during each year, and how much surgical experience I might gain as a student there. Like I said, this is not a for-sure thing yet, but at least it's a chance, and that's all I can ask for right now.

With that in mind, my whole shadowing experience seems to have changed. I went with Dr. J yesterday to the clinic, and even though I was only there for five hours, I still had a great time. It was wonderful to see everyone again, and they seemed pretty pleased to see me, too. I met a new clinic cat named Fig, who is so cute and is probably my new favorite clinic kitty (after Odie, of course; he'll always be my bestie there). At first he was shy of me, but when I started to pet Cheeks, he seemed interested in meeting me. He was purring as I pet him, so I picked him up. Kind of by accident, he ended up on his back being cradled like a baby, but he seemed to enjoy it and let me hold him like that and walk around with him for a bit. Then, I sat down with him on my lap and let him bite my sleeve a bit. He is such a good-sized cat. He is very light and perfect for cuddling. I guess the story goes that Dr. N found him on the side of the road, so emaciated that she and one of the techs couldn't find a muscle large enough to give an injection. He had maggots crawling all over him and a bot fly larva in his neck. Dr. N has a picture of him from "before," and while I didn't see it, I understand it was pretty bad. However, he looks pretty good now. I would say he probably still needs to gain some weight, but he's doing well under the excellent care of the clinic staff and doctors. He does have a problem using the litter box, probably the result of some brain damage suffered when he was starving, but again, I believe he will get better as time passes. I think it's wonderful how the clinic continues to take in strays and treat them. I love seeing the results and the happy endings that come when a family finally adopts one of the cats. There seems to be a lack of good veterinary care for cats these days, not because of any vet's negligence but because clients seem to be less concerned about bringing their cats in routinely than they do their dogs. As such, cats tend to be sicker when they do come in, making visits more expensive and involved. This probably adds to the negativity that some clients may feel about bringing their cats in, especially since most cats hate being put in carriers and taken for a car ride. Dr. N does a lot of work toward better veterinary care for cats, and this gives me hope that even if I do go into something like small animal medicine, I will still have important roles to play. Right now, I am pretty interested in the ideas of laser surgery for spays and neuters and the idea of only removing the ovaries during a spay instead of the ovaries and the uterus (this requires a smaller incision site, among other things).

Another thing that made this clinic visit cool was that I got to apply some of what I know from Immunology to help me answer my own questions. When Dr. N told me that it was dangerous to vaccinate an animal with a fever, I wondered why. I almost asked her before I remembered that an injection is like a wound to the body, sometimes eliciting an inflammatory response of immune cells to the injection site. During fever, the activity of those cells increases, so the inflammation may be more severe and could cause damage to the surrounding tissues. At least, this is what I conjecture based on my knowledge. I am no expert, so don't take my word for it. It was just very cool for me to be able to apply my knowledge like that.

Finally, I got to see what ringworm looks like under a blacklight. A couple of cats at the clinic have the fungal skin condition, so Dr. J took me into a dark room with the light and showed me the neon-green fungus glowing like a radioactive material. I have seen pictures of this phenomenon online but never in real life. I later got to watch Dr. J and a tech lime dip the cats, which I was not allowed to participate in because they were afraid that I might catch the ringworm, too. I was secretly glad that I could just play an observing role for that one (especially since the dip smells like sulfur, which reminds me of the selenium sulfide I've used to treat tinea versicolor on myself).

Other than all this, I just generally enjoyed seeing the changes that have been made to the clinic (like new computers!) since I have been gone. I got to follow Dr. N into some appointments, which I like because I enjoy seeing how many different vets work. Dr. N is very good about explaining everything she does to me. She gave me quite the compliment when I was helping her count pills and fill sample bags, and she commented, "It's like we're making a tech out of you!" This makes me feel welcome there and like I am gaining some competency in the field of veterinary medicine, even if it is just in an assisting role.

On an unrelated note, I got to vote for the first time on Tuesday! It went very smoothly. I won't tell you who I voted for because that's honestly pretty irrelevant, but I did enjoy the whole process. Of course, I did get my obligatory sticker, and I felt proud wearing it and seeing it on other people at the thrift store, knowing I was one of them. Our neighbors were there, too, so I got to hear their take on K-State. The wife said she had a friend go there for Marketing, and she said she loved it. I know vet med is different, but it must a good school. The husband said it was pretty scenic, rolling hills and all that. I think I have chosen some good schools that fit my speed of life. I don't think I would feel comfortable in a really big city. I'm not a country girl; I do need some culture, but I also am not a big-time NYC-type, either.

Yup, yup. I cannot tell a lie.

 I am looking forward to starting my classes on Monday. I have really enjoyed being home and even going in to work, but I am also eager to finish my final term. I think December 16th is going to come very quickly. I just hope I'm ready when it does!

I leave you with this:

My beloved dog taking a snooze in the TV room, which I guess is now one of her favorite activities in her old age.  That and eating. Well, she's always liked eating, but now all she does is sleep and ingest foodstuffs.

Fall Term 2012, Week 10: All Downhill from Here

Well, I finally made it! This extremely stressful term is over. I'm just taking a quick break before the Physics final at 6, and then I will be truly done. I'm leaving for home in the early afternoon tomorrow, so hopefully, I will pull into Minneapolis just a few hours after dinner. I am so looking forward to being with my family and my dog, working a little, and shadowing more! Even though my application has been submitted, I think it is still important to continue my shadowing, so I can accumulate more hours in case I don't get in this time around. That and I don't want to forget what the world of veterinary medicine is like. I begin to miss it at times. I miss the clinic cats and getting to watch cool surgeries and meeting dozens of friendly people and pets when I go to the clinic. I don't get nearly enough animal contact while I am away at school. As you can see from the past 10 weeks, I really don't have time!

That said, this week was both busy and fantastic, a great way to end the term. I found out that I got an A on my third Physics test, an A- on my second Immunology test, and an A on my second Biochemistry test. I even improved a couple of percentage points from the first exam, which really surprised me. I can't believe that I am done with Physics, probably for the rest of my life. It wasn't always easy, but overall, it wasn't too bad.

Both the Immunology presentation and the Biochemistry poster session went well. I was surprised in both cases because I was honestly a bit nervous. You can see our finished poster below. Our professor liked the smiling dinosaur. I got my grade for it after the Biochemistry final (which was surprisingly manageable, as was the Immunology final)--a solid A. Once again, I've been worrying for naught.

Glucansucrase is the "dinosaur of periodontal disease" because it is a very old enzyme that can cause cavities when bacteria use it to make biofilms on the surface of teeth using sugar from our diets.

My Cadaver final also went pretty well. My partner and I struggled a bit in a few spots, but our instructor said that we did fairly well all around.

Our fundraiser on the Quad was overall a success. More people showed up than I had expected, probably because we kept pestering the campus community with emails. But it was all worth it. I think we made like $24, which is awesome. It's for the zoo, so I'm pretty happy with it. We got a cool piece of artwork out of it, too. Check it out!

 Thursday was perhaps the best day of the week because I was done with my homework in time to attend a meditation session with Sarah. It was really relaxing, and we got some hot chocolate afterwards.

Friday was pretty good, too, but that was when I had to start studying for finals. I ended up staying up till close to 3 AM, but everything before that was really fun. I went to Hannah's choir concert then went to Whitey's with Hannah's parents (who are like my second parents and who I hadn't seen in forever!), Sarah, and Devon. I had a delicious pumpkin malt. I really love fall!

After a couple of weeks of having our table at the College Center, we didn't collect as many donations for Make a Difference Day as I had hoped. But it was okay because I got a very nice donation from a family member, plus some students donated more money, so we were able to fill in what was missing at the dollar store on Friday. It was fun to pick things out and even more fun to put together the baskets, which ended up looking really good! However, the best part was when we got to deliver the baskets on Saturday. We didn't go to any specific women's shelter. Instead, Heather and I took all 10 baskets to the RNA home office in downtown Rock Island. I thought the building looked pretty impressive from the outside, with its grand stone facade and beautiful brass-framed double doors. Yet that was nothing compared to the interior. We entered in a beautiful lobby with plush couches, a chandelier, and richly decorated carpets. Wood paneling was literally everywhere. We met the CEO of RNA, which is an insurance company. She took us to the fourth floor to show us where we could drop off our baskets. The lunchroom was on this floor, and I was absolutely amazed at the view of the river, Centennial Bridge, and Davenport that was afforded by the wide windows. They really let in a lot of light, too, making for a very cheery atmosphere. If only it were not an insurance company, I would totally want to work there. The mission of RNA is to empower women to achieve financial success, bodily health, and the like, of which I am very in favor. Oh, well. It was nice just to be there for a little bit.

Other than that, I've just been preparing for finals and next term. Like I said, home awaits me very soon, and I cannot wait! I badly need the mental break from school, and actually getting away from the school environment is really the best way for me to recharge. I'll blog if I have any cool vet adventures, so check back at the end of next week for an update!

Fall Term 2012, Week 9--Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Blog Post

I think this is the first week in awhile when I have actually managed to blog one time two weeks in a row. I like this.

Anyway, there's not too much to report. Everything's basically the same as always. I'm feeling a little worried about the tests that I took in Biochemistry, Immunology, and Physics these past two weeks. I've felt really off my game, and I'm afraid that it will come through in my test performance. I think I'm experiencing a little bit of mental overload, but I don't even know why. If I can't take 10 weeks of a subject now, how am I going to take 15 weeks of many subjects in veterinary school? Maybe it's just this unique set of classes this term. This is what I will tell myself. There's no reason why this term should have been as hard as has.

On a lighter note, Circle K started its Baskets of Hope item collection this week for Make a Difference Day. I worked the table two days, and both days were pretty slow. We got absolutely nothing the first three days. We did get some promises from some students and faculty that they would make a contribution, though, so that will be nice. I got a couple of dollars from a friend to go toward our dollar-store shopping trip this Friday. And on Friday afternoon of this past week, a woman stopped by and donated two blankets, some candles, and an assortment of personal care items. Another student dropped off some note cards. So we are slowly making progress toward being able to make up a fairly good number of baskets to deliver! It will be very rewarding to see the looks on the faces of the women at the shelter when we bring them these items in a week!

On Monday, when I went to check my mail, I was surprised to find a package slip in my mailbox. I had ordered some textbooks on the Friday before, so I knew it couldn't be them. Perplexed, I headed to Sorensen Hall to the Bulk Mail office to retrieve my package. I was so excited when I saw that it was from home! I rushed back to my room to open it. Inside was a cute note from Mom plus some end of the term food supplies to help get me through the next 11 days: instant oatmeal, pitas, popcorn, tea, crackers, granola bars, hot chocolate mix, almonds, and pasta! Mom knows me so well. I feel so loved and privileged to still be receiving care packages from my family as a senior. I figured freshman year I would get them because it was my first time really far away from home for an extended period of time, but now, I am so well adjusted to college life that I almost cannot remember what it felt like to be that awkward freshman girl.

Friday was actually a pretty great day too because one of my Winter Term books arrived (the lab atlas for Microbiology or "Micro," as I shall refer to it), and I got to see one of my guy friends that I don't see often. He gave me a big hug, and we chatted for a bit before I had to run to class. That night, Sarah and I went to a showing of The Dark Knight Rises that OSA was playing in Pepsico. They had chairs set up on the courts, plus free popcorn with yummy toppings like candy corn, M&Ms, and peanuts (plus free pop and water). It was a great night! I enjoyed the movie; I thought it was better than The Dark Knight. It was just so chock-full of A-list actors, and the plot was really good.

This morning, I went to a professor's house with a couple of other girls (who happened to be sisters) from Circle K to spread mulch on a path through his wooded property. I actually enjoyed it because, as you might expect, I love doing things that produce tangible results (this is part of the reason why being a vet is so appealing to me). The path looked so much better when we were done! The professors grandsons like playing the woods around the path, so we were doing something pretty important. They actually came for a visit while we were there, and they seemed pretty happy with the improvement. The boys (twins) built a makeshift version of Eeyore's house from Winnie the Pooh, and their mom told us that they call the woods "Heffalump Hollow," which I thought was pretty cute. What was even better was that they brought with them a beautiful Husky named Carusa, who was very sweet. This is why I love Circle K. We even got to see some deer bounding through the woods, which was very cool. As a side note, there was an owl sleeping in one of the trees in our backyard this morning. It was awesome! (I like owls, if you can't tell.) Anyway, we did that for about two hours, and then the professor wrote us a check for Circle K for our time. So, it was like fundraising and volunteering at the same time!

Tomorrow is finally the re-scheduled Cardboard Regatta from Homecoming. I hope our boat doesn't sink into the Slough, but in all likelihood, it will! Most clubs don't make it too far before the thing capsizes. That thing has to hold a full-grown man and woman! Sarah is riding in the boat for Scandinavian Club, so I'm sort of looking forward to seeing her fall in. (Oops...sorry, bestie!)

I can't believe that we are heading into the last week of classes for this term! I know I say this a lot, but it just always astounds me how quickly the term flies by. Before too long, I will need to start looking for a place to work during the six months between graduation and vet school (hopefully) and scoping out grad schools to apply to as back-up in case I don't get in to vet school. I would have my Biology degree, so I could get a legitimate science-based job in the interim, which is kind of cool.

After this week, I will finally be done with my Biochemistry poster, Immunology presentation, and Cadaver final (we are taking it a week early, which is good because otherwise I would be here until at least Thursday of Finals Week, which is always a real bummer).

Since I didn't do much this week that lent itself well to photos, I will share a picture from the night we watched Armageddon for BBB.

Most of us were doing homework instead of really watching the movie. Hence, the books. What? We're busy Biology students!

Well, that about sums it up! The next time I post, I will have only a few short days until I am home again! I'm ready for a break! I want to get some more hours at the thrift store because I need the money, and I'm also looking forward to shadowing more with Dr. J. Ciao, i miei amici!

Fall Term 2012, Weeks 6, 7, and 8--Uh, Where Am I?

Is this the right place? Is this my blog? I almost forgot what it looked like. I think I still remember how to do this...

Hello again, finally! I got quite the homework break this weekend. I just have some small reading assignments and general preparation for a presentation on immunodeficiencies in Immunology, so I actually have time to update you on my life for the past three weeks.

More or less, I have heard back from all of the vet schools to which I applied. They have--as far as I know--received all of my materials and are processing them now. So, for the present time, all I can do is wait for my interview invitations to come in, which will probably arrive in December or possibly early January. I'm happy with that.

Our campus-wide Symposium Day during Week 6 was fairly successful. The speaker could have been a little more dynamic. Lots of students had their phones out, ignoring him. I felt sorry for him. Later in the afternoon, I got to go off campus to pull weeds at the Quad City Botanical Center, so that was pretty cool. Unfortunately, they shoved three groups of students onto the same bus, so we had to sit basically three to a seat with some people resting in the aisles. Not the best planning. However, I got a sweet black t-shirt out of the deal, so I was mostly satisfied with the day.

I found out that week that I got an A- on my first Biochemistry test, so I'm pretty happy about that. I also found out recently that I got a 98% on my second Physics exam, so I am even happier about that. Thirdly, I got a 96% on my first Immunology exam (after extra credit). So, all in all, even though I am still quite overwhelmed with everything, I don't have too much to worry about academically.

I have been pretty busy planning the Circle K fundraiser for the fall, which is a paint-balloon and dart fundraiser where students get to throw darts at balloons filled with paint that are attached to a blank canvas. Obviously, the balloons explode when you hit them, creating a really cool look. It's modeled after that scene in The Princess Diaries. We will hopefully be holding it in a couple of weeks. We were supposed to do it today (Saturday, October 13th), but the Homecoming Festival got moved indoors, so we couldn't.

On the weekend after Week 6, Sarah and I went to Bishop Hill with the Scandinavian Department and some of the international students. That was pretty fun. We stopped first in Andover, Illinois to view the renowned Jenny Lind Chapel, which has a very rich history. It was finished in 1854 by order of Lars Esbjorn, one of the founders of the Augustana Synod that would eventually morph into the ELCA. He was also the first president of Augustana College, which started in Chicago in 1860 before moving to Paxton in 1863 and then finally Rock Island in 1875. Anyway, the church was not used as such until 1870 because it was needed as a cholera hospital for the intervening 16 years. As such, the church lacks a steeple because the lumber was needed for coffins. It is quite a charming little place despite its morbid past. It's very quaint, with that old-building smell of wood and brick. The basement is home to many interesting Swedish artifacts (like traditional clothing and even a stamp for making hard tack, that infamously bland cracker-bread) as well as numerous portraits of the Swedish Nightingale herself.

Stained glass at the Lutheran church.

The organ at the Lutheran church.

More pretty stained glass.

The steeple of the  Lutheran church.

SARAH! She kind of didn't want me to take a picture, but that hat was just so cute on her!

The Jenny Lind Chapel

After touring the chapel, we walked across the street to the Augustana Lutheran Church. It had quite an impressive steeple and amazing stained-glass windows, which were installed in the 1880s.

When we finished our quick tour of the Augustana Lutheran Church, we got back in the vans and headed to retired faculty member Elma "Mooch" Gay's house for treats and a break. She has quite a lovely countryside home just on the border of some corn fields. Part of her land is even classified as a wildlife preserve by the State of Illinois.

After our little pick-me-up, we actually started on our true way to Bishop Hill, a small Swedish-American community founded by one Eric Jansson, who (like most immigrants) was seeking religious freedom when he came to the United States. However, there is some debate about whether he and his group were truly being persecuted. Anyway, he quickly became a very creepy character, the leader of a strange cult in which he professed that people could only come to God through him. So very, very wrong.

Now the town is an interesting mix of real and made-up Swedish heritage. Each year during the fall, Bishop Hill holds a harvest festival. There is a sort of nontraditional sausage stew they serve there as well as fresh kettle corn, music and dancing, arts and crafts, kids' games, and a petting zoo. We only had about an hour and a half to wander around while we were there, but Sarah and I managed to walk through some cute little shops as well as a Heritage Museum, where we viewed some furniture from traditional Swedish-American rooms and some artifacts donated to the museum from Augustana College's collection.

All in all, I'm glad I went because even though it took me away from homework, I realize that I learned a lot about another culture, which is just as important to my education as anything I do for one of my classes. Sarah and I want to go back again with Devon, maybe around Christmastime.

The weekend after Week 7 was so incredible. The Andy Grammer concert was beyond amazing. Even the opening act was great. It was Chris Wallace, whose name sounded really familiar to me when I first heard it announced. Later, he told us that he used to be the frontman for the band The White Tie Affair, which made me so excited. I love that band so much! He is quite the spitfire and has a great voice. He even sang one of his White Tie Affair songs for us, which I really enjoyed. But Andy Grammer was even better than Chris Wallace. He is such a fun guy, and his voice is so fantastic. He said he enjoyed playing for us because we were so insane and happy to have him there. He had just finished opening for Train, and as the first of three opening acts, not many people were around to hear him. But we were all there to cheer for and listen to him. It was probably the best concert I've been to because I went with my friend Lauren, it was free, and the music was so good. I mean, Fall Out Boy back when I was 16 was also great, but I paid a lot of money for a ticket, and the atmosphere wasn't as nice as it was to be at my own school with my own peers that I see on a daily basis (versus complete strangers).

The pre-show stage set.

On that Sunday, I got to help run an informational booth for the animal shelter with Heather. We took a shelter dog named Trixie with us to encourage people to donate to the animal shelter (and to maybe get them to adopt Trixie or another dog or cat). Trixie was such a good girl for us, and she is a real sweetheart. She is a five-year-old Lab mix who was originally adopted from the animal shelter as a puppy after her mom had her and her siblings in the shelter. Her family had to bring her back when they moved; they just couldn't take her with them. So I hope that Trixie can find a home that can keep her this time soon.

The sweet Trixie.

 This week, I was able to register for my last set of classes at Augustana. I really, really cannot believe it. Time goes so fast. Nobody tells you to appreciate your first three years. Every day now is precious to me because once I leave, I'll never be able to do the things I can do all the time here (like workout at Pepsico for free; see movies for free; walk across campus to hang out with Sarah, Devon, or Hannah; and so much more). But I don't quite have to worry about that yet. I still have some time to soak it all in. Anyway, next term, I am taking Animal Communication (which I am so, so excited for), Human Physiology, and Microbiology! I am very happy that I get to take Micro because it is absolutely required for admittance to the DVM program at the University of Minnesota, which is my very tip-top choice for vet school. Obviously. I'm happy that I'll only have those three classes to worry about instead of three full classes and two one-credit classes (which can be sort of hard to keep track of because they're only once a week and so tend to fall by the wayside until the night before, when I remember I have to do something for them). Also, my maternal grandfather worked for many years as a microbiologist for the CDC, so I can talk to him about my Micro class. That will be quite fun, I think!

On Monday, I went to Longfellow Elementary to participate in our annual Reading Is Leading event, where students on Mortar Board read with students and encourage scholarship through that activity. However, there weren't a lot of kids there, so I was relegated to the arts and crafts room. It wasn't too bad because I got to hang out with some girls that I know pretty well, and we made leaf rubbings with the kids (all three of them boys). One of the boys I recognized as the kid who went onstage during the Mike Super magic show and tried to get Mike to guess his card.

Last night was the annual Sing and Homecoming Coronation. The Sing competition is where the Greek groups all get up and do musical numbers that have to do with Augustana, Greek life, and college life in general. They were all really funny, especially the Sigma Pi Delta sorority, which did a bunch of Aladdin songs. The men's musical fraternity Phi Mu Alpha did throwback theme songs, including the Pokemon theme, which was pretty great. However, the overall winner was the Rho Nu Delta fraternity, which did a Michael Jackson medley with some great dance moves.

Just today, I helped Heather run the Circle K table at the Homecoming Festival. It was pretty fun. We sold $25 worth of crafts to benefit the animal shelter, and we got to talk to a lot of alumni and even President Bahls! In addition, the Collegia Classica club was right next to us, so I bought a piece of baklava from them for $1. It was fantastic.

Later, I celebrated Hannah's birthday with her by crafting at one of her friend's houses. We practiced origami for most of the time while munching on pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. It was a very nice time, especially since I never see her anymore except in passing in the library sometimes.

So, that was pretty much the last three weeks for me. These next two weeks should be pretty interesting. For Circle K, we are starting to collect items like personal care items and school supplies in order to make Baskets of Hope to donate to a local women's shelter on Make a Difference Day (October 27th). It's a Royal Neighbors of America event in which we want to participate because RNA is like our sponsor, and we get $25 for our club if we made 10 baskets or more. We are running it for two weeks, so I really hope it's a success. I have my third Physics exam, too. On Saturday, Circle K gets to do some paid yard work, so I will for sure be participating in that. And on Sunday, Student United Way is hosting a Tying for Comfort service project where we get to make tie blankets for the American Red Cross. I need more service hours for Mortar Board, so I'm going to go. I hear there's free food, so that's always a good motivator.

All right. I guess that's a wrap. TTFN. But before that...autumn pictures!

I love that this picture captures basically the whole rainbow: the reddish purple of one tree, the orange of another, the yellow of a third, the green of surrounding trees, and the blue sky.

This is the tree across the street from us. I love how it's ruby-colored on the outer fringes and golden within.

More Apologies

Hey all. I want to apologize again for missing a week of blogging. Things have just been way too hectic. I feel like any time taken out of my work time will hurt me down the line, so I can't even justify blogging right now. Everything with me is fine. I'm still having fun while getting my work done, and I continue to have all those crazy college adventures you've all come to know and love in the year since I started blogging seriously. My hope is to do another double blog post on Sunday (October 7th), but we'll see how that goes. If anything really earth-shattering happens, you'll know, but right now, I'm a bit overwhelmed.Thanks for understanding! You guys are the best.

Fall Term 2012, Weeks 4 & 5--Two-fer

Because I didn't have to write about week 4 last week, you are going to be treated to a double blog post! Lucky you! You're even luckier because I will try to just include the highlights so that this thing doesn't stretch on forever.

On Tuesday of Week 4, my aerobics class got to send a special Happy Birthday message to our instructor's guy friend Domingo, who lives in the Dominican Republic. Kind of ironic. But anyway, she happily showed us his picture and gushed about how attractive she thinks he is. Then, we performed one of our Zumba routines for him and videotaped it so the instructor could send it to him. I felt really silly, but if it made her and him happy, I'm glad I could be a part of it.

During Cadaver last week, we got to dissect the posterior thoracic wall, observing the intercostal arteries and veins as well as the sympathetic trunk near the spine. We noted the azygous vein and greater splanchnic nerve, as well.

On Friday, I submitted my Lincoln Laureate application, so it is currently being reviewed. I probably won't find out whether I have been selected until late October or so. In the afternoon, I checked my mailbox, and waiting for me was a package from home with a book and some DVDs in it. I love my family.

The book on the right is from home. It's The Rise of Nine, the third book in the Lorien Legacies series, of which I Am Number Four is the first (they made a movie of it). The book on the left is Vet Tails, a collection of short stories from a small-animal vet that I found on the library website and ordered from Joliet Junior College to be delivered here for me to check out.

 Later that night, Sarah and I went to see the Olin movie again. This time, it was Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which was an okay movie. I really enjoyed the last half-hour. Before that it was kind of stupid and ridiculous because everyone in the movie was just doing drugs and stuff. But it got poignant near the end when the main character goes to reconnect with his estranged father and seeks his true friend for the end of the world. After the movie, Sarah and I went back to her place to watch more Big Bang Theory, but I didn't stay long because I had to get up the next day for Mutt Strut.

I would say that Mutt Strut was a pretty decent success. We sold about $50 worth of items. The day was very sunny and warm, and I got to pet lots of dogs. I even bought myself a cute dog magnet from among the wooden magnets we were selling. Probably my favorite part of the day was watching four Dachshunds riding in a red canvas wagon. I called it the Wiener Wagon. I also liked rocking out to the music they were playing with my fellow vending-table partner.

My new puppy magnet!

Wiener wagon! They were so happy!

I did a lot of studying that weekend for my midterms, so that took up a lot of my time, too. I think all of my midterms went well, though, so it was worth it to spend all that time going over notes and such. In fact, I got my Physics midterm back on Friday (as in, two days ago), and I got 90%! Normally, I would think I could do just a bit better, but it's mechanical physics, which is not really my strong suit. Plus, 85% in that class is the bottom line for an A, so I think 5% above that is pretty great. I will take it without complaint. I'm still waiting to get my Immuno test and Biochem test back, but if they went as well as Physics, I'm not too concerned.

Luckily, this past week was much better than Week 4. I didn't stay up as late as I had to Week 4, so I felt a lot less stressed. Not much happened during the week. Yesterday, I didn't have much to do because I thought I'd be going to Bishop Hill. It turns out that the Fall Festival isn't until next weekend, so I had to quick find something else to fill my day with. I did have a bit of reading to do for Immuno, but I felt like I needed to reward myself for a busy couple of weeks. I figured first, though, that I should volunteer since I probably won't be able to next weekend when I actually go to Bishop Hill. Luckily, there was the Walk for Babies, which is like March of Dimes only in the fall instead of the usual spring time period. I helped set up tables for passing out water along the route and basically sat in Westerlin (a residence hall) until 11 AM, which was when people were supposed to start coming around. I guess the power went out in certain campus locations earlier on Saturday because the lights were all off and the dining hall and C-Store at Westerlin were closed. A bunch of confused freshmen and sophomores were wandering the halls asking each other if they wanted to go to the College Center for breakfast instead. A security guard had to come disable some alarms that were blaring. It was a pretty comical scene. The power eventually came back on, but by that time, it was near 11 AM, so my Circle K companion and I headed out near Pepsico to start getting ready for the walkers. I walked into Pepsico to toss out some plastic from unwrapping the ice and bottled water for the walkers, and while I was inside, the whole group of walkers passed by. I was gone 30 seconds and missed the most important part of my job! Figures. I have such bad timing...

On Saturday night, I went to a magic show with my junior friend Sarah (it's funny because both she and my best friend Sarah both have last names that start with "Ma," so I can't even distinguish them that way, and I don't know their middle names, so that doesn't help, either). Anyway, it was mind-blowing! The magician was Mike Super, the winner of the TV magic competition The Phenomenon. He is fairly young--I'm guessing just a couple of years on either side of 30--and hilarious. It was like going to a comedy routine on top of a magic show. But this guy is good! He took a dented, empty Coke can and fixed the dents before re-sealing it and filling it back up with Coke. Amazing! He also had us help him shatter a pitcher with our minds. Another incredible trick was when he took a napkin, folded it into a bird, and made it dance on his hands and on his arms. He then refolded it into a rose. He lit the rose on fire, and when the blooming flame subsided, a real rose had taken its place! Perhaps the most incredible thing was a trick where he performed voodoo on a sophomore boy. He took a piece of the boy's hair and tied it to a voodoo doll. Then he did a weird dance and "connected" them. When he tapped twice on the doll's shoulder, the boy could feel it on his own shoulder. When Mike lit the two hands of the doll with a lighter, the boy could feel his hands warm. What's more, the boy showed us his palms, and they were singed! How did that happen?? The scariest thing was that Mike took a pin and poked it into the doll's stomach. The boy immediately leaped up from his chair because he could feel it too! I'm wondering if he was somehow hypnotized. Dad explained a lot of the illusions to me, but it was still a great show.

Later this evening, I am going to a Hobbit Birthday Party with Sarah and the Tolkein Society. We are celebrating Bilbo and Frodo's birthdays, which are both on September 22nd in the books. I'm looking forward to food and laughs with the crazy nerds of the Tolkein Society.

Well, that about catches you up with my life. Tune in next week for an exciting account of my trip off-campus for the Fall Harvest Festival and much more! I leave you with a picture I took this morning while I was out for a run near the house (which I've decided to call 39 House because the first two digits of the house number are 3 and 9).

A Quick Note

Hey all! Sorry I wasn't able to blog this weekend. Life has been so crazy I can hardly stand it. I hope to get a combined Week 4-Week 5 blog post up this weekend when I might actually have time to catch my breath. Those midterms, I tell ya...

Fall Term 2012, Week 3: Quality over Quantity

Although this past week was a shorter school week than most, owing to Labor Day, it certainly made up for that lost day. The result was a week no less busy than any that has come before, and that baffles me completely. It felt like a normal week even though it was only four days long. How does that work?? But I'm wasting time contemplating something that cannot be contemplated.

This little blog post was brought to you by way of a study break. I wish I didn't still have things to do at 8:30 PM on a Sunday, but such is life. It makes me a bit nostalgic for my high-school days, when I would have time to do all of my homework on Friday night and then was free for the rest of the weekend. Granted, I didn't have much of a social life then, and I guess I still don't, but those were simpler times. Anyway, onward and upward, as the saying goes.

Secondly, happy Grandparents' Day! I am blessed to still have all four of my grandparents, and they are all incredible people who have supported me from Day 1 (as in, the first day of my life in this world). How much more can you ask for? Not much, my friends, not much.

I also need to give a shout-out to my amazing mother, as today is her birthday! I won't say how old she is because I suspect she would not like that very much. (Even though you don't look it, Mom.) I'm hoping she's curled up on the couch watching a good movie or relaxing with the Sunday paper right now, maybe sipping some tea.

I will attempt now to summarize my week's events without going into excruciating detail because, quite frankly, it takes too long, and also, you probably don't want to hear all of the minutiae of my life.

Tuesday was my first BBB meeting of the year. I was hoping it wouldn't take too long because I basically had to go straight there from aerobics and straight from BBB home to shower before Circle K. Gotta love Tuesdays. To my joy, it was quite abbreviated. We were basically just informed of some changes to the membership requirements and such, and then we were free to go.

In Cadaver on Thursday, we spent a lot of time dissecting the heart. Our heart was pretty mangled from previous dissection, but we were still able to see some of its more important structures, including its coronary arteries, left anterior descending artery, chordae tendineae, papillary muscles, and some of the valves.

In general, all of my classes are still going well. I just continue to get more comfortable with everything and to gain confidence again in my ability to manage my time effectively and to do well in my studies. I know none of you doubt me, but I'm always afraid of what might happen if I got too cocky.

I'm basically done with my Lincoln Laureate application at this point. I just need to revise my statement of interest. Dr. S, my letter writer, told me that she submitted the letter early in the day on Friday, so I am very happy about that. I just went to Cool Beanz, the local coffee shop, to get her a gift card as a way of thanks. I'm hoping she enjoys it!

Friday night, I went to the free movie showing again at Olin. This week, it was Snow White and the Huntsman, which I have wanted to see for awhile because it was supposed to be pretty good. Well, it was okay. I enjoyed watching it with Devon and Sarah, and it was a good way to have some fun on a Friday night, but it definitely is not the best movie in the world. Kristen Stewart is just not that great of an actress. After the movie, I went over to Devon and Sarah's apartment, and we talked for a bit before watching a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Man, I forget how much I love that show until I watch it again. We also made some cookies and ate those while we watched our show. Good stuff!

On Saturday, I got up and went for a run. Feeling a little silly, I decided to run near Lincoln Park so that afterwards, I could swing on the swing set, my favorite piece of playground equipment. I thought I would be artsy and take a picture to remember my little adventure, and this is what I got thanks to Instagram (I think I used the "1973" filter, if you're curious).

I call it "Nostalgia at the Park."

 In the afternoon, I volunteered at the East End Neighborhood Fair, a little carnival at St. John's Lutheran Church just seven blocks from school. I spent an hour running a game where kids threw beanbags at ducks and tried to knock them over. They got six tries to hit all six ducks, and the prizes ranged from tattoos (for one or two ducks) to plastic rings (for three or four ducks) to plastic High School Musical headsets, Chicken Little toys, or little bottles of bubbles (for five or six ducks). I don't need to tell you how worn out I was after just that short amount of time. There was never a break in that full hour. The kids just kept coming! Some of them came back four or five times, trying to win one of the big prizes. For some reason, these silly lip-shaped kazoo things were a big hit with them (there were a few in with the plastic rings). Some of the kids hardly threw the bags at all and stood like six inches away from the ducks, basically knocking them over with their hands. Others wanted do-overs when the beanbags accidentally got stuck in between the ducks or if the kids accidentally threw two beanbags at once. Of course, I am a pushover and let them do whatever they wanted. After all, it was just supposed to be a fun way for the church to give back to the community and probably raise a little money, and I'm not one to be mean to children, even if they aren't my favorite things in the world. I was jealous of the people who got to run the petting zoo, though. I mean, come on! I'm pre-vet for crying in the mud! I didn't even get to pet the animals. Sad day. But, luckily, the hard part lasted only that hour, and then Heather and I got to help tear down and such. That wasn't so bad. I guess I did feel good about helping the kids have a good time. It was never about me, anyway. Heather did manage to get a picture of me working the game, but unfortunately, it is not up yet, so I will have to get back to you when I see it.

Later that night, I went to my third Second City performance with Sarah and my roommates. It was hilarious, as usual. I missed it last year because I was in London (boo hoo, right?), so I wanted to make sure I saw it one last time this year.

Today I had my first Mortar Board meeting of the year. We were briefly reminded about what Mortar Board is and what we as members must do, and then we broke off into our respective committees. The Fundraisers discussed doing a possible "Trick or Treat" fundraiser near Halloween where people could send their friends messages and "tricks" or "treats" in their campus mailboxes. We did something similar in Circle K last year, and I'm proud because I was actually the one who suggested the campus mailbox thing for Mortar Board (someone else thought it would be cool to do it for Halloween). All in all, I think I'm really going to like working on the committee, especially since it gels so nicely with Circle K. Plus, I can steer both groups away from doing things that the other group is doing, so we avoid stepping on other people's toes.  Yay.

I'm looking forward to this upcoming weekend. I finally get my first paycheck of the school year, so that's pretty cool. On Saturday, I get to be one of the drivers for Mutt Strut, an event benefiting the QCAWC. I guess the FIV room is still closed, which makes me really sad. I wonder who could be so sick still...Anyway, Mutt Strut is where people bring their dogs to the QWAWC, and they walk with their dogs. I assume they get pledges, kind of like March of Dimes only it's for animals. I and my fellow CK-ers will be selling those crafts we made (I'll be working the vending table) and working some of the games. I am excited to see dogs and hopefully pet a lot of them! Oh, man. The things that make me happy. Unfortunately, I will be studying for three tests next weekend, but Mutt Strut should hopefully make up for.

In a couple of weekends, I am going to Bishop Hill, Illinois, a small town about 45 minutes from campus with a Swedish influence. Sarah and her Swedish Language classmates are going for the Fall Harvest Festival, and Sarah invited me along. We wanted to go to Bishop Hill last year after Sarah had such a great time with her Swedish class, and now we have our chance because they're all going back. It is going to be so much fun! We also want to find a week to go to an apple orchard because I don't think I've been to one for a good four or five years or so. Now that I have an awesome means of transportation, literally anything is possible! We could even go to Chicago for the weekend if we wanted to. Ooh. That would be fun.

Thanks for reading again! I hope you found this post much less cumbersome than the last one. I'll try to keep them short and sweet from here on out. Ya know, all the necessities with a bit of Hannah Wit thrown in for good measure. Until next week!