A Sign From Your Prodigal Blogger
Hello, everyone!
So, I guess I haven’t written in a while, have I? :D Oh, well, better later than never, right? Plus, if I keep this pace going, it’ll be “never�:)
I haven’t posted anything in a while because I have literally not had the time – if my daily routine had a name, it would be “madness� – but what can be more thrilling and worth-while than that? :)
So, I love the classes I’m in right now: Chem is a class that I look forward to going just to be there; Chem Lab is increasingly exciting (I broke a 500 ml beaker filled with boiling water today – don’t ask :|; luckily, there were no casualties; by the way, thanks to my very patient instructor, peers, and lab partner!); Calc II is easy, Environmental Issues as well, Lyrics is interesting (and my high school background helps a lot in all these courses) and then Honors Bio is great! It’s also called “Introduction to Research Methods� and the ultimate goal for this semester is for us to develop a Research Thesis Proposal – a sort of “rehearsal� for what we will be doing in our Junior and Senior years. You can learn more about the Honors Program on UNE’s website:
http://www.une.edu/cas/biological/honors.asp (Also, here's a link to the page where you can find all sorts of information about various faculty members from different departments, about all the programs at UNE, course offerings, research opportunities, etc. It's quite a helpful link: http://www.une.edu/faculty/department.asp )
There are 9 of us in this course, divided in 2 groups, and among other things, this course entails that we do two 3 week lab rotations per group, under the supervision of designated faculty members, which is a great opportunity for us to get to see and do some real biology investigation, get a better picture of what it’s all about, develop skills, become acquainted with various professors that perform research on campus, and learn about potential research opportunities in their labs.
Today my group and I (4 lucky souls) had our first rotation in Dr. Frederich’s lab. You can learn more about the things going on in there by following the link:
http://faculty.une.edu/cas/mfrederich/index.html
Just to give you a little heads up – he works with crabs:| And today we got to measure their heart rates at various temperatures, which implied actually applying sensors to the crabs, where their heart is – words cannot describe what it felt like to handle a live and kicking crab for the first time ever – and I do mean “kicking.� Basically, anything with more than four legs gives me chills – crabs have 10:| I think you catch my drift. Oh, but I haven’t told you the best part yet: as part of today’s “show and tell,� our instructor introduced us to the wonders of crab anatomy by dissecting one… I will spare you the gory details, but just so you get an idea – do you know what crabs do after you crush their brains, take out their heart, etc (i.e. kill them)? I didn’t. So I found out…the hard way – they still move…a lot…
Ok, I think that’s enough on that topic, huh? All in all, it was fun and very interesting – I love this course. Our next rotation (in March) will be in Dr. Ganter’s lab:
http://faculty.une.edu/cas/gganter/GIwebFrontpage_files/slide0001.htm
He works with fruit-flies, and I’m saying this from experience: fruit-flies are nothing like crabs (thank God!).
And this brings me to the best thing about all I have going on this semester: I’m working in that lab now, as an undergraduate assistant, doing actual research, and I love it – I’m doing and learning about what I love. And the environment is simply awesome:) The greatest thing is that I’ll be here this summer, and I’ll be able to fully dedicate my time and energy to the research we’ll be doing. Even now, when I’m not in class, and if I’m not at work (I’m still working at the library), I’m up in the lab.
So, college is turning out to be simply great for me. I’m doing my best to get the most out of all the opportunities I get. Oh, yeah, speaking of that – I’m also applying to be an RA as of next year – the number of applications is quite large and, who knows? But it’s worth the shot, so keep your fingers crossed for me (I had my interview yesterday – and afterwards, of course, I went straight to the lab (I just can’t keep away from that place) – you should have seen me, all dressed up, with make-up on and all that, scooping fruit-fly larvae and pupae, one by one…=)) And I’ll also be doing a spot-light on Romania during the annual Passport to Culture International Festival Week, in March, aaaand – hold on for this one – a “grand appearance� in the International Fashion and Cultural Heritage Show, wearing a traditional Transylvanian costume (NB: I’m from Transylvania, which, in case you didn’t know this, is a region in Romania). So, that should be a lot of fun, especially for the audience:)
Ok, I’ll stop here, because I need to get back to all the reading I have to do. I just wanted to touch base with you readers out there. Feel free to nudge me when I sink into idleness for too long – just leave a comment or something, make me write:)
Take care and keep in touch.
-Anda-
