Make It Stop!--Week 9

My stress levels are through the roof right now. I feel so swamped with stuff. This is probably the busiest end of the term I have ever had. I did not get to go to Aerobics at all last week because of other obligations. I think I will feel better if I can go both Monday and Wednesday this week. I just had a big Physics video project to work on, plus my final debate speech (both of which are group/partner projects, which are more stressful because then I have to coordinate meeting times and such). In addition, I have a big Anatomy lab practical on Thursday.

Yet as stressful as my classes were this week, I had an absolutely great time at the Aledo clinic. Dr. W signed me up for these Animal Care Technologies training courses, with topics ranging from cytology to triage to basic restraint. This could really help prepare me for the basic medical terminology of vet school and the basic techniques of training and handling animals. I saw a really cool tumor-removal surgery on a very old dog (15 years old and very large). I got to hold his legs while Dr. W operated because he was essentially just pinching the tumor off the dog's neck, and the dog was too big to tie down to the surgery table with the rope that is there. That was on Tuesday. On Thursday, Mrs. Z (one of the receptionists) put me in charge of spinning pig blood in the centrifuge because it was a crazy day. Dr. W was already there when I arrived because he had been called in for a semi-emergency. I also helped that day by moving a dog from isolation to the rolling cage because there were two dogs in isolation who had been diagnosed that day with parvovirus. I just felt very involved this week, and it's certainly taken me long enough to feel that way. I can't believe next week is my last week. I wish I could come back in the fall, but my schedule is just too full already.

I also found out this week that I got another A in Oral Advocacy. I need to stop worrying about that class, but I cannot. This coming week is our big final debate, and I do not feel prepared for it because my partner keeps changing things on me and isn't as quick about getting things done as I am. So, by the time I thought I was finished writing the speech, she was making comments about how my logic needed work in some places and how I might want to reconsider how I state things. I keep having to go back and edit my speech, so I feel like I can never just start memorizing it and feeling like I actually have a good grasp on what I am supposed to say. I am getting some extra credit from the course, though, so I can kind of afford to do a little less well on this speech than on the previous three.

And I guess this week was pretty cool because I was inducted into Mortar Board and attended the Circle K end-of-the-year picnic at Shantytown. I sat with my Relay for Life teammates at the induction, which was really hilarious, so I had a good time. I even got a cool pin to put on my shoulder bag. Shantytown was fun because Heather and I did most of the building for the shanty, just like last year. I brought strawberries because everyone else who signed up to bring food brought something like cookies or chips or popcorn. Ya know, the unhealthful stuff. And you know me. Fruits and veggies rock! That evening, Sarah and Devon went to dinner without me, but I was okay with it because I don't need to spend money on takeout food and because I was hanging out with my fellow CKers. But I was so excited when I got back because Sarah bought a book for me! She and Devon went to a store called The Book Rack, and she found a paperbook copy of City of Glass, the third book in the Mortal Instruments series. I am currently reading the second book (City of Ashes), which I hope to finish before the school year ends (because it's from the library). That way, I can start on City of Glass when I get home. Ah, home. Sounds good right now. I miss it. :(

This is actually from last year, but the Dream Team of Hannah and Heather never ages.

Anyway, I also enjoyed Anatomy lab this week because we got a brief introduction to the cadaver lab, which I will be taking as a class in the fall. I was a little put off at first because it's, well, real human bodies. There's a reason I want to be an animal doctor. But they keep the faces covered, and there are actually some cool things to see. The bodies are all elderly, so some of them have bypasses or enlarged hearts. One woman even still had her cancerous ovaries, one as large as a grapefruit, the other more like a ping-pong ball. I'm really glad I'll only be in there once a week and that I'll have about an hour-and-a-half to clean up afterward before Physics lab because it does not smell nice in there thanks to the formalin used to preserve the bodies.

Saturday finally rolled around, and with it, Celebration of Learning! I had picked up my t-shirt on Wednesday and wore it Thursday so I could enter the raffle for a $100 Amazon gift card. I did not win, but I really like the t-shirt! Anyway, I started the morning with the keynote speaker. She was a 2004 Augie grad who now works in Milwaukee on environmentally-sustainable urban planning. Her talk was a lot about grabbing life by the horns and living it to the fullest. At 11:30, I attended the Honors Recognition to receive a pen for my achievement in earning the Anderson Swedo Science Education Endowed Scholarship, an award that I shared with two other Biology students. Afterward, I headed upstairs to stand by my Molecular Genetics poster, which I had set up before the keynote address. My first two visitors were the professor I had for the class (Dr. Scott, who has agreed to write one of my letters of recommendation for vet school) and my Botany professor. He was hilarious. I also talked to another biology professor and to a professor from the Communication Studies department. It was so funny because she told me, "Okay, now just give me an explanation in really simple terms." Finally, I talked with Alicia, another student from Minnesota who has given me many rides two and from Augustana over the past couple of years. She was there with her family giving a presentation related to Spanish, one of her majors. All in all, I think it went pretty well.

I love the color!

My name in the program for the Honors Recognition.

My entry in the Celebration of Learning program; this is the abstract for my project that I submitted when I signed up for Celebration at the beginning of March.

All dressed up and ready to share my knowledge with the world!

 Later, Devon and I watched the Kentucky Derby, which I absolutely love! She rooted for Take Charge Indy, and I rooted for Creative Cause. Obviously, neither of us had that great of picks. Then, we watched Secretariat, which I really enjoyed. He truly was an amazing horse. Anyway, I'm excited for the Preakness in a couple of weeks. I also saw a lot of commercials for the London Olympics, which really gave me some serious chills down my spine. Wow. It's gonna be awesome. I'm going to recognize everything! Yeah. I still miss London. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Right now, I am finishing up some homework and generally preparing for the week ahead. I already told you a lot of what is going down (my final debate, my lab practical, etc). I'm just two short weeks away from heading home for the summer, where I will hopefully be able to work a little and shadow a lot.

Let's do this!