CollegeKyd.com

Been thinking that when I get into medical school it might be a fun thing to podcast about it - after all who wouldn’t be interested in what it’s like to be in medical school? I know other pre-med students would love it. Since we have the equipment and know how to produce a good show - we already have the magic ingredients. I know I’ll be busy - but I’m sure there’ll be time for at least a weekly show and perhaps some smaller shows in between. I debated podcasting my undergrad experience - but decided that was possibly a bit much - so I figured this blog was something I could always contribute to and would still in many ways establish the same goal - sharing my undergrad premed experiences. One might think that I only post good things - but truth be told my experience has been just that - 100% positive - perhaps I’m very blessed - but seems I am highly suited to this endeavor - as learning is fun for me!

Well we made methyl orange today in organic chemistry lab. Kind of very interesting to go from purple in the first reaction, to a a crimson red type color in the second reaction, to a yellowish color during the process and on to an orange liquid. Once processing was complete we would up filtering out the solid orange dye. Pretty amazing how things come to life right in front of your eyes in organic lab, it’s one of my more enjoyable moments in school - since I love to watch things be made or processed. 

Well I finally realized it’s been a year now and I forgot to get this site set up for RSS feeds to make it simple for people to read. I guess the year has run away from me, I blinked and time moved forward (rather quickly I might add). There is an easy to access button right on the front of this blog on the side bar under the heading of “Meta” - all you have to do is click it and voila` - you will subscribe. I’ve noticed no comments here - feel free to interact and comment to me, I don’t bite.

To those of you celebrating Easter - Happy Holidays! I’ve made some changes and minor additions to this site and recently purchased a new domain name to help carry me through the medical school phase of my journey. I very much plan to blog through medical school and beyond. My hope is that my journey can help inspire the dreams within others to awaken. We are not in this world alone and our journeys need not be solo ones either. I am blessed to have my sons on the path along side me and in spirit I have my family and friends joining me. Sometimes it feels like when I completed the 20 mile Walk-A-Thon for The March of Dimes - I take life one step at a time - knowing I will reach my end goals. Feel free to subscribe to my feed via the feedburner link - just so you won’t miss a thing!

Whew! Another A!! Yes! Pretty happy with how Biology II has been going - it’s actually very interesting since we’re learning about life at the anatomy/physiology level these days. It’s amazing how you don’t ever think of things like “Do fish drink water?” “Does insect blood contain oxygen?” “Do birds mix their inhaled air & exhaled air?” “Do earthworms have a complete digestive tract?” It’s just fascinating to see on how many levels we have commonality with the living creatures around us - in short life truly is life in more aspects than we realize. As my professor says… a potato is really good at being a potato - the same statement would hold true for all animal species as well. We have learned to adapt to use our adaptations or we adapted to suit our lifestyle, no matter how you look at it - it’s all evolutionary at an elementary level. I know you are curious, so I will answer the questions posed; Marine fish do in fact drink water (lots of it) while freshwater fish don’t, Insect blood does not contain oxygen, it’s hemolymph and it’s just nutrients, Birds have air-sacs and because of those they never have to mix inhaled air with exhaled air, keeping the highest levels of O2 available for them at all times and Yes, an earthworm (annelid) has a complete digestive tract - complete with mouth, pharynx, esophagus, crop, gizzard and intestines. Now aren’t you glad you read this post?

Porsche won the race, it’s taken them 20 years but they finally did it - way to go Porsche, congrats! 

This is what this town is famous for the 12 Hours of Sebring Races; Race week is here - the town is waking up and the excitement is everywhere!

Yeah just got another A on my Calculus test - these tests just keep coming and coming, got an A on my General Chemistry test today - would’ve got 100% - except I changed the right answer to the wrong one - why do I do that?! No word yet on my 2nd essay for American Government - but my first earned me praise and all the points possible - so I’m hoping my second will do the same. Thursday will be more dissection of the baby pig we started last week - we worked in a team of three which helped a lot - taking turns made dealing with the smell of it easier! It is interesting though to actually dissect out the parts and look at them and how they inter-relate among the body system organs. I’m not a novice to dissection - I’ve seen plenty of animal necropsies over the years. Oh well, this semester is going by fast - that’s a good thing - getting the flu in the middle of it has been awful - I still have a cough - not a full blown one - but an annoying little one here & there - I would love to just get well - the stress wears you down a bit, summer will be a nice respite - of course once summer school is done

I was just invited into Phi Theta Kappa - that’s an International Honor Society for Two Year Schools, I’m so excited… I’m speechless… They sent out the invite - like you’d have to ask me twice!

Well I got an A on the 1st lab exam and another A on Test 3… Still in position to finish out with an A I’m on track to get an A in American Federal Government too… part of an email from my professor read “… I just looked at your first essay exam and was quite impressed – your writing is excellent, and your analyses of complex issues is very insightful.”  That feels SO good to read such compliments!