*phew*

So Fall Semester 2012 is OVER. After much nail-biting and craziness, all the grades are posted, and it's mostly good news. I made A's in Ecology, Physics, Biosystematics, and Senior Research Proposal. I made a B in Physics Lab, and I don't want to talk about it. Thankfully, I'm still on the Dean's List for this semester. I learned a valuable lesson about making sure group assignments are turned in, and I won't be depending on anyone but ME to make sure that happens next semester. So I'm going to enjoy a nice break, the Christmas holidays, and a week-long trip to the beach in Florida with my lovely family. :) Have a nice break, everyone. We earned it. (most of us)

I blinked...

... and when I opened my eyes, FINALS was staring me in the face. This semester went so incredibly fast. I have had a seriously great time.  I am enjoying my classes and doing pretty good (except for YOU physics!). I have ten more class days before it's over, and then two days of finals after that. Then I will be (semi-) free until January. I'm taking physics 2 (or 1, depending on how things turn out this time around), organic chem 2, cell and molecular tech, and environmental toxicology. Oh, and I will be doing my senior research presentation too.
I've been working on my senior research project this semester with Dr. Motley. I have had a lot of fun learning how to carry out experiments with cells and viruses and tinctures. I'm researching the antiviral effects of licorice root on hsv1. So far it's been a big fat zero because we initially were using too low of a concentration of glycyrrhizic acid (that's the active antiviral component of licorice root), and it wasn't doing anything. Now, we've been fighting with contaminated cells for two weeks. I am hoping on Saturday when we repeat the experiment AGAIN, it will actually work this time.
I had mentioned in a previous post that I am planning to go to Tanzania on a study abroad trip next May. I did pick the priciest trip possible, I think, but it's with a couple of my favorite instructors, and it's AFRICA! So I have asked some family and friends to help me out with the trip expenses with the promise that I will bring them back a gorilla or maybe some flip-flops or something genuinely Africa-like (hopefully not some strange disease). So if any of my millions of readers would like to contribute to my Go to Tanzania fund, you can click this button:

Pretty nifty, huh? The trip costs $6,200, and I'm supposed to have a $2,000 deposit by December 4. I am applying for a grant, which will be $1,000, so that will bring the December deposit down to $1,000.  Then I will need to pay regular payments of $2,000 on January 18 and February 15. I am also applying for a scholarship, but that won't be given out until after all the payments have to be made. It can be between $500-1,000. This cost includes everything on the trip except for a couple of meals and spending money. So if donations add up to more than I need for the trip and any vaccinations and supplies and other miscellaneous trip-related stuff, I will donate the balance to the charity of my choice. :) Sound good?

If you'd like to find out more about the trip, you can go to Study Abroad page at Columbus State University and read all about it. Thanks so much!!

Ciao,

~Val

What blog?

We are past midterms and approaching advising week. After that is early registration and suddenly all this energy will be directed towards spring semester 2013. 2013?!?!?!  Good grief, I'm getting old. 2013 is the year I turn 40. 40!!!!!
I've decided to take the trip to Tanzania next Maymester if I can raise enough money. It's a $6200 trip, and I have NO idea how I'm going to pay for it. I am really excited about the opportunity. I know I can get some money from CIE from the grants and scholarships, so hopefully I won't have to raise quite that much on my own.
The biosystematics midterm went well, and so far I have an A average for the class. Hopefully I won't screw anything up in the second half. I think I may have bombed the Ecology midterm pretty bad. I don't know why, I understand the material, I just couldn't pull anything up during the test. Before that I was doing pretty good. Hopefully I didn't tank my average too badly.
So things are moving along, and I'm having a really good time being the old chick in college. Hopefully I can do better keeping up with the blog. Ciao!

Fall is ON!

Somehow I've woken up in the middle of the fourth week of Fall semester. I have a biosystematics exam tomorrow, and I've been pretty good about studying along the way. The thing I've learned about upper level classes is that the content is so much more interesting. It's a lot easier to learn when you're actually interested in the subject. So I won't even address Physics in that context. I'm taking Biosystematics, Ecology, and Physics I this semester. I have long days on Monday and Wednesday, from 10am til 8:30pm on Monday and 10am til 7:45pm on Wednesday. Physics is the last class, and my brain is pretty much fried by then. Someone needs to make a nap lounge a reality on campus! The cool thing is I don't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I do have time to study. I have to go on campus on Tuesdays because of AMSA and Tri-Beta, and every other Thursdays for Honors meetings. But honestly, I get a little itchy to get out of the house by then anyway. ;)
I remember looking forward to being a senior and thinking that I would feel so different when that happened. I guess the only thing that feels different is the panic I feel when I think of applying to med school. But I really don't have a lot of time to concentrate on all of that at this point. I'm just trying to keep the grades good and balance everything else. I believe I've found a pretty good groove.
I'm thinking of doing a study abroad trip next May again. Dr. Ballenger (my favorite professor from my first study abroad trip!) is taking a group to Tanzania. I was considering going to the Galapagos Islands, but I have all this nostalgia from my first trip, and I REALLY enjoy taking classes with Dr. B. And it's AFRICA! That part makes me a little nervous. AMSA is also taking a spring break trip to Nicaragua this year for a medical mission. If I can manage to afford both trips, I'm going to try it.
So I'll try to update more often, I do have a little more open time during the week. So if I'm not studying, I'll try to blog! CIAO!

Things are getting exciting!

I had a conversation recently with my faculty mentor for my senior research project. He asked me when I would be graduating, and what I had taken so far. I really didn't know the answer, I was thinking probably Fall 2013 for graduation. He looked at my file and said I might finish in Summer 2013. That would make a big difference in my applications process. I feel panicky all of a sudden! ACOM (in Dothan) should be finished by Fall 2013, but now Auburn University is making some noise about bringing a satellite VCOM campus to Auburn. I worry about all these med schools in Alabama and whether there will be seats for matching all these DOs when it comes time for residencies and internship and whatnot. But I don't have to worry about the hundreds of DO students, just me. I guess I'll have to figure out how to shine.
I just can't believe how quickly all this has flown by. The only time I really feel impatient is the week after finals before they post grades. I guess all pre-meds worry about GPAs and MCAT scores, and here I am already obsessing about matching and residency. I've got a LONG TIME before that is even a consideration.
This summer has been nice, I finished music appreciation on Friday, and next Monday starts bio of aging. I have to call the nursing home this week and go meet with them about coming in for four hours a week. This is the week that I am going to mark stuff off my list that I've been putting off. I feel like once the next class starts, it's a downhill slide into Fall semester. I'd better get some stuff DONE!
CIAO for now. :)

Remember me?

I think spring semester was the busiest ever. And I mean life did NOT make room for school this time around. My last final was on May 4, and I'm still trying to catch up on rest and stuff from studying. I ended up with a B in both Genetics and Cell Biology. I actually feel like that's what I deserved, I was just incredibly distracted this semester. I did make an A in Political Science. Summer classes started this past Monday, but the only thing I have going on is music appreciation for the first half. On June 11, I start biology of aging with Dr. Zuiderveen. It's mostly online, but I have to volunteer in the nursing home four hours a week and keep a journal. The final is on campus I believe. But summer looks to be a bit less stressful than spring was for sure! In the fall, I'm taking physics, biosystematics, and ecology. Dr. Newbrey has said she's a go for doing an honors contract in ecology. Boy is that a relief, I was beginning to think I wasn't going to get all my honors stuff finished. But hopefully it's going to work out now. Honors contracts are pretty much just some extra work that you do in a class in order to make it honors level. So I'll try to keep updating here, I'm just not all that interesting here lately. :)

Things are CRAZY!

Sometimes personal life gets a little too loud for me to concentrate on school. This has been one of those weeks. My sixteen year-old daughter is struggling with TMD (temporomandibular joint disorder), and we spent all night in the ER one night in order to find this out. So I missed my political science test the next day, along with all of my classes for the day. I thought I was getting everything caught up (including my study blog), but then on Saturday, I had a car accident, and I spent the day in the ER myself. I'm OK, just bruised pretty badly. The lady in the car that I hit (yep) broke her arm and I think she may have had surgery. I feel really terrible, everyone assures me it was an accident, but I feel like the idiot who can't drive.
My hubby took me to the Toyota dealership and bought a new Prius, and it is RED! I LOVE my new car. So in the middle of all this life, I'm trying to manage to learn something and make some decent grades. I had to make up my political science test today, and I think it went fine. Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow on that.
So now I'm updating the study blog, trying to catch up on some reading, and I'm about to study the vocabulary that I'm being quizzed on tomorrow. Maybe life will go back to being a little more on autopilot so I can concentrate on school. Just a few more weeks til spring semester is over! I went to advising on Monday, so I'm pretty sure about what my schedule for summer and fall semesters will be. I'm planning to take Physics 1 and Biology of Aging. We'll see how that works out. Then in fall, it's Biosystematics and Ecology. Things are starting to look like I'll be a senior soon! WOW! I've got to work on coming up with a senior project proposal. I so don't know what to do. Ideas?

Best intentions...

Yeah, so it's March. I have LOTS of updates. So the first day of class, I decided that taking Chem II was a bad idea. I'm sure my professor is a lovely person, but he told me that (1) I had to have my book in class, and (2) I could not have any electronic device during class. Well, my book is ON my iPad, and I told him that. His answer? That's your problem. No iPad, must have the book. So I chose door number 3. I'm outta here. I'm not going to buy the book AGAIN. I have no regrets. If I find the time later I'll retake the class, otherwise, I'm just going to deal with the C. Oh but wait, there's more! The next class after Chem II is Orgo II. The professor did.not.show.up. This is not good. My Orgo I professor was a great dude, and I was looking forward to having him again for II. Apparently he's not coming back, and there was some kind of drama. We got a replacement professor, and he is lovely. However, the head of the chemistry department is facilitating the labs. He's one of my favorite professors, but he is NOT an organic chemistry instructor. After my third panic attack, I dropped that one too. So that leaves cell biology, genetics, and American government. Now that we have passed the midterms, I am perfectly happy to only have these three classes. They are no walk in the park, and I've had a few hiccups in the testing department. I have resolved to buckle down and be a little more responsible in the second half of the semester.
Currently, I'm studying for a government test that is coming up on Wednesday. It shouldn't be too bad, I enjoy the class, and I'm working on catching up on all the reading. And boy, is there a lot of it! We are doing a fruit fly experiment in genetics lab, and that has actually been pretty fun. Our mutant flies have brown eyes, and we are determining what kind of inheritance leads to the mutant brown eyes. Our first cross is finished, and we should be done with the second in about a week. It has been fascinating learning how to roofie flies so we can examine them under the microscope without them flying away. We also introduced some glowing plasmids to some E. coli in a petri dish, and saw them glow after a couple of days. The smell!
Cell bio is kind of kicking my butt. I do well in labs, but the tests are intense. I'm sure I'm going to pass both classes, but I'm not sure how good my grades will be. I'm always in knots about it right up to the end. Anyway, I'm blogging instead of studying, see my ADD? I'm going to get back to government. *Yawn*

Happy New Year!

Welcome, 2012! I think that was the fastest Christmas vacation I have ever experienced. I was thinking that having a month off between semesters would be a really long time, and I would get a lot of things accomplished on the home front. Well, that didn't work out as well as planned. I am still gimpy, so I spent the whole month with my foot in the air ordering everyone else around. That, however, was quite successful, and I have a nice clean closet and bedroom as a result. I went to the doctor yesterday, and he said I am allowed to bear weight on the left foot now. So I shouldn't have as much trouble getting around as I was having when I had to keep off. I still have the crutches, but they are mainly for balance rather than weight bearing. I can actually walk alright without them, but I keep them around in case I decide to face-plant.
I have been stalking all of my classes on CougarNet and CougarView to see if any of my instructors have posted their syllabus. For some reason, there are two areas that they can post their stuff. I don't understand why they maintain the two areas, but it seems the instructors are pretty much convinced that the one they use is the best. I personally prefer CougarView because it is more interactive than the static file-hosting feel of CougarNet. However, no one asks me what I think. I did find the American Government (POLS 1101) syllabus, and I printed it out for Monday's class. The instructor also posted the readings that are supposed to be completed before class, so I've started reading those. I have to admit that I am pretty dumb when it comes to politics. I hope I learn a lot in this class, and I really hope it's an atmosphere that encourages learning rather than belittling those who aren't as savvy. I am very conservative politically -- well I think I am -- but sometimes I get confused because I am not sure that the information I get is really trustworthy. It boils down to the fact that I am pro-life, and I overlook a lot of political stupidity to vote that conviction.  (This is a blog I wrote about feminism and what I think about it if you're interested -- http://thestapleszoo.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-am-feminist.html)
I am a little (well, very) nervous about this next semester. I may have overextended myself a bit. I probably should have stuck with Orgo 2 with lab, Genetics with lab, Cell bio with lab, and political science. But I made that C in Chem 2 last summer, and it has been irritating me. CSU will replace the C if I re-take it and make a better grade, and I still have the digital book on rental for another semester, so I thought it would be a good time to add it on. I also added an honors organic gardening class. I figured that would be therapeutic since my course load is so crazy. I really hope I didn't overextend myself. I can always drop Chem 2 if necessary, but I am really hoping to knock that out and do better this time. That will restore my lovely unspotted 4.0.
I hope I'm not sounding like a snotty pre-med obsessing about course loads and grades and what-not. I tend to obsess about things -- usually unnecessarily. My friends always fuss that I whine about tests and grades and then it all works out. But I think sometimes it works out BECAUSE I obsess about it.
So while the month off from school was really nice, this last week has been REALLY boring, and I'm ready to get back to obsessing and studying and seeing all my school buddies. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself when I graduate. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and I will see y'all real soon! Ciao!