So it's been over a month since I last updated! Let's see what's new....
I'm much more comfortable in the research lab where I'm working. :) Sheldon and Deborah even let me do a few more things on my own! :P I know where things are for the most part, feel better about pipetting, and understand a lot more. :) There was a lot of training to do, but I'm done with the most important things. One of the most interesting training experiences was the first half of Flow Cytometry training. To sum up -- we can label cells with antibodies so that they respond to a certain wavelength of light emitted by a laser in the flow cytometer. We can also use different settings in order to determine the size and granularity of cells. It's super cool! We use flow cytometry for a lot of things, including determining the genotype of mice, and having that training helped me understand the process so much better. :)
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| Flow cytometer. :) If you look, you can see that there's a metal thing inside a tube. When we get ready to use the flow cytometer, we'll prepare a set of controls, and our set of samples. We put the tube on, and the cells are sent, single file, through the metal tube. |
What else.....the past few weeks have been a lot of the same thing -- thus the 'repeat' part of the title. I wake up, go to school, eat, go to lab, do homework, work, sleep -- and it's pretty much the same thing everyday. Of course there are a few differences each day....Thursday's, if I'm not too terrified for the o-chem/mmbio240 quizzes I have the next day I'll go to the ER (unfortunately I've only made it about every other week for the last little while, but I plan to go every week for the rest of the semester). There've been some pretty crazy things in the ER....it's not a true Thursday unless I've seen someone in handcuffs. :P There was also a cool week where I got to see some sister missionaries who were in the MTC, and heading to France a couple weeks later. :) But other than that....not too much to tell. :)
Now....'Rense. :D It's short for Ourense, Spain. Remember how I mentioned that cool European shadowing program that I stumbled across on Facebook? I got accepted!!!!! :D :D :D I get to spend the last two weeks of august, and the first week of September in Spain, once I leave Romania. I'm sooooo excited!!! I'm still waiting to find out if I'll receive one of their scholarships; if I don't, that'll make it more difficult to go, but I'm hopeful, and trying to exercise my faith. :)
Speaking of faith -- can I just say that this semester has absolutely, 100% strengthened my faith. There've been so many times where I've been reading my Neuro 205 textbook, and start to think about how complex and beautiful the brain and nervous system and senses are, and I just know that God exists -- how else can you explain how something so intricate came to be?? And then in my dissection class, as i go layer by layer, separating muscles and fascia....a group of students succeeded in dissecting out the entire nervous system this past Tuesday, and it ranks among the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I wish I could post a picture, but unfortunately we're not allowed to. :/
Speaking of dissection - I just want to give a shout out to my best friend in that class, Savannah Raisor. Savannah -- you're one of my best friends, and I'm so proud of you for the decisions you're making. Life doesn't always go the way we expect, and I admire your faith, and courage in taking a leap of faith and changing your entire life plan. I'm sure that you'd be able to change the face of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, but you will also change the lives of so many people as a special ed major. :) Some might say that we need more women in medicine, but we also need more women of faith, who are willing to sacrifice everything for what they know is right. Anyway....you're awesome, and I hope you know that. :)
Anyway....life is awesome! It might be a lot of 'rinse and repeat', but I love it. I love everything I'm learning, even though it's getting more and more complicated each week. I love progressing in my major, making exciting plans for the summer, and the future. I can't wait to see where this road to medicine will take me next. :)
