This past week was another busy one. Luckily, my homework load was a little lighter this week thanks to the fact that I didn't have two exams on the same day. I did okay on Physics. I just need to be more conscientious next time about the multiple choice. I think my "cheat sheets" with equations on them also need some examples so I don't forget the process. I am actually glad that we have another test on Friday of Week 9 because then I get another chance to redeem myself. I have been doing pretty well in lab and on homework assignments thus far, so I'm not too worried about my grade. Botany went really well. I missed the top score in the class by one point! In lab, I only missed two points on the quiz. In addition, our group is almost done writing up our experiment. We just need to edit a few sections. Then, it will be ready to put on a poster board and present to the rest of the class in a little less than two weeks.
This week was an important one because I registered for my Spring Term classes. I had a little trouble when one of my classes had a time change and conflicted with another class, but I got everything sorted out, so now I am taking Physics, Anatomy, and Argument & Oral Advocacy--a kind of speech class featuring persuasive speaking, debate, and small-group discussion. I am looking forward to Spring Term, especially because of the large animal internship.
This week was also my first Vet Med Mentoring meeting as the secretary. Everything went off well. We practiced diagnosing a past case from the president's shadowing experience, which was really fun and good for our future work. We also read journal articles from the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) to see what's new in veterinary science. One of the most interesting articles was about a new sutureless procedure to repair blood vessels (it involves a special kind of glue and something like tape).
I did not end up going to that BBB social because I had a lot of homework to do and wanted to get to bed at a reasonable hour. I spent most of last week up past 11:00, which was not the best.
I'm making really good progress on my Molecular Genetics project. I finished all of my research for my independent question, and now I just need to put everything together in a poster. We will have poster defenses during Finals Week, so I will need to know my poster like the back of my hand as well as understand and remember all of the concepts we have discussed in lab this term. I have already finished the first draft of the Introduction section of my poster, which is an exciting accomplishment to me. I can tell that the finished product is really going to be quite the achievement and something that I will be very proud of.
This weekend was another movie-filled weekend. We watched The Help on Friday while eating Chipotle burritos and chips with salsa. Sadly, we also finished the first season of The Big Bang Theory. It's going to be a hard wait until we get the second season. Last night (Saturday), we watched Sliding Doors with Gwenyth Paltrow and Bottle Shock with Chris Pine, Bill Pullman, and Alan Rickman. The former was about a woman who finds out what her life would be like both if she caught the train and if she missed it. It takes place in London, which was awesome because I saw some very familiar sights (including the Westminster Tube station!). The latter movie was about the early days of Napa Valley when California wines were just beginning to rival those of France. Tonight, I intend on catching up with Glee and getting a long-overdue dose of QI.
This afternoon, my good friend Heather and I went to the QCBC for the Chocolate Festival. Ticket prices were a bit steep, but we went because we both need points for BBB and because the funds go to keeping the QCBC open. We had so many delicious chocolate treats and treats of other kinds, including Whitey's ice cream, dark Italian roast coffee from Starbucks, cookies, shortbread, truffles, marshmallows, cake, and more! We even took home a small bag of chocolate-covered raisins and a small packet of chocolates from Fannie May, a chocolate vendor in East Davenport. Heather says we should take a bike ride there in the spring. I have been a couple of times with Mom and Dad, but I think Heather would like it.
In other news, I have already started a small "bucket list" for my remaining time at Augustana. It's amazing how much time I can spend here and still not see everything:
1. Visit Skybridge, a color-changing skyway in Davenport.
2. Visit Niabi Zoo in nearby Coal Valley
3. Take a daytrip to Le Claire, Iowa, a Mississippi River town not far from here
4. Eat at Ribco (the Rock Island Brewing Company, a popular weekend hangout for Augie students)
5. Visit the Putnam Museum, a local science museum
6. Visit the Figge Art Gallery, which I hear has a lot of cool pieces
7. Take a walk through the greenhouse on the fourth floor of the science building. What's in there, anyway?
That's about it for now. I'm sure I will add a lot more soon as I remember things that I still need to do.
This coming week should be a good one. We have open nominations for Circle K at our meeting on Tuesday. Heather is nominating me for Service Chair, and I will have my chance to persuade everyone to vote for me Week 1 of Spring Term (our next meeting after this week). I also have another Physics test, which I intend to be better than my last test. I am most looking forward to Tuesday, though. I hear tell that my very good friend Hannah will be back on campus that night for Intervarsity, and I'm trying to convince her to make a pit stop at Heimdall to see all of us. I really miss her, and I want to talk to her and ask her how everything is going and if she has figured everything out yet. I know she will be back on campus for the start of Spring Term in March, but that is still an awfully long way from now.
I hope that you all have had a good week and that this next week will be just as good and perhaps even better. Cheers!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Studymania--Week 7
As the title indicates, this week was filled with lots of studying for two tests (Botany and Physics, both on Friday). I took my Botany lab quiz on Monday, which I think went very well. I felt confident about my answers. Our group for lab also just finished the first draft of our results and discussion sections of our experiments. We slaved over writing them for 3.5 hours on Sunday night (the day after my last post). I was not intending that we should spend so much time working on it, but I think it paid off, and the subsequent versions should be even better. I had my first Circle K meeting since being back on Tuesday. We ate cookies and talked about upcoming events, including Kiwanis Pancake Day. I have signed up to work the 6 AM-8:30 AM shift on a Saturday in early February. I think I might be crazy. But my good friend Heather Ohde will be there, too, so it should be a good time: she is crazier than I am!
Wednesday was a pretty important day for me because I met with my advisor, the amicable Dr. Good, to discuss Spring Term classes and the remaining three terms of my college career (gosh, it went by fast!). With Dr. Good's assistance, I will be doing a three-credit large animal internship (basically just glorified shadowing) in addition to Physics, Anatomy, and Public Speaking. I am excited to get deeper into large animal medicine because that is potentially my path as a future veterinarian. We also discussed the idea of my taking Winter Term off next year. I have enough credits to graduate in just two trimesters next year, and at first, I wanted to come to Augustana for Fall and Winter Terms and then be home for Spring Term. However, there are a couple of classes (Immunology and the ever-elusive Animal Behavior) that are only offered in the Spring, so he told me that I could leave for Winter Term (and be home from early November to early March) and then come back to finish the year off at Augustana. I really like the idea of this for several reasons. First of all, Winter Term gets really long and annoying because we have so many breaks. It's such a hassle trying to drum up rides to and from Minnesota. If I stay at home for Winter Term, I can celebrate all of the holidays with my family with none of the stress of traveling. In addition, I will have plenty of time to work and earn money (more even than if I took Spring Term off) which will be great for paying rent when I get back as well as saving some money for vet school. Thirdly, many vet schools have their interviews in January and February, so if I am lucky enough to get invited for an interview, I won't have to worry about missing school (as I would if I took classes during Winter Term). I would also FINALLY be able to take Animal Behavior. Let me explain. In high school, an Animal Behavior class was offered to upperclassmen when I was a freshman. I dreamed of one day being in their shoes and taking the class, especially since it involved interacting with actual animals like rats, turtles, and birds. However, the next year, I found out that the school would not be offering the class anymore. How disappointing! Well, I was super excited when I saw that Augustana has an Animal Behavior class. Most vet schools like to see students take all of those animal-intensive courses. I was going to take the class this year, but it has not been offered at all. It looks like I will have to wait yet another year to take this class, which seems so interesting. If you didn't already know, Animal Behavior is something that I am toying with as a backup plan if I don't get into vet school (i.e., I would apply to graduate schools with Animal Behavior programs). As such, it would be extremely beneficial to me to get a small taste of it before I decide to make it my career. My other option is Animal Nutrition. Speaking of which, Purdue offers an online Animal Nutrition course that I am going to take this summer. I need it for a couple of the vet schools I am applying to. Again, it will be good for me to get an idea of what it is all about before I pursue a full degree in it. Anyway, I am very excited about all of these opportunities and possibilities.
Thursday was my first Vet Med executive board meeting as the secretary. Our president, Lauren, outlined my duties so I know what is expected of me. We all talked about ways to get more people interested (especially upperclassmen, who could be good for advice for underclassmen) as well as activities we could do at meetings and trips we could take as a club (like to Niabi Zoo or the Scott County Kennel Club). I think that it will be a great experience for me to have some actual responsibility in one of the clubs of which I am a part. Heather told me that she is nominating me for Service Chair for Circle K next year. Nominations will be announced next meeting (Week 9) and elections will take place Week 1 of Spring Term. I hope I don't have too much competition and that if I do, I can persuade my peers to elect me because of my experience and my commitment to Circle K--I go to all the meetings and participate in numerous volunteer activities throughout the year. I'm a pretty organized person, so I think I would be good at the position--which requires keeping track of everyone's service hours, calculating totals to award Member of the Month and conduct the raffle (one ticket for each hour of service), and seeing which service activities get the most participants and total hours so we can decide which things to keep doing and which things no one likes. Not only that, but I get along really well with the rest of the executive board (especially Heather, one of the co-presidents).
In Molecular Genetics, we each had to come up with our own unique question to ask about Meiothermus ruber. I was nervous that the professor would tell me that my topic was not good and that I would have to find a new topic after spending so much time trying to pick the perfect one. Well, good news! She loves my topic. I am studying catalase (the enzyme that degrades hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen) in Meiothermus ruber and comparing it to catalase in Thermus thermophilus (a highly related organism). It turns out that Thermus thermophilus can be made to overproduce catalase, and I want to know if Meiothermus ruber can be forced to do the same. Hydrogen peroxide degradation is important in many industries, including textiles and the dairy industry. It's good to have catalase from organisms like Meiothermus ruber and Thermus thermophilus because they are thermophiles--organisms that like it hot--so their proteins and enzymes can withstand the high temperatures that often accompany industrial processes. Anyway, my research will mainly involve the use of bioinformatics programs to compare the catalase gene sequences of Meiothermus ruber and Thermus thermophilus. If I can sufficiently conclude that the two are fairly similar, that will be good evidence that Meiothermus ruber can be used to produce large quantities of catalase, just like Thermus thermophilus. As you can see, I am very intrigued and excited by my topic. I look forward to sharing the results with you, especially when they end up in my final poster! I never thought my senior inquiry project would be like this. I thought it would be hard and unenjoyable, but I could not have been more wrong. I love Augustana for its classes like these. They make things that used to scare me--like my senior project--seem more manageable and not scary at all. Again, thanks for sticking it out while I explained everything. I just really like talking about it (ya know, that whole ownership thing again).
Friday was the day of truth. I took my Physics and Botany tests. Physics was, well, okay. I mean, I studied a lot and really felt like I got it, but even with my pretty detailed "cheat sheet," I still couldn't remember a few things that I needed to solve a couple of the problems. Luckily, I think the multiple choice section went better than it did last time, plus our professor awards partial credit, so I might not have done so badly after all. Botany went much better (both better than Physics and better than it went last time). I have few worries about my grade on that one. After the tests--which were a mite exhausting, mind you--I got the privilege of returning to the animal shelter! I was so excited to see my beloved FIV kitties again. But I was disappointed! We were not allowed in because there was apparently some potential problem that the vet wanted to investigate before the shelter could allow volunteers to socialize with the cats. I am afraid that one of the cats might be sick...I hope it isn't any of them! I love Thomas and Kringle, but I also love the rest of them a lot, too. A few of them have been pretty sick during their lifetimes (even big, strong, durable Thomas was very ill a couple of years ago), and they definitely don't need anymore of it. It was still a nice time, though. We played with the normal cats, which were pretty sociable until lunchtime. Then, they all devoured their food and went to sleep, hardly paying any notice to us. One of the nicer cats there is named Boomer. He is a very sweet boy of medium build with big grey patches on a white body and light green eyes. I have decided that he is my favorite normal cat because he likes to be pet and sit on laps, just like the FIV cats.
The past week has been exciting in a different way, too. Sarah just introduced me to the sitcom The Big Bang Theory about two physicists and the girl who moves into the apartment next to theirs. It is wildly funny and utterly addicting. I've watched half of the first season during the last week (last Saturday and last night). We also watched The Lion King last night, and we are planning on watching at least a couple more movies tonight. Hurray for mini Disney movie marathons with the roommates! Sarah and I also made tacos last night. Sarah asked me to chop vegetables, including tomatoes and "lettuce." When I first took the "lettuce" out of the fridge, I thought it felt a little...rubbery. When I took it out of the bag, my suspicions were confirmed: Sarah bought cabbage instead of lettuce! I didn't say anything until she realized it herself. Silly girl. She makes me laugh.
Still no sign of my lost camera cable, but I did manage to find my envelope of coupons, including a $5 gift certificate to Whitey's, the best ice cream in the Quad Cities and a veritable mecca for sweet-toothed college students. I may have to use that sometime soon...
The week ahead looks to be a good one (and thankfully, quieter than this past week has been). I register for my classes on Tuesday. Tuesday is also the BBB social (it was moved from this week to next week). Instead of Bill Nye the Science Guy, we will be watching Contagion, which is frankly more relevant to us (many of us are considering medical professions). We still get free pizza, though! I have another Vet Med meeting on Thursday, and it will be my first time monitoring attendance as the secretary. I'm sure all will go well. I think next weekend I will be going to a magic show on campus (I still need to ask my friends if they want to go) and the Chocolate Festival at the QCBC. It costs $10 to get in, but BBB is going for a social, and I get 2 points for going. Plus, it's basically a bunch of chocolate treats to eat! What's not to love?
Wednesday was a pretty important day for me because I met with my advisor, the amicable Dr. Good, to discuss Spring Term classes and the remaining three terms of my college career (gosh, it went by fast!). With Dr. Good's assistance, I will be doing a three-credit large animal internship (basically just glorified shadowing) in addition to Physics, Anatomy, and Public Speaking. I am excited to get deeper into large animal medicine because that is potentially my path as a future veterinarian. We also discussed the idea of my taking Winter Term off next year. I have enough credits to graduate in just two trimesters next year, and at first, I wanted to come to Augustana for Fall and Winter Terms and then be home for Spring Term. However, there are a couple of classes (Immunology and the ever-elusive Animal Behavior) that are only offered in the Spring, so he told me that I could leave for Winter Term (and be home from early November to early March) and then come back to finish the year off at Augustana. I really like the idea of this for several reasons. First of all, Winter Term gets really long and annoying because we have so many breaks. It's such a hassle trying to drum up rides to and from Minnesota. If I stay at home for Winter Term, I can celebrate all of the holidays with my family with none of the stress of traveling. In addition, I will have plenty of time to work and earn money (more even than if I took Spring Term off) which will be great for paying rent when I get back as well as saving some money for vet school. Thirdly, many vet schools have their interviews in January and February, so if I am lucky enough to get invited for an interview, I won't have to worry about missing school (as I would if I took classes during Winter Term). I would also FINALLY be able to take Animal Behavior. Let me explain. In high school, an Animal Behavior class was offered to upperclassmen when I was a freshman. I dreamed of one day being in their shoes and taking the class, especially since it involved interacting with actual animals like rats, turtles, and birds. However, the next year, I found out that the school would not be offering the class anymore. How disappointing! Well, I was super excited when I saw that Augustana has an Animal Behavior class. Most vet schools like to see students take all of those animal-intensive courses. I was going to take the class this year, but it has not been offered at all. It looks like I will have to wait yet another year to take this class, which seems so interesting. If you didn't already know, Animal Behavior is something that I am toying with as a backup plan if I don't get into vet school (i.e., I would apply to graduate schools with Animal Behavior programs). As such, it would be extremely beneficial to me to get a small taste of it before I decide to make it my career. My other option is Animal Nutrition. Speaking of which, Purdue offers an online Animal Nutrition course that I am going to take this summer. I need it for a couple of the vet schools I am applying to. Again, it will be good for me to get an idea of what it is all about before I pursue a full degree in it. Anyway, I am very excited about all of these opportunities and possibilities.
Thursday was my first Vet Med executive board meeting as the secretary. Our president, Lauren, outlined my duties so I know what is expected of me. We all talked about ways to get more people interested (especially upperclassmen, who could be good for advice for underclassmen) as well as activities we could do at meetings and trips we could take as a club (like to Niabi Zoo or the Scott County Kennel Club). I think that it will be a great experience for me to have some actual responsibility in one of the clubs of which I am a part. Heather told me that she is nominating me for Service Chair for Circle K next year. Nominations will be announced next meeting (Week 9) and elections will take place Week 1 of Spring Term. I hope I don't have too much competition and that if I do, I can persuade my peers to elect me because of my experience and my commitment to Circle K--I go to all the meetings and participate in numerous volunteer activities throughout the year. I'm a pretty organized person, so I think I would be good at the position--which requires keeping track of everyone's service hours, calculating totals to award Member of the Month and conduct the raffle (one ticket for each hour of service), and seeing which service activities get the most participants and total hours so we can decide which things to keep doing and which things no one likes. Not only that, but I get along really well with the rest of the executive board (especially Heather, one of the co-presidents).
In Molecular Genetics, we each had to come up with our own unique question to ask about Meiothermus ruber. I was nervous that the professor would tell me that my topic was not good and that I would have to find a new topic after spending so much time trying to pick the perfect one. Well, good news! She loves my topic. I am studying catalase (the enzyme that degrades hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen) in Meiothermus ruber and comparing it to catalase in Thermus thermophilus (a highly related organism). It turns out that Thermus thermophilus can be made to overproduce catalase, and I want to know if Meiothermus ruber can be forced to do the same. Hydrogen peroxide degradation is important in many industries, including textiles and the dairy industry. It's good to have catalase from organisms like Meiothermus ruber and Thermus thermophilus because they are thermophiles--organisms that like it hot--so their proteins and enzymes can withstand the high temperatures that often accompany industrial processes. Anyway, my research will mainly involve the use of bioinformatics programs to compare the catalase gene sequences of Meiothermus ruber and Thermus thermophilus. If I can sufficiently conclude that the two are fairly similar, that will be good evidence that Meiothermus ruber can be used to produce large quantities of catalase, just like Thermus thermophilus. As you can see, I am very intrigued and excited by my topic. I look forward to sharing the results with you, especially when they end up in my final poster! I never thought my senior inquiry project would be like this. I thought it would be hard and unenjoyable, but I could not have been more wrong. I love Augustana for its classes like these. They make things that used to scare me--like my senior project--seem more manageable and not scary at all. Again, thanks for sticking it out while I explained everything. I just really like talking about it (ya know, that whole ownership thing again).
Friday was the day of truth. I took my Physics and Botany tests. Physics was, well, okay. I mean, I studied a lot and really felt like I got it, but even with my pretty detailed "cheat sheet," I still couldn't remember a few things that I needed to solve a couple of the problems. Luckily, I think the multiple choice section went better than it did last time, plus our professor awards partial credit, so I might not have done so badly after all. Botany went much better (both better than Physics and better than it went last time). I have few worries about my grade on that one. After the tests--which were a mite exhausting, mind you--I got the privilege of returning to the animal shelter! I was so excited to see my beloved FIV kitties again. But I was disappointed! We were not allowed in because there was apparently some potential problem that the vet wanted to investigate before the shelter could allow volunteers to socialize with the cats. I am afraid that one of the cats might be sick...I hope it isn't any of them! I love Thomas and Kringle, but I also love the rest of them a lot, too. A few of them have been pretty sick during their lifetimes (even big, strong, durable Thomas was very ill a couple of years ago), and they definitely don't need anymore of it. It was still a nice time, though. We played with the normal cats, which were pretty sociable until lunchtime. Then, they all devoured their food and went to sleep, hardly paying any notice to us. One of the nicer cats there is named Boomer. He is a very sweet boy of medium build with big grey patches on a white body and light green eyes. I have decided that he is my favorite normal cat because he likes to be pet and sit on laps, just like the FIV cats.
The past week has been exciting in a different way, too. Sarah just introduced me to the sitcom The Big Bang Theory about two physicists and the girl who moves into the apartment next to theirs. It is wildly funny and utterly addicting. I've watched half of the first season during the last week (last Saturday and last night). We also watched The Lion King last night, and we are planning on watching at least a couple more movies tonight. Hurray for mini Disney movie marathons with the roommates! Sarah and I also made tacos last night. Sarah asked me to chop vegetables, including tomatoes and "lettuce." When I first took the "lettuce" out of the fridge, I thought it felt a little...rubbery. When I took it out of the bag, my suspicions were confirmed: Sarah bought cabbage instead of lettuce! I didn't say anything until she realized it herself. Silly girl. She makes me laugh.
Still no sign of my lost camera cable, but I did manage to find my envelope of coupons, including a $5 gift certificate to Whitey's, the best ice cream in the Quad Cities and a veritable mecca for sweet-toothed college students. I may have to use that sometime soon...
The week ahead looks to be a good one (and thankfully, quieter than this past week has been). I register for my classes on Tuesday. Tuesday is also the BBB social (it was moved from this week to next week). Instead of Bill Nye the Science Guy, we will be watching Contagion, which is frankly more relevant to us (many of us are considering medical professions). We still get free pizza, though! I have another Vet Med meeting on Thursday, and it will be my first time monitoring attendance as the secretary. I'm sure all will go well. I think next weekend I will be going to a magic show on campus (I still need to ask my friends if they want to go) and the Chocolate Festival at the QCBC. It costs $10 to get in, but BBB is going for a social, and I get 2 points for going. Plus, it's basically a bunch of chocolate treats to eat! What's not to love?
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Happy Winter (Finally)--Week 6
This week was a busy but rewarding first week back on campus after break. We got a pretty decent accumulation of snow Wednesday night and most of Thursday, but I was pretty okay with it because I got a chance to try out my new snow boots that Mom bought for me on our shopping trip last Saturday. It was a little inconvenient, though, because then we had all of this snow piled on our steps and no one to clear it except ourselves. I realize that this is part of becoming an independent adult, but when we are all college students with busy schedules, we don't have time to do things like shovel snow and sprinkle salt on our walkways (at least Augustana gave us two shovels and a bag of salt). Luckily, I had time to clear the steps and porch (front and back) on Friday after class (I was pretty proud of myself), so it wasn't a huge deal. Maybe I can convince my roommates to do it next time it snows that much. With this snow comes the feeling of finality. Winter is here to stay. I fear that this will be the snow that sticks until the thaw comes in March or April.
But on to more pressing matters. Like getting back into my classes. I was so glad for the break. I could tell right from the get-go on Monday that three weeks off had made a huge difference. I feel so much more relaxed right now; everything seems much more manageable, and I know I can do a good job on my assignments. Even though I was working, it appears that just being home and in the daily company of my family (and watching some great movies every night and taking a break from homework) really helped to recharge my mental power supply. I feel as good as new!
I found out that I got 90% on my last Botany quiz (the one I took just before break), so that was a nice surprise on Monday. We also took a field trip to the Quad City Botanical Center (QCBC) on Monday for Botany lab. It was a fun change of pace from regular lab, and we saw a lot of cool tropical plants in the Sun Garden. I even saw a small toad sitting next to a bamboo plant. As with most conservatories, there were a couple of koi fish ponds, and the fish looked excited to see us. I guess you can buy fish food in the gift shop, and the fish are used to being fed by visitors. Smart animals. I also enjoyed seeing all of the tropical flowers (like the orchids) and a banana tree with a big flower on it (I have never seen a banana flower before).
Tuesday was a pretty uneventful day (except for going grocery shopping and AT LAST getting another bag of yogurt pretzels), but Wednesday was a little more interesting. I met again with my SNT for our third meeting (which means that, technically, I have fulfilled my SNT requirement for being inducted into NSLS). I still need to go to three speaker broadcast events, but I'm sure I will complete those by the end of the year. Anyway, I really enjoyed our meeting. We have a new (male) group member, which is always fun, especially since so many things that I do are dominated by females. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just appreciate a little testosterone here and there, as any female in her right mind does (or maybe not?).
Thursday I had another BBB meeting, and just before, I found out that I already have three points for this year (one for attending the week 3 meeting and two for doing the suturing seminar), which means that I only need nine more points for the year in order to remain a part of the organization. Five of those points will come from the five remaining meetings (including the Thursday meeting), and the other four will come from two events (we are having a Bill Nye the Science Guy viewing party on Tuesday next week as well as a trip to the Chocolate Festival at the QCBC on January 29th). I will probably end up doing more things than just that, but it is nice to know that I don't have to worry about losing my membership. On Thursday, I also went to Sorensen and the Community Engagement Center to pick up a prize. I entered my resume in a contest they were hosting and won! (So did 19 other students, but that's beside the point). My prize was a whopping $20 gift card to Target! Yippee! I frequent Target quite, well, frequently, so this will be a great thing to have. Thursday was a great day for two other reasons, too. First, Mom's package arrived, bearing my hat and scarf, which I dorkishly left at home. I guess I was so used to being there that it didn't feel like I needed to pack up and leave until Saturday, and then I was rushing to pack and forgot a few things. In addition, I learned in Molecular Genetics that we will be picking our own unique question to ask about Meiothermus ruber related to its genome and such (and we can only use bioinformatics programs). I found some good articles so far about Thermus thermophilus (a related organism) to use as a model, and I think that my options are feasible at this point. I'm thinking either of studying t-catalase (it degrades hydrogen peroxide) or thioredoxin (it helps proteins in the cell keep their shapes in high temperatures by promoting bonding between sulfur atoms). Both seem exciting and doable, and I'm looking forward to having something unique to do all on my own to incorporate into my final product. I'm ready to take ownership of this thing and see how I do. Oh, and my apologies if my language just now was too technical. You can ask me for a better explanation if you need one. But you're all smart people, so I don't bet on that too much. ;)
Friday was a great ending to a pretty great week. I got into the Botany lab room for some much-needed study time. We have a lab quiz on Monday, and I didn't do so hot the last time. I think I was rushed in lab and didn't get a good look at the slides, so when I saw them on the quiz, I was unprepared. That and my lab partner is kind of a dork and wastes my time (he insists on sharing a microscope when there are plenty for everyone). But that's a whole 'nother story that I won't go into right now. Anyway, it was really great to have my own microscope and to take my time going through the labs and looking at slides to make sure that I can identify structures and such. Afterwards, I went back to our house and did some laundry and light cleaning. I felt much more organized. That night, I watched Holiday Inn with my roommates and ate pizza (not homemade this time). We took down our fake Christmas tree and had a semi-dance party, too. It was quite fun.
This afternoon (Saturday) I was a glutton for punishment and decided that as my outside activity for my Aerobics class, I would participate in Zumbathon. Zumbathon is a fundraiser put on my Dance Marathon. Entry costs $5 for two hours of Zumba madness, and let me tell you, those $5 go a long way, and I didn't regret spending them at all. Zumba is a kind of aerobics routine that combines moves and dance steps from many different kinds of dance, including hip-hop, pop, Latin, and Indian. We were moving nonstop for the full two hours. I took a break a few times to get a drink of water, but other than that, I kept going along with everyone else. It was basically a big dance party. I had so much fun. I even saw two girls that I know there, and we hung out for a bit before Zumba-ing and then picked spots next to each other in the group so that we would feel less awkward. Needless to say, I was pretty worn out when I was done, but it felt really good (both because of the money and because of the killer workout). I was glad that I did it because otherwise I would have sat on my butt all day and did homework (well, I would probably have gone for a run, but that would not have been nearly as intense or satisfying as Zumba).
This week looks to be an important one for sure. Like I mentioned earlier, I have a Botany lab quiz on Monday and then a Botany and Physics test on Friday (one right after the other like last time...lucky me). Tuesday is my first Circle K meeting of the calendar year (and my first since being back). Tuesday is also the Bill Nye BBB social and hopefully another successful run to the grocery store with my roommates (always a good time). Wednesday, I am meeting with my SNT group and having my advising meeting so I can arrange spring shadowing with a large animal vet in the area and try to figure out what to do about scheduling for my last three terms at Augustana (Spring Term, Fall Term 2012, and Winter Term 2012-2013...pretty freaky.) Thursday and Friday look pretty calm. Hopefully, I'll get back to the animal shelter on Friday because I haven't been in about six weeks. I think I need some cuddle time with the FIV kitties.
Well, I hope you all had a good week. I'm looking forward to telling you about this week and seeing what new adventures I have to recount next time. Until then!
P.S. I am having a little trouble finding the cord that links my camera with the computer, so I can't upload my pictures at the moment. Hopefully I will find the cord (I hope I didn't leave that at home, too), and I will be back in business in no time. What is it with me and failing to produce pictures? I tell ya...
But on to more pressing matters. Like getting back into my classes. I was so glad for the break. I could tell right from the get-go on Monday that three weeks off had made a huge difference. I feel so much more relaxed right now; everything seems much more manageable, and I know I can do a good job on my assignments. Even though I was working, it appears that just being home and in the daily company of my family (and watching some great movies every night and taking a break from homework) really helped to recharge my mental power supply. I feel as good as new!
I found out that I got 90% on my last Botany quiz (the one I took just before break), so that was a nice surprise on Monday. We also took a field trip to the Quad City Botanical Center (QCBC) on Monday for Botany lab. It was a fun change of pace from regular lab, and we saw a lot of cool tropical plants in the Sun Garden. I even saw a small toad sitting next to a bamboo plant. As with most conservatories, there were a couple of koi fish ponds, and the fish looked excited to see us. I guess you can buy fish food in the gift shop, and the fish are used to being fed by visitors. Smart animals. I also enjoyed seeing all of the tropical flowers (like the orchids) and a banana tree with a big flower on it (I have never seen a banana flower before).
Tuesday was a pretty uneventful day (except for going grocery shopping and AT LAST getting another bag of yogurt pretzels), but Wednesday was a little more interesting. I met again with my SNT for our third meeting (which means that, technically, I have fulfilled my SNT requirement for being inducted into NSLS). I still need to go to three speaker broadcast events, but I'm sure I will complete those by the end of the year. Anyway, I really enjoyed our meeting. We have a new (male) group member, which is always fun, especially since so many things that I do are dominated by females. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just appreciate a little testosterone here and there, as any female in her right mind does (or maybe not?).
Thursday I had another BBB meeting, and just before, I found out that I already have three points for this year (one for attending the week 3 meeting and two for doing the suturing seminar), which means that I only need nine more points for the year in order to remain a part of the organization. Five of those points will come from the five remaining meetings (including the Thursday meeting), and the other four will come from two events (we are having a Bill Nye the Science Guy viewing party on Tuesday next week as well as a trip to the Chocolate Festival at the QCBC on January 29th). I will probably end up doing more things than just that, but it is nice to know that I don't have to worry about losing my membership. On Thursday, I also went to Sorensen and the Community Engagement Center to pick up a prize. I entered my resume in a contest they were hosting and won! (So did 19 other students, but that's beside the point). My prize was a whopping $20 gift card to Target! Yippee! I frequent Target quite, well, frequently, so this will be a great thing to have. Thursday was a great day for two other reasons, too. First, Mom's package arrived, bearing my hat and scarf, which I dorkishly left at home. I guess I was so used to being there that it didn't feel like I needed to pack up and leave until Saturday, and then I was rushing to pack and forgot a few things. In addition, I learned in Molecular Genetics that we will be picking our own unique question to ask about Meiothermus ruber related to its genome and such (and we can only use bioinformatics programs). I found some good articles so far about Thermus thermophilus (a related organism) to use as a model, and I think that my options are feasible at this point. I'm thinking either of studying t-catalase (it degrades hydrogen peroxide) or thioredoxin (it helps proteins in the cell keep their shapes in high temperatures by promoting bonding between sulfur atoms). Both seem exciting and doable, and I'm looking forward to having something unique to do all on my own to incorporate into my final product. I'm ready to take ownership of this thing and see how I do. Oh, and my apologies if my language just now was too technical. You can ask me for a better explanation if you need one. But you're all smart people, so I don't bet on that too much. ;)
Friday was a great ending to a pretty great week. I got into the Botany lab room for some much-needed study time. We have a lab quiz on Monday, and I didn't do so hot the last time. I think I was rushed in lab and didn't get a good look at the slides, so when I saw them on the quiz, I was unprepared. That and my lab partner is kind of a dork and wastes my time (he insists on sharing a microscope when there are plenty for everyone). But that's a whole 'nother story that I won't go into right now. Anyway, it was really great to have my own microscope and to take my time going through the labs and looking at slides to make sure that I can identify structures and such. Afterwards, I went back to our house and did some laundry and light cleaning. I felt much more organized. That night, I watched Holiday Inn with my roommates and ate pizza (not homemade this time). We took down our fake Christmas tree and had a semi-dance party, too. It was quite fun.
This afternoon (Saturday) I was a glutton for punishment and decided that as my outside activity for my Aerobics class, I would participate in Zumbathon. Zumbathon is a fundraiser put on my Dance Marathon. Entry costs $5 for two hours of Zumba madness, and let me tell you, those $5 go a long way, and I didn't regret spending them at all. Zumba is a kind of aerobics routine that combines moves and dance steps from many different kinds of dance, including hip-hop, pop, Latin, and Indian. We were moving nonstop for the full two hours. I took a break a few times to get a drink of water, but other than that, I kept going along with everyone else. It was basically a big dance party. I had so much fun. I even saw two girls that I know there, and we hung out for a bit before Zumba-ing and then picked spots next to each other in the group so that we would feel less awkward. Needless to say, I was pretty worn out when I was done, but it felt really good (both because of the money and because of the killer workout). I was glad that I did it because otherwise I would have sat on my butt all day and did homework (well, I would probably have gone for a run, but that would not have been nearly as intense or satisfying as Zumba).
This week looks to be an important one for sure. Like I mentioned earlier, I have a Botany lab quiz on Monday and then a Botany and Physics test on Friday (one right after the other like last time...lucky me). Tuesday is my first Circle K meeting of the calendar year (and my first since being back). Tuesday is also the Bill Nye BBB social and hopefully another successful run to the grocery store with my roommates (always a good time). Wednesday, I am meeting with my SNT group and having my advising meeting so I can arrange spring shadowing with a large animal vet in the area and try to figure out what to do about scheduling for my last three terms at Augustana (Spring Term, Fall Term 2012, and Winter Term 2012-2013...pretty freaky.) Thursday and Friday look pretty calm. Hopefully, I'll get back to the animal shelter on Friday because I haven't been in about six weeks. I think I need some cuddle time with the FIV kitties.
Well, I hope you all had a good week. I'm looking forward to telling you about this week and seeing what new adventures I have to recount next time. Until then!
P.S. I am having a little trouble finding the cord that links my camera with the computer, so I can't upload my pictures at the moment. Hopefully I will find the cord (I hope I didn't leave that at home, too), and I will be back in business in no time. What is it with me and failing to produce pictures? I tell ya...
Saturday, January 7, 2012
An Exotic Getaway--Winter Break 2011-2012
Everything has been pretty routine and uneventful here at home. I have enjoyed my break time. I leave Sunday to head back to Augie, but I want to record one very important Winter Break adventure before I dive again into my studies. I was very fortunate to be able to shadow an exotic vet on Wednesday (January 4th...happy New Year, by the way). The cool thing is that she was once a student at Augustana College! If I can accomplish my dream of becoming a veterinarian and then work in Minnesota, I won't be the first Augie grad to find employment as a vet in the Twin Cities. Her name is Dr. B. She was really a cool person. I admire her passion for her field and also her intelligence. I was privileged to be party to an appointment with a guinea pig and another appointment with a bearded dragon. They are both really cool animals that I don't see when I shadow with Dr. J. Dr. B taught me a lot about exotic animal medicine, informing me that these species tend to be more sensitive than dogs and cats and that it is important to learn how to treat them effectively because they often come into the clinic very sick (it's hard to get the husbandry right, even with an abundance of resources available to pet owners; as such, the owners often don't realize that their animals have any problems until those problems are far advanced). I did not see any surgery while I was there because as a city clinic, the hospital sees a lot of patients who were adopted from the Animal Humane Society and thus have already been spayed or neutered by the shelter vet. The majority of veterinary clinics' daily surgeries consist of routine procedures such as spays and neuters. Cedar Animal Hospital, like St. Francis Vet Clinic, has a clinic cat. Her name is Rosie, and it was hilarious to watch her reaction to all of the animals that came in. Cedar Animal Hospital is interesting because the animals are taken back into a treatment area behind the examination rooms, even for minor procedures like vaccination and blood draws (this differs a bit from St. Francis, where those procedures occur right in the owner's presence). Of course, the clinic understands if the client would prefer to remain with his or her pet, but the clinic has found that the animals behave a little better out of sight of their owners (kind of like the kids that mysteriously behave for every adult but their parents). I actually really like the set up because it allows the veterinarians to examine the charts of their patients out of sight of the owners (at St. Francis, the reception area is within sight of the area where the veterinarians receive their charts, so it might--to some people--look as though the vets were milling through the charts and deciding which cases they would prefer to take. Not so good for client relations.) This setup also seems to provide a relatively quiet working space for the veterinarians and vet techs, away from the hustle and bustle up front. I was also lucky to meet Dr. B's dogs, Lucy and Ginger. Both were very friendly. Most of my day was consumed with appointments for dogs and cats, but I was so glad that I got to see even a couple of exotic species. You will probably laugh at me, but now I think exotic medicine might be a great choice for me. However, I still like the idea of large animal or wildlife medicine, so I will keep my options open. Besides, I have a little bit of time (even in vet school) to decide which field I would rather prefer. I just like the idea of the variety that comes with treating exotic species.
Please enjoy these pictures from the hospital website (vcahospitals.com/cedar).
So, now I look forward to returning to school and starting fresh. It had been a tough four months before I went on break, but now I think I am recharged enough to refocus my efforts and really excel the way I expect myself to. Until next post!
Please enjoy these pictures from the hospital website (vcahospitals.com/cedar).
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| Rosie the Clinic Cat. |
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| A front view of the clinic. |
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| One of the examination rooms. |
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| The reception area. |
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