It has been a couple of weeks since
I last posted. A lot has happened in the
past few weeks….where to start!?
Mid Semester exams (or as they are
sometimes fondly but normally not so fondly called: midsems) was the week of October 12. I did not have any “real” midterms, but I did
have a Calculus test, a German paper, Biology lab proposal, biology “Quiz” (A
40 point quiz is not a quiz….it is a test!) and an essay for my Tutorial
due. I managed to get my essay submitted
earlier in the week so the stress didn’t hit until Thursday when I had by
Biology quiz and Friday when I had by Calculus test. BUT after all the stress, I got to go home
for a week! It was strange for me when I
first found out we had a fall break in October.
All my friends in Idaho have a week for Thanksgiving and in high school
we also had a week for Thanksgiving. I
had never actually heard of a fall break, however I think the timing was
perfect. Timed just about two months
after the beginning of NSO and two months from Winter Break it is a much needed
break and refresher for the last half of the semester! This week has been fairly easy (as easy as
Grinnell gets J
), I had a take-home test due on Wednesday and small assignments each day in my
classes but no projects or papers due. But
we did start a project this week! My Intro
to Biology class is not the typical format one thinks of. As I explained before, my class is on
Microbial Pathogenesis. We are learning
about bacteria and pretty much anything relating to bacteria. However, our class is not focused on
teaching what an AP Biology class might teach (ie all the cycles in detail,
human body systems), the class is more laboratory based. As a result, all the Biology - 150 classes are required to do a group
research project during the semester.
Our class was split into groups of three and we brainstormed ideas of
projects based on papers we have read, experiments we have done, or topics we
have learned about. This project could
be anything that we wanted to research and that could be done in 4 weeks. My group decided to test the effectiveness of
UV light on bacteria commonly found on Spinach.
We were going to test E. coli,
Salmonella, and Staphylococcus Aureus
with UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C light, however it is only feasible for us to used
UV-C light. As a result we are changing
our project to see how long the spinach needs to be treated for to kill all the
bacteria! I think it is such an amazing
opportunity that as a first semester, first year student I have the opportunity
to conduct my own research in a lab that is used solely by my class.
Anyways, we are registering for
classes next week so everyone is running around like chickens with their heads
cut off trying to figure out what in the world they are going to take and what
they could major in. My tutorial
professor asked us to lay out a rough four year plan with different
majors. At the moment I am thinking
about Biological Chemistry as well as completing the Pre-med requirements. I was thinking about also doing a concentration
in Neuroscience but I went to talk to my Biology professor who happens to be
the head of the BioChem department and the co-chair of the Health Professions
Advisory Board about my schedule and she told me that I am better off taking a
neurobiology course and instead studying abroad my 3rd year. She was telling me about a program in Denmark
that she has several students at right now.
It sounds really interesting that I will definitely have to explore
more!
Over the past few weeks the social
piece of college has changed a lot. I
have become closer friends with some of the people in Salsa and have meet some
others who I have become friends with. I
think everyone always forgets that we have only been here such a short time and
friendships like we all had back home won’t form in a month or two, it will
take time. Maybe that’s good though, we
can always learn to be a little more independent are self-reliant for our
happiness and stress management.
Anyways, it’s been a good few weeks
and there are lots more to come! I will
also post some pictures that I have taken as fall has fully hit Grinnell. From green leaves to colorful trees, to
pretty much just branches as a look outside right now.
