School Daze
People keep asking how school is going, and I usually say, "it's school, you know." There's an element of that, as it sure is nice to be on break for the next week and not worry about homework or studying. But really, it's going great. I'm figuring out the quirks of my instructors, and even when they piss me off, it's a good, active type of pissing me off that inspires me do research and figure out the right answer. My lab instructor's odd way of asking questions is less of an issue now, since the rest of the semester is straight up identification instead of written questions. She also asks enough extra credit that if you miss something because you didn't get what she meant, you can make it up. *relief*
I rocked bone identification - 105 points out of 105.5. The half point lost was on extra credit. She had a rib sitting there, and said "Identify (floating/false/true)". I put floating, but it was floating AND false. D'oh! Somebody on facebook said "at least your bones are in context", except that they're not. She had an ulna sitting there, we had to identify the bone, right and left, the trochlear notch, styloid process, and what bone it articulates with laterally.
I like biology quite a bit. I never took it in college - I haven't had it since sophomore year in high school. We started dissection of the cat on Wednesday. At first, I thought the smell was going to get to me, but once I started in on it, I didn't notice at all. I know there are ways of covering it, but if I mix some other good smell with it, it'll be worse for me. But once she showed us how to get the skin and fascia off, I went to town. My lab mates have designated me the lead dissector.
I've been wondering if I'd have enjoyed it as much in college the first time. I'll never know, but I'm left thinking about whether or not I'd have ended up a surgeon in an alternate universe. I know so much more about myself and how I operate (no pun intended) than I did at 18.
Yesterday, the Kojo Nnamdi show was discussing librarians, which was another career I'd been considering. Ultimately, I decided on the health fields because 1) easier and cheaper to do school locally and 2) much better job prospects. But listening to the piece, I realized that even if I did have the chance to go that route, I wouldn't take it. That's not what I expected at the beginning of last semester.
Of course, the local/cheap school thing is looking less and less likely. I'll probably do the BSN at Bowie State, an hour away. But after that? MSN or CRNA options are in Baltimore, expensive schools in DC, Richmond, etc. I have years to figure that out, but the more I do this, the further I want to go.
So, that's how school is going. I'm excited, and I'm good at it. Sure, I'd love to just quit it all and stay home and take care of stuff around here, but that's not going to happen, and if I can't, I'm actually excited about the direction that I'm going. And actually, I'm not even certain anymore that I'd be willing to chuck it all and homestead or something. This has never happened to me before. It's pretty awesome.
I rocked bone identification - 105 points out of 105.5. The half point lost was on extra credit. She had a rib sitting there, and said "Identify (floating/false/true)". I put floating, but it was floating AND false. D'oh! Somebody on facebook said "at least your bones are in context", except that they're not. She had an ulna sitting there, we had to identify the bone, right and left, the trochlear notch, styloid process, and what bone it articulates with laterally.
I like biology quite a bit. I never took it in college - I haven't had it since sophomore year in high school. We started dissection of the cat on Wednesday. At first, I thought the smell was going to get to me, but once I started in on it, I didn't notice at all. I know there are ways of covering it, but if I mix some other good smell with it, it'll be worse for me. But once she showed us how to get the skin and fascia off, I went to town. My lab mates have designated me the lead dissector.
I've been wondering if I'd have enjoyed it as much in college the first time. I'll never know, but I'm left thinking about whether or not I'd have ended up a surgeon in an alternate universe. I know so much more about myself and how I operate (no pun intended) than I did at 18.
Yesterday, the Kojo Nnamdi show was discussing librarians, which was another career I'd been considering. Ultimately, I decided on the health fields because 1) easier and cheaper to do school locally and 2) much better job prospects. But listening to the piece, I realized that even if I did have the chance to go that route, I wouldn't take it. That's not what I expected at the beginning of last semester.
Of course, the local/cheap school thing is looking less and less likely. I'll probably do the BSN at Bowie State, an hour away. But after that? MSN or CRNA options are in Baltimore, expensive schools in DC, Richmond, etc. I have years to figure that out, but the more I do this, the further I want to go.
So, that's how school is going. I'm excited, and I'm good at it. Sure, I'd love to just quit it all and stay home and take care of stuff around here, but that's not going to happen, and if I can't, I'm actually excited about the direction that I'm going. And actually, I'm not even certain anymore that I'd be willing to chuck it all and homestead or something. This has never happened to me before. It's pretty awesome.