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?