Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 8: Exams and Parties and More, Oh My!

Well, another hectic week has passed, and I am just that much closer to graduation, affectionately referred to as the "G word" by a couple of my more clever and hesitant peers. You know that I am actually looking forward to it. I have enjoyed my undergraduate career more than I can express, but it is a chapter in my life that must end if I am to achieve my dream, so I am totally okay with it. Will I miss people and the experiences and everything about it? Yes. But that's okay, too. I'm so glad that I got to share this time in my life with you through blogging (well, the second half of it, anyway).

Wednesday was our big environmentally-oriented Symposium Day. The speaker was indeed much better than last time. She encouraged us to think outside the box and pursue what we want to do, regardless of our backgrounds. She spent more of her time, though, just going over the green features of the recently-rennovated Phipps Conservatory in Philadelphia. It was interesting in itself, but her talk could have been so much more; I was hoping it might be more personal as to how each of us as individuals can have a positive impact on the environment. But c'est la vie, I suppose.

Thursday was my second Microbiology exam as well as our Team Teaching day in Animal Communication. They both went okay, I think. The entire Microbiology class was pretty tired out, though, by the time we went to lab. We were basically just analyzing samples from last time, which turned out okay because my table was just slap-happy and hamming it up like nobody's business. I feel fortunate to have landed with the lab partners that I did. They are just a great bunch of people!

I received some very nice compliments this week, too. A couple of the students in the Organic lab I proctor have expressed their thanks to me for being so helpful, one of them even going so far as to say she is going to miss me next term. I just love hearing things like that because it lets me know that I am doing a good job. In addition, my Microbiology professor really, really likes the extra-credit poem I wrote and wants to feature it in some samples of creative work done well. Here is the poem if you would like to read it (it's supposed to look like the T4 phage it describes):

The

T4 phage

is a virus, just

DNA in a protein

coat, that “eats”

the bacterium

E. coli,

a

facul-

tative

an-

aer-

obe

and

meso-

phile.

T4’s

                                                                 prey    can    sur-

                                                            vive        with        oxy-

                                                         gen             or               with-

                                                     out                and                   likes

                                               the                    tem-                      pera-

                                         ture                          in                                 the

                                    mid-                             dle                                     range,

                              not                                    that                                              T4

                       cares                                        too                                                    much.

 

Friday was another busy day, too. I had my second exam in Human Physiology, and that went much better than my Microbiology exam (at least I felt that way). Later, Sarah had a little going-away party since she will be on her way to Ireland in about a month or so. I went to anothe Ireland-themed party on Saturday, which was also pretty enjoyable. I guess it's good for me to get out now and again, though.

Well, that about catches you up with my week. I'm not looking forward to this next one too much. I have two more group presentations that are kind of stressing me out. But I'll be okay. This is just the final uphill push before I can be home again, and it will feel much better to be home if I know I did a good job now. I know I've said that a million times before, but it's one of my deepest convictions. Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic week, and hopefully I'll be here next Sunday to blog about it (you know, assuming I make it out alive...).

Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 7: Wild Weather

It has really  been a strange year so far, weather-wise. We started last weekend in the high 40s/low 50s, then plunged back into the teens by the beginning of the week. Then again, we got up to the 40s and 50s this weekend. Last night and Friday night, we had some pretty high winds, and now it's down to about 11 degrees again and is going to get colder by tomorrow and Tuesday. Yesterday honestly felt like March, but it appears that winter is returning again very soon. I hate all this fickle stuff. We can't get too used to any kind of conditions around here because they are likely to change within 24 hours. It's nothing I'm not used to from back home, but I would expect a little bit more stable weather patterns here. Oh, well. What can you do? The summer is going to be pretty bad, probably, given that we haven't had a good long cold streak. All I can think about this those mosquito eggs. Those buggers will eat me alive this year, for sure.

Anyway, I've rambled far too long about the weather. For other people, it might be small talk, but it's a favorite topic among us Minnesotans. Forgive me, kind readers. Onward and upward!

This was an exciting week in Microbiology lab. We started off by testing water samples from around the area for the presence of coliforms, bacteria that inhabit the human colon and often accompany more dangerous pathogens like the causative agent of cholera. My lab partner and I tested the water from my kitchen sink here, and I am happy to report that it appears that we only have about 23 coliforms per mL of water, which is pretty darn good. For comparison, the other pair at my lab table tested water from the Mississippi River, and their results showed nearly 2400 coliforms per mL of water. The other exciting thing we did in Microbiology lab was to blend up potato salad from the school's food service and incubate it on agar plates to see what kinds of bacteria might be lurking in it after it has sat at room temperature for a few days. We have not seen the results yet, but I just think it will be funny because (as you might remember) I am not the biggest fan of school food. Never have been, never will be. I guess that's what comes from living with an Italian mother who puts half the chefs on Food Network to shame (well, that hypothesis is untested, but I'd rather eat her food than half of their strange, artsy concoctions...sometimes you can be educated beyond your mental capacity, which is a gem from my father).

I would also like to address a rather important issue in this week's blog. The campus received an e-mail on Tuesday or so informing us about a dog named Lucy, who lived in Missouri. It appeared that Lucy's owner simply decided she did not want to own a dog anymore. Nothing at all is wrong with Lucy. She is perfectly healthy and up to date on all her vaccinations and licenses. The owner just got tired of her. You can imagine my outrage. What makes it even worse was that the owner brought Lucy to the local veterinary clinic so that they could try to place her (okay, so this part wasn't bad, but what happens next is). After weeks with no luck, the clinic informed the owner that Lucy had had no takers as yet and would probably be put down. The owner didn't care. I am so upset with people like this. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but owning a dog (or any animal) is for life. It's a big-time commitment that is not to be cast aside so lightly. We humans have it easy because we have many things in our life through which we can find satisfaction and happiness. Pets have only us. We are their whole world. Imagine how confused Lucy must have been, to be dumped at the vet's office (not really the favorite place of most animals) by a person she loved with her whole heart. Animals are not playthings that we get to cast aside just because we've decided we want to move on to bigger or better things. I would understand if this owner simply could not care for Lucy anymore because of money or health issues. In that case, it's perfectly acceptable, even encouraged, to find a new home. It's noble to realize one's own limitations and to acknowledge that it is in a pet's best interest to be placed somewhere where he or she will receive better care and more attention. But to blatantly admit that you just don't feel like being a pet owner anymore and then to not show any remorse over the impending death of that pet simply because of laziness or mere whim is absolutely detestable. This is why I want to be a vet. I want to advocate for animals like Lucy and to help educate people about how animals of all shapes and sizes need to be treated. And on a happy note, Lucy was moved here to the Quad Cities, where she is waiting in a shelter for a new home. She's still looking for new people to love her, but I've heard she's a sweetheart, and at least we know now that she will not be put down.

How could you get rid of a cute face like that? She looks like such a good girl...

 I also heard some exciting news this week. I'm sure you've all heard of Body Worlds by this time, that exhibit where preserved human bodies are put on display. Well, there's an animal version called Animals Inside and Out that's coming to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago this spring through this fall. I have a friend who is going to be moving to Chicago with her sister come late July, so I think I am going to try to visit her so I can go see this exhibit! It's obviously right up my alley. I've heard they even have a giraffe and a blood-vessel cast of a shark. I just think it would be so cool.

I'm currently hard at work on three separate group projects, and it's nearly driving me up the wall. The only thing keeping me sane is having a collection of awesome group members who make me laugh. I should have expected my final term of college to go this way, but I sort of hoped that since I was done with my SI project, I wouldn't be so stressed out anymore. But clearly God has a serious sense of humor, and it will feel so awesome when I am finished and know I did a good job, so the work I'm putting in now is definitely worth it.

To preview the coming week, Wednesday is our second Symposium Day of the year, where we have no class but are required to attend a speaker and one or more activities in the Quad Cities area (in addition to two meetings with our advising groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon). There topic this time is Nature and Human Nature, so it should be more fun than last time. I am trying to get a spot volunteering either to distribute recycling information in Rock Island neighborhoods or to help install a hydroponic system in the Local Culture House on campus so that Augie students can grow vegetables in the winter (I need about five more hours of volunteering for Mortar Board). I have two exams (Microbiology and Physiology) and my group's Team Teaching day in Animal Communication. Oy vey. But I'm looking forward to Saturday because I get to help out at a soup kitchen with my friend Grace. I feel bad that I haven't been doing as much with Circle K lately as I would have liked, but that's just the way life works. I've had to focus on my schoolwork because that comes first right now (right up there with vet stuff and keeping my health up with exercise and enough sleep...I don't want to come down with the flu; even though I've been vaccinated, I'm not 100% protected, so I can never be too careful). Anyway, like usual, I'm sure I will have plenty of great stories to share by the time next weekend rolls around. Until then, take care, everyone!

Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 6: Taking Care of Business

You probably know what I'm about to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. This first week  back from break was packed. I met with three separate groups as we worked toward completing our projects. I did all of my regular activities on top of that, plus I had an exit interview with Financial Assistance for my Stafford loans. Needless to say, the weekend was welcome when it finally arrived.

The week wasn't all bad, though. For starters, we had our Circle K holiday party--a few weeks late, perhaps, but it was still fun. I got free Italian food, plus we received our t-shirts (plain white, but hopefully I will be around when we dye them, and if not, I'll just do it myself), our pins, and a bunch of other goodies (like tissues, hand sanitizer, a notepad, pens, and more).

I also found out the exact date of my interview at Minnesota--February 7th! It was my top choice of day to go because it's sort of at the end of the term when classes are more or less winding down. I have to fly back, which I absolutely detest, but I will get through it, and I will be happy if/when it turns out well in the end. I also have to miss two days of class (which I also hate), but again, this is my future we're talking about, and like Dad says, if I get into Minnesota, we're talking serious financial savings. Not to mention location and never having to miss the Minnesota State Fair again. Because that's the whole reason I want to go to Minnesota. For the State Fair. That was sarcastic, if you couldn't tell.

Other than that, not too many interesting things happened. My classes are going well. I'm learning a lot, still. I'm managing to enjoy myself here and there.

I imagine this coming week will be similar. I may sound bored, but I'm really not. I like having a couple of weeks where I can just focus on classes; even though I just complained about how hectic this last week was, in the grand scheme of my academic career, it was fairly manageable. I know this post was short, but I just wanted to update my faithful readers and such. Hopefully, I'll have a good picture or two next time, since I know I didn't have one last time, either. Thanks for tuning in!

Winter Break 2012-2013, Part 2--Into the Shadowland

Well, happy 2013, everyone! This is going to be a very big year for me and my family, and I hope you have great things planned, too!

I trust you all had a good Christmas. I was fortunate enough to receive a really awesome book all about how to care for baby animals, and the best thing is that the book was written by a veterinarian and a vet tech. I really wanted a stethoscope, but Mom and Dad want me to pick out my own, so that's going to be my graduation present. I can't wait!

This past Wednesday, I shadowed at the clinic (hence the title of the post) for a second time before I went back to school. As always, it was a varied day of surgery plus appointments. There were six surgeries in all: a feline spay, a feline neuter, a canine spay, a canine neuter, a canine spay with a mass removal, and a canine mass removal. I thought it was kind of funny that there was one of each of the most typical kind of surgery (the feline and canine spays and neuters). I love having a full surgery schedule because I actually get to do things instead of standing in an appointment room. Don't get me wrong, I love watching the doctors talk with clients, and that's an important part of my pre-vet education, too, but I feel so much more useful when I can participate and know that I am doing something necessary for the clinic (like freeing up someone else so that they can help a doctor or another tech with a tricky animal). The best part of the surgeries was that one of the patients was a really old Brittany, just like my dog! She took so long to go under and even longer to come back out of anesthesia. She didn't even respond to me pulling hair mats out of her ears, something my dog would never stand for. She was so much like my dog, though. She was just such a nervous Nellie, and she shed like crazy. I often joke that when we clean our house, we find another dog's worth of hair lying around.

 Like last time, I was sort of like a mini-tech, which I really enjoy. I'm looking forward to getting back home after these last six weeks of school, where I can hopefully work somewhere science-y but still have time for more shadowing (you know, just so I keep myself in the right frame of mind).

Speaking of which, I cannot believe how close the end of my undergraduate career is! It will be absolute chaos to fit everything in, but when I am done, it will feel so great! This chaos will be compounded by my interview at my dream school, the University of Minnesota! I'm really hoping that I will be able to go in early February because that works best for my schedule, but we'll just see when the date and time get set. This one should be another behavioral interview, and I'm determined to do better at that format this time around than I did at Iowa State. I found out recently that Minnesota is a top-ten vet school, so I will really need to be en pointe with this one. It's going to be the hardest to get into. I know a girl who went to Augie, a very highly motivated student, who was wait-listed at Minnesota. She eventually got in because a spot opened up, but I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened to me, too. We'll see, though, I have to try to be confident in myself because I'm an old pro at this by now (or at least, no longer a novice).

That's about if for now. I'm going to try to enjoy what little time I have left at Augustana. I'll try to have some fun with friends while I still can, too. Cheers!