Soo tired (labs)

After not going to bed until around 2 this morning, I had to endure two whole labs today. Bleah.

Bio lab wasn't so bad, we covered "exercise physiology" which really only consisted of taking vital signs at rest, standing, after walking, and after climbing stairs. Most (meaning everyone but myself and the TA) had never taken a blood pressure before, so I spent a good portion of the class trying to teach vital signs. I also had a couple of students ask for my number because they said that for the 8-10$ an hour I charge for private tutoring, it would be well worth the grade in biology. Apparently the tutors in the tutoring center don't do a very good job of explaining various concepts.

Chemistry lab wasn't too bad, it was just VERY long. It took up about 2:45 of the 2:50 allowed, and I was thoroughly chemistrated by the end. We did three separate experiments on evaporation, filtration, and recrystallization. None were overly complicated, and the directions were pretty much step by step, but you can always count on lab groups to slow you down. I've made the comment before, it is aggravating to a level I cannot describe when your group doesn't have the book, the questions, and has no idea what we are doing. When asked if I would e-mail them the results and discussion, I said sure...my selective memory might hold me hostage later in the week though.

So now after having had dinner, I have plenty of homework to keep me busy the rest of the night. I really need to get to work on this biology stuff for lecture that I have been completely slacking on.

Friday. Time for the weekend.

Well the week is officially over. I had a pretty good day. Spanked a chemistry test this morning, every class let out within 30 minutes today. Going to a laser-party tonight. Gonna get some papers done over the weekend while making plenty of time for "socializing".

Playing on iTunes - New Perspective - Panic! At the Disco
                              Walk This Way - Aerosmith

Really? And you are grown?

 Today was pretty uninteresting up until good 'ol chemistry lab sparked things up. Some girl in the class decided that she didn't like how the TA was running the class when she was told that her work had to be handed in by the end of class (not next class). This resulted in them arguing for a few good minutes before the girl got mad and walked out. The TA then decided to interrogate the people who were next to her, saying something to the effect of "you guys can leave too, I'm not having this in my class. We don't need conspiracy."

Biology lab was pretty uneventful, we covered the lab activities for the sensory perception chapter. So we got to poke, listen, taste, dip, and other little fun things. The best part...no post lab or lab report!









Anyway, now its off to dinner, god only knows what biochemical horror they are serving tonight.

Playing on iTunes - Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
                              Apologize - One Republic feat. Timbaland
                             

Need to do homework!

I REALLY need to do some of this homework. I have pre-labs and chemistry and biology all piling up as I sit here typing and contemplating where to go and what to do tonight.

I bought some bangin' Girl Scout cookies yesterday at wal-mart...it might just be the best investment I've made so far this year. I must say that the tagalongs are my favorite, but the thin mints come in a close second.

I think I want to do some teaching while I'm in college. I'm doing this part-time tutoring under the table, but I really enjoy it and it helps me stay on top of whatever discipline I'm teaching. Part of my motivation for wanting to become a physician is not solely helping people and treating disease, but the ability and knowledge to teach something that I have a true passion for.

In retrospect, we never truly realize what a role the teachers play in all of society. As a young child, we see the teacher who is sometimes mean, and usually assigns homework we would rather not do. As a middle and high school student, we see them as mostly mean teachers, who don't give two sh**s about us, and are just there to get their paycheck and go home. At the college level, we begin to gain an appreciation for the passion and hard work that our lecturers, lab teachers, and professors put into educating hundreds of students every day.


In reality, many of these teachers are putting in hours of hard work and doing favors that are not required at all by the job description. Every day, they go above and beyond what they have to do, providing young people with the education that will guide us for the rest of our lives.



Playing on iTunes - Heaven - Los Lonely Boys
                              Jumper - Third Eye Blind
                              Shut Up - Blink 182
                              Hit the Floor - Bullet for My Valentine
                             
                            

Canceled, canceled, canceled

So school has been canceled again tomorrow. I missed my 2 labs yesterday due to a deceased battery and being unable to get out of my driveway. Unfortunately, this means that I missed the conclusion of Ashley (the fetal pig) being dissected, probed and prodded.

That makes 3 canceled days this week, we are under a blizzard warning, and even snowplows are getting stuck on the road. This means tonight will be a night full of music and watching movies. I'm feeling horror movies tonight... Jeepers Creepers, The Hills Have Eyes, maybe a couple others. Who knows. Hopefully the power won't go out.

Back to school (well, tomorrow)

College will be up and running (supposedly) on a full schedule tomorrow morning. Good thing, it means I won't be missing my chemistry or biology labs (which are the biggest pain b/c there is only 1 per week); at the same time I'm starting to enjoy these extended weekends courtesy of the weather.

We get to finish dissecting our fetal pig (Ashley) tomorrow, and I'm not quite sure what is going on in chem lab. I think I need to pick up a box of gloves though because good 'ol university can't afford to supply the labs with latex gloves. Just how bad is the economy going to get?

Chem pre-lab

This weeks chemistry pre-lab was a bit ridiculous. Describing a picture of a drawing of some 1920's woman, explaining why popcorn pops? On a side note, I'm not sure that I'm all the way there to begin with...I kind of enjoyed the critical thinking that the pre-lab encouraged, something that I haven't seen much of despite this "college level thinking" we are supposed to be using.

Contrary to what I thought last semester, I'm starting to think that chemistry isn't going to be nearly as bad as I thought. I'm more worried about the random tests that are given out in biology.

Playing on iTunes: Ladies Love Country Boys - Trace Adkins
                            Open Arms - Gary Go
                            She Talks to Angels - Black Crowes

Snowing

It's snowing, it's snowing...a lot. Over 5" last night before it started raining/sleeting. Now its started snowing again. Looks like we're gonna be snowed in here today. Time to chill out and do some reading (All the President's Men - Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward), and maybe knock out some homework at some point later this weekend.

In the library, the mighty library

No chemistry on Fridays, which leaves me with this useless one-hour chunk of time to do whatever in.
Soo we are supposed to get the tail end of this massive blizzard over today into tonight. Places to the north of us are supposed to get in excess of 2 feet of snow, while we will be stuck with only 3-6 inches. Not even enough to cancel classes come Monday morning.

On to better things, my english professor ripped some girl a new ass this morning because she walked out in the middle of class to take a call and then came back in and started texting. I thought this was HILARIOUS.

If you are a regular at the gym, duct tape your iPod to your arm/chest or whatever; in the span of 10 seconds the other day, I went from happily running on the treadmill to no longer having an iPod. I dropped it, and in the ~5 seconds it took me to turn around, someone had swiped it and stuck it in their pocket. Grow up folks.

Tutoring

Well, who would have thunk it?
This girl that I went to high school with, that I don't really know on a personal level at all, just offered to pay me to tutor her in math for the ASVAB.
How awesome is that? Getting paid to tutor someone in math that doesn't go beyond algebra II or geometry.

Had a meeting scheduled at 11am for the pre-professional society (I am the president/founder); out of the ~33 people that are on my current roster, and 17 that paid dues last semester, only 9 people showed up today. Hmm. I wonder where all that enthusiasm last semester went off to?

Playing on iTunes: Yesterday - The Beatles
                            What I Like About You - The Romantics
                            Hanging By A Moment - Lifehouse
                            Everything You Want - Vertical Horizon

Short story

A college english composition class was told to write a short story in as few words as possible.
The instructions were:
The story must contain the all of the following elements:
     1) Religion
     2) Sexuality
     3) Mystery

The following was the only short story in the class to receive an "A":

"Good God, I'm pregnant, I wonder who did it."

Reasons you shouldn't be in college

So lets be honest. I've got a few reasons you shouldn't be in a certain class that I have discovered over the past couple of days....

1. College Algebra - If you need to use your TI-83 graphing calculator to subtract 12 from 25, you shouldn't be in this class.
2. Chemistry Principles I (for SCIENCE majors) - If you believe that the boiling point of water is 115 degrees farenheit, you shouldn't be in this class.
3. Chemistry Principles I Lab - If you believe your lab partner should purchase the $136 lab manual and you just copy the pages as you need the questions, you shouldn't be in this class.
4. English II/Literature - If you believe that the question "what are you reading for fun" refers to magazines, you shouldn't be in this class.
5. Biology Principles II - If you believe that you are going to get into medical school to become a "brain surgeon" after you had a C in biology I and a first-semester GPA of 3.1, you shouldn't be in this class.
6. Biology Principles II Lab - If you need someone to point out to you all of the internal organs of a fetal pig (including the very large liver) despite your lab manual that has pictures, you shouldn't be in this class.

These are my personal observations on the days of 2/2-2/3.

Book prices

So chemistry lab was pretty uneventful. Basically consisted of listening to the TA beating the syllabus into our heads. I am now convinced that just buying books for college is enough to put you in debt for the rest of your life. I have spent close to $2,000 in books in just two semesters.

Tomorrow should be a fun day, more snow overnight and no sign of classes being canceled despite the ice. 

Playing on iTunes: Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
                            Bring Me to Life - Evanescence
                            Hot in Here - Nelly

Formaldehyde

Nothing like the oh-so-wonderful aroma of formaldehyde and ethanol after some time spent dissecting fetal pigs. Seems like I somehow got stuck with the least developed pig in the bucket. It was almost impossible to find its urinary bladder and the left kidney was almost in the middle of its back. This was all after I sliced its liver in half when cutting the stomach open :-). By the way, the pigs name is Ashley. Yes, this is an actual picture that I took post-dissection.

Just sitting in the room doing some homework and killing time before I go to chem lab.
And on that subject, I just heard someones speakers blasting something that sounded awkwardly similar to "It's Raining Men"...in the name of all that is good PLEASE do not play that song in a male dorm.

Quick hit on my iTunes. I listen to just about everything that is known to exist (see below). I just keep it on shuffle and whatever plays, plays.


On the iTunes: How Do You Like Me Now - Toby Keith
                       Wait - White Lion
                       5th Symphony - Beethoven
                       100 Years - Five for Fighting
                       Everytime We Touch - Cascada

Numero Uno

So this is the first post.
Ta-da!

Hopefully, this will chronicle the life of a student on the road through medical school and into a medical career. More about that later.

As a matter of fact, more about everything later. Just wanted to set the blog up and bookmark it.

Check back often!