Spring Is When Life's Alive in Everything*--Week 4

*Quotation by Christina Rossetti

Spring is one of my favorite seasons on they Augustana campus. Well, to tell you the truth, they are all beautiful because the college has purposely planted things that will look nice year-round. Anyway, spring is awesome because of the lovely flowering trees and shrubs, of which there are many. Monday was a nice (if cool) day, so I decided to pull out my camera and get some pictures of the floral splendor. I feel like I need to make up for the lack of cool pictures these past few weeks. So, without further ado, please enjoy the beauty of Augustana!

Some bougainvillea outside Old Main

So, it's not flowers, but this is one of my favorite parts of the Augustana campus: the clock outside the Science Building.

Some pretty white bush-flowers outside the Science Building

Red bud trees! (Also outside the Science Building.)

Forsythia outside our neighbors' house (the Hennings...they are an older couple...so nice!)

 I had another hectic week this week. I took my second Anatomy exam on Monday. I think it went pretty well. I felt fairly confident in my answers. I believe we are getting our tests back tomorrow, so I will find out then. I went to a Circle K transitional meeting for in-coming exec board members such as myself. We ate Hy-Vee Chinese and talked about upcoming events. On Friday, we started an Easter fundraiser for spastic paralysis (cerebral palsy) in which we are selling pieces of candy for 25 cents or a plastic Easter egg filled with a special message and candy for one dollar. Students can send the eggs to their friends/significant others/themselves as an Easter present. I got to work the booth for about an hour on Friday, and I am going to work it again tomorrow and on Wednesday. I really like hanging out with my fellow Circle K-ers, so it's a good time. On Tuesday, I saw some draft horses and a quarter horse as I was shadowing Dr. W. I got to see how they are vaccinated and how their teeth are checked. I also watched a cool bilateral cryptorchid surgery. It is interesting to me how I had never seen a cryptorchid surgery before I started this internship, and now I have seen two in the space of four weeks!

I also found out this week that I did really well on my first speech--49/50! The instructor really liked my attention to detail and found the speech focused and effective. I am actually looking forward to my next speech because it is a public policy speech; we get to select a piece of legislation being considered at the national level and argue for its maintenance, repeal, passage, or rejection. To my utter delight, I found a House Resolution (HR 3886) being debated right now called the Wildlife Veterinarian Employment and Training Act (Wildlife VET Act). It calls for an increase in the number of employment opportunities for wildlife vets, loan-repayment and scholarship programs for wildlife vet students, and an expanded curriculum for wildlife medicine at veterinary colleges around the country. As you might imagine, I am firmly in favor of this act, and I get to convince the class why they should be in favor of it, too, using inductive and deductive reasoning and the Toulmin model of argument. Exciting stuff! I am glad that I found  a topic I am so passionate about because it will make the speech-giving process just so much easier.

I also took my first Physics exam of the term on Friday. It went okay, I guess. I think I got test anxiety because I freaked out about how little time I had to complete the test (it looked pretty long from my first look at it). Hopefully, the instructor will curve the test because I'm sure other people felt overwhelmed by the test, too. Anyway,  I will probably found out how I did tomorrow. Friday was a great day, though, because Devon treated Sarah and I to dinner at Fazoli's, a nearby more upscale fast-food place in Rock Island specializing in Italian fare. Let me tell you, they have the best breadsticks you are likely to find anywhere. I mean, Olive Garden has some pretty delicious ones, but they cannot compare to the garlicky-saltiness of Fazoli's breadsticks. So good. Then, Sarah treated Devon and I to The Hunger Games again. It was even better the second time around! We finally managed to get a picture of ourselves in front of a movie poster (it's on Sarah's camera, so I have to wait until she posts it on Facebook to show it to you). I don't know if I ever showed you this, but I got a movie poster from Hot Topic. It's currently taped up on the wall near the foot of my bed, proudly displayed for all to see my serious obsession with the series.

 

The same design and coloration is on my Hunger Games t-shirt. Good stuff.

On Saturday, Sarah was gone most of the day in Chicago; she was watching a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Navy Pier. As such, Devon and I decided to do something fun. We went to the UNYK dance show--it's a multicultural dance troupe on campus that takes in students of all skill levels. It looks like so much fun. I love to dance even though I stink at it. I just love to watch how the human body can move and be more graceful than I am. My favorite number was probably a hip-hop mix in which five couples (each dressed in matching red, yellowish orange, green, blue, and purple outfits) danced to an ever-changing musical selection. It was cute and very well choreographed.

This next week should be pretty awesome. It is a short week since we have Good Friday off, then we get four days off for Easter Break! I am going to Sarah's house to spend the holiday with her family, and we are really excited. Sarah said she wants to take me to very Chicago-type places like Portillo's Hot Dogs. We are also looking forward to playing the video game Just Dance 3 together for Wii. It's a game like Dance Dance Revolution except that it has real dance moves instead of a mat, and you use the controller to pick up your movements. It makes it so much easier on my family not to have to worry about getting me back for such a short break. I also like spending time in Illinois off campus so I can see how life is different and hang out with my college friends outside of school. I have a lab practical in Anatomy on Thursday, and my public policy speech is that day, too. Luckily, it will all be over by 4:30 PM, and Sarah and I can head off to her home in Libertyville, IL (about an hour north of Chicago, if you want to know). I'm sure we will have lots of awesome adventures at her house. I will bring my computer along, but I am not sure if or when I will have time to write a blog post, so this might be the last one for a couple of weeks. Don't worry, though. I will share all of my Easter escapades with you as soon as possible! Have a great holiday, and eat lots of good food (and share it with family and friends!).