inside Rhodes » Sarah

19 days til graduation

Sarah — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:04:56 +0000

Life Goal 94250: Walk across the stage on May 16th, 2009, receive diploma, shake hands, walk back to my seat, do not fall.– Oh what the hey, who cares if I fall! So long as I get that diploma.

What am I doing until that point? Oh just a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Actually, I’m rather buried in work and it makes me a bit angry. Though Rhodes technically has me for four years of academic torture… I mean work (;-) I promise it’s not that bad!) I really just want them to give me a break and let me enjoy my last few weeks here in peace. But then… I guess I wouldn’t be getting my money’s worth, eh?!

Now that I am near the end and less than three weeks away from the real world you should expect my blogging to be more reflective- less looking forward, but more looking back and living in the moment. It’s funny because we spend our entire 4 years looking towards the end, which is essentially a new beginning and then we get to that end and it is literally an (and excuse my language) “Oh shit!” moment.

But its true. I’m pretty excited to “grow up” and go to med school next year, but there is the realization that this security of only pseudo-independence is about to be gone* forever. Even those of us going into more school are still going to face a whole new world– oh wow… I’m starting to quote Aladdin in my reflections. (I blame it on Stephen for turning Aladdin on last week .)

I’m excited! Okay…I’m excited and nervous, but I think that there is a healthy level of being nervous. It is motivating– yeah. At least that’s what I believe right now!

Until next time,

Sarah

*The Haliburton bell rang as I typed gone and it became gong… subliminal messages? maybe.

Easter Break in the Ozarks!

Sarah — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:52:36 +0000

I can hardly believe that 27 days from this very moment I will officially be a Rhodes College alum! I remember the events surrounding and leading up to my high school graduation as if it all happened yesterday and now I am gearing up to graduate from college. In fact, I just created a to-do list that ends at graduation.While this post could be reflective and nostalgic and nature, I think I’m going to leave that for another time.

I’d rather focus on the awesome events of my Easter break… and image-wise you probably would too! Over Easter break Stephen took me to the Missouri Ozarks on a photography trip of sorts. Photography is a hobby that we share and what better way to share it than to go somewhere incredibly beautiful!?

So Wednesday after class we drove up to Eminence, Mo. It is a small town that is just off of the Jack’s Fork river that exists almost in its entirety on either side of the highway– population 548. We stayed in a great little resort off of that same highway and also on the river. While our Thursday was rainy and did not allow for much exploration (though it did allow for much reading), we spent all of Friday and Saturday touring and photographing the region. Sunday morning we ate breakfast at our favorite/only breakfast joint and hit the road to head back to Rhodes.

Eminence, Alley Mill, Blue Spring, Rocky Falls and other places were beautiful. In fact, I have never in my life seen water as blue as the water was in these places. For those of you who want explanation of the pictures that you are about to see… the water is as blue as it is because of a large amount limestone dissolved in the water.

Sadly, my wonderful 35mm camera screwed up my film and thereby messed up my photos. In other words, I do not have any pictures that came out. While I was upset about it at first, I have come to terms with the fact that sometimes that just happens. Luckily, Stephen shoots digital and his pictures did come out! Therefore, the pictures you are about to see are courtesy of him. There are also five from my camera that I was able to pseudo-salvage. Enjoy!

Travel Woes and SB awesomeness!

Sarah — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:44:52 +0000

I’ve officially decided to keep my feet on the ground for a while. My flight experiences from Portugal and back were (for lack of a better descriptor) miserable. It was never actually the flight itself– rather it was a specific airline who won’t be named but told us on the way there, “we can’t help you.” and on the way back, “you need to make alternate arrangements.”– essentially we were told that we were screwed. Luckily other airlines exist and they were able to get us to Portugal and then home from Portugal at hours notice.

Anyway, enough about the travel woes and more about Portugal.

What can I say? Portugal was great. While one would expect a 20 something year old to backpack across the country side, I took a more relaxing approach to my break spending all of my time in three places Morgado Lusitano, Lisboa and Sintra.

Morgado was the estate/ riding school where we stayed. The estate was built in 1775 overlooking the Tejo river. Needless to say, it is beautiful. And the people working at Morgado were fantastic. All meals were served on the grounds and if the weather was nice they set up a table outside. Though I am no expert on dressage, I can say that the stables and riding arena were incredible– as were the instructors Charlotte and Rodrigo.

Morgado was nestled just 10 minutes from Lisbon (or Lisboa as the locals call it– pronounced leesh-boa). Side note- while Portuguese and Spanish read very similarly they are very different in pronunciation making communication possible but slightly difficult! Though thanks to Pat and Sue ( two other Americans who were taking lessons at Morgado) I learned many essential words over some red wine after dinner one night. Anyway– back on track– Lisboa was nice, but too much of a city for me. We visited a castle and a cathedral and Lisbon and spent some time walking the streets.

My absolute favorite place was Sintra where I spent two days exploring visiting a palace and two castles. One of the castles was around 2000 years old. There is something very surreal about walking around in a place that has so much history. I am going to go ahead and post some pictures now and then get back to the whole school thing…. . I will write more about specific places in the coming weeks!

Enjoy the photos!

–Sarah

Leavin’ on a jet plane

Sarah — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:34:45 +0000

That’s right!

I am headed to Portugal with my family where my sister, Logan and my step-mom, Jamie, will be training in dressage (a horseback riding technique). I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but I will be there for 8 days with plenty of time to explore and pretend that my Spanish skills equate to being pseudo-proficient in Portugese. Lucky for me- most Europeans tend to know multiple languages so with English and Spanish under my belt I should be able to get by. I imagine my dad, my brother, Alec, and I will spend our days exploring. (I’m sure the other girls will join the exploration every now and then as well. )

Anyway, I have packed both my camera and video camera so expect some pretty awesome blogs when I get back. Until then- feel free to send me suggestions of awesome things to do in Portugal. I will be staying in a town outside of Lisbon.

Tchau,

Sarah

Jerry’s Sno Cones

Sarah — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:57:58 +0000

So I thought I’d give you a little taste of one of my favorite places in Memphis in this blog. As you may have guessed from my lack of a creative title, this place is Jerry’s Sno Cones. The snow cones are quite reminiscent of New Orleans snow balls and they are open year long. Not to mention they are incredibly addictive.

In fact at the beginning of my junior year I was going there with Stephen nearly once a week. Though we have, in many ways, gotten this shared addiction under control, I have a feeling that we will frequent this place a bit more in the warmer months.

Snow balls are a quintessential part of a New Orleans summer, but something that I have yet to see back home is the idea of a sno cone supreme. Essentially it is ice cream + sno cone. Prior to trying it, I was incredibly skeptical, but with my first bite, I realized that I had no basis whatsoever for that skepticism.

If I haven’t made your mouth water yet, I’m going to let the following pictures do the talking!

Enjoy!

Sarah

Psychophysiology… what?

Sarah — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:28:08 +0000

So– I’m enrolled in this pretty great class this semester called, as the title suggests, psychophysiology. Now this is not to be confused with the class I took last year physiological psychology. Yes… they are different. No… I don’t know why the names are so confusingly similar. Anyway, this class is an advanced research methods course in which we are going to develop and implement an experiment using various measurement techniques that can measure everything from blood/oxygen flow to certain parts of the brain, actual neuronal activity, muscle movements and skin conductivity. To quote my professor Jeffrey Sable who is new to Rhodes, “This class just doesn’t exist at other schools.”

And I believe him. I mean where else can I read about a technique like EEG, ERP, EMG etc. and then actually get together the next class and use the technique. While these techniques are not an exact science nor can they be 100% translated into solid conclusions, they are very useful in the fields of both research and medicine in trying to figure what different parts of the brain do as well as looking for various malfunctions etc.

One of the great benefits is that there are only 6 people in the class. Your questions are always answered and it can be as hands on as you would like. Another is that we get to learn about a technique, read recent research that uses that technique and then put it into practice ourselves. Even better, after we’ve finished learning about the techniques we are each going to propose a research project for the class. Then, we will choose one and spend the rest of the semester doing an experiment which we will write up for presentation and hopefully publication by the end of the semester.

Now that I’ve blurted out scientific jargon for way too long, here are some great pictures of the class in action. It is a class of just six students and we are currently learning how to use all of the equipment! This particular day we were learning about ERP. Thanks to Erika for being the guinea pig and letting me take pictures of her all loaded up with electrodes!

Cool huh?

Until next time,

Sarah

Snow at Rhodes

Sarah — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:45:59 +0000

I don’t have too much to say right now, but I felt that I should share a few pictures of the small amount of snow we got early this week! It was pretty, but I wasn’t a big fan of walking to my morning classes on icy streets and sidewalks. Enjoy! Rhodes is pretty… and its even prettier in the snow!

This is what I woke up to outside of my dorm window. Pretty, eh?

Oak Alley in the snow on my way to my first class of the day

Once the snow started to melt, there were these pretty icicles all over campus on buildings and cars alike. (They looked prettier on the buildings)

Hope you enjoyed some of my pictures!

Sarah

Happy 2009!…. 27 days late

Sarah — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:20:43 +0000

So as I checked out from classes, work, essentially almost everything that involved thinking, I also checked out from blogging- if you haven’t noticed the lack of posts from me the past month. Sorry guys! While I originally thought that I had absolutely nothing to blog about, I went back through some videos and pictures of my holiday and… you should know… I was mistaken! So– before I talk about my first 3 weeks back at Rhodes…. I will give a brief photo overview of my break.

My family is extraordinarily entertaining. It’s quite easy when there are so many of you! My Christmas day picture of all the fam that gathered at my house in Franklinton is MIA. However, there is a goofy picture of Logan for those of you following up on how big she’s gotten.

Also, during the winter break I visited my mom’s house in Alabama. There’s a pretty great picture of my siblings… not all of them, but a lot of them. . I also got to meet my nephew Brayden for the first time. He is precious!

Then I left Alabama and headed back to Louisiana with my wildlife photographer, Stephen. See some great picture from Global Wildlife, the nature preserve near my house wear you get to feed and interact with cool animals ranging from red dear to camels to zebras.

Also, while he was in town we visited the New Orleans zoo. Look at how happy the elephant is! Also there is a really cool video of a dancing bird that I hope to get to you soon.

Anyway, they say pictures speak louder than words.. so here they are!

I cannot quite get my great videos to work yet, but look forward to some fantastic videos of me feeding giraffes out of my hand and other cool things at Global Wildlife in Folsom, Louisiana… not to mention the dancing bird is awesome.

Anyway, now I’m back at Rhodes. I am enrolled in four classes. (This is the first time in FOREVER that I have not had an overload!). I am taking an English on the modern novella, a psychophysiology class (look for a blog on this soon!!), international relations 100 (I’m not so in to politics, so we’ll see how this goes), and psych stats.

Since I’ve been back I haven’t been up to all that much… getting settled, watching a few more sunsets by the Mississippi, eating another Jerry’s sno cone (expect a blog about this soon as well!), and taking full advantage of my netflix account.

Anyway, I’m actually going to go work on one of those other blogs!!

Until next time (which I promise won’t be another month),

Sarah

Just 5 days

Sarah — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 04:44:01 +0000

In just five days it will all be done and I will be just one semester away from my Bachelor of Science degree- but the biochemical pathways of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the citric acid cycle, the urea cycle etc. are dancing through my brain at 100,000 carbons a minute. I feel as if I will never be fully prepared for my biochemistry final. It’s information overload, which– if I had to guess, is what I should expect from med school, no?

Speaking of, in 2 days, I need to be decided on which medical school I want to put a deposit down at (out of the three to which I have been accepted thus far). It is crazy. At first I was worried I wouldn’t get into med school and now I am plagued (or rather quite blessed) with a choice. Hm.

After the final decision is made, I will let you know. For now, however, I will continue to be vague. If you want to know details, talk to me personally. I strongly believe in picking the school that is right for you. Hence the reason why I decided on Rhodes over my state school, even though I could have gone to my state school for free.

And the verdict? Well, I guess I’ll never know how I would have fared at my state school, but if I had to guess, I’d be studying less and making higher grades (at least that’s the gist I get from my friends at that school). However, what would I have learned?

Rhodes has taught me so much about working hard- and even when I think I’m doing my best, and A- can prove me wrong. At the same time, a C can feel like the greatest mark of accomplishment when face with the hardest of material. One thing I can say is that my experience at Rhodes has taught me to focus less on grades and numbers and more on the sense of accomplishment. I ask myself the following: Have I gotten out of this course what I wanted to get out of this course? Regardless of the grade, if I can honestly answer yes to that question then I am happy.

Sure- grades are important for applying to grad schools, jobs, medical schools, but they are not everything. And even after being told that I was not the best applicant for medical school as far as stats go and should consider taking a year off, I now have the honor of having a decision to make.

So, as I am making my medical school decision this weekend, I will be thinking not just about curriculum and cost, but I will also be thinking much about where I think I will feel the happiest. For those of you looking into any opportunity right now, I suggest you do the same.

Rhodes prospective students: It’s possible that you feel Rhodes is the only place for you- and if that’s the case- I hope that you set foot on campus as part of the class of 2013 for move-in next year. However, if you feel that Rhodes is not for you, then keep looking until you find what’s right.

I promise you will find it!

Going to dream about amino acid metabolism,

Sarah

It’s here again…

Sarah — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:01:08 +0000

What do I mean?

Well, I’m not so sure that it is entirely describable in words. It’s just that time of year: It’s cold; Families are gathering; Fireplaces are burning; Classes are coming to an end; And finals are the only obstacle that students must overcome before three weeks of calm.

I like this time of year. Well- minus the finals.

I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. I certainly did. This is the first year that I wasn’t at one of my parents’ houses. Instead, this year, I went to visit Stephen and his family and had a wonderful time. I felt very much at home. I even contributed to Thanksgiving dinner and I must say that the mashed potatoes were pretty great…* We took walks in the woods, lounged by a fire, read books, Facebooked (no, I’m not joking), ate lots of food, and on whole had a great time together. See pictures below: (courtesy of Stephen).

After Thanksgiving, as we all dispersed into our separate directions, I headed up north for another interview. The drive through the mountains was not so great as the weather was dreadful, but the visit to the school was wonderful! And- believe it or not, I found out the very next day that I was accepted! Can you believe it? This means that I have not only gotten into medical school, but I am going to be able to decide where I want to go to school.

Needless to say, it is very exciting. Unfortunately, this accomplishment does not mean that my work at Rhodes is done and I am struggling to find the motivation to keep up with things. Next semester is going to be tough, but I’ll get through it. Perhaps the decreased pressure will actually lead to me doing better. That’s how it worked in high school- once I knew I was going to college and the pressure was off, everything started to fall into place.

I guess we’ll see!

I am enjoying sharing my medical school journey with you and as I have spent very little time at Rhodes lately, I cannot tell you much about what’s going on around here- I’ll have to leave that up to the other bloggers! And since Marianne beat me to the finals tips, I’m going to listen to my heavy eyelids.

Good night and sweet dreams!

Sarah

*That was my contribution, in case you didn’t catch on .

I did it!

Sarah — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:49:59 +0000

That’s right I did the impossible. I found out while I was in the RLO* and it couldn’t have been a better place. Naturally, there were people who I could tell rolling in and out for the full hour or so I was there. I was greeted with hugs, smiles, congratulations and even a few tears. Since I was still a bit in shock, it was great to have the people around me expressing the wide range of emotions that I was, at the time,incapable of producing.

Oh.

What’s that?

You want to know what I accomplished?

…:-)… I have been accepted into medical school.

This is how I feel right now!

That’s right. Me! I told you that I would let you in on my journey and I really really hoped that I wouldn’t have to bring you all bad news. And now I don’t, because blog readers, you can rest assured that no matter what- I will be in med school next year.

I cannot tell you what this feels like, but I can tell you that the paper I have to do for tomorrow is really (no I mean superbly) hard to write at the moment, but it will get done!

Well, I’m going to go make some headway on the paper- I mean, it’s not like I could sleep anyway, right!?

So excited!

I will write more later….

Until next time,

Sarah

RLO (ResLife Office): pronounced arrr-el-low- thrown around by RA’s all the time because we’re cool like that.

More travel…

Sarah — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:08:34 +0000

So- I should be sleeping.

I have all of my work done for the rest of this week and exhaustion is getting the better of me, but travel excitement, anxiety, and preparations are keeping me up! So– where am I going? I am headed to two conferences in the coming week.

The first is the Bacchus National General Assembly in Columbus, OH. This is the annual meeting of all of the Bacchus affiliates in the country. It is a great conference to meet peer educators at other schools, trade ideas and see that we are not alone. I have been to it the past two years and I am looking forward to attending yet again. And, hey, this will be my first time in Ohio!

After GA, I board another plane for Washington DC where I will be presenting my research at the Annual Society for Neuroscience conference. Dr. Gerecke and I finished our poster Monday morning and we will get to see the final printed result tomorrow. I am so very excited for this opportunity!

Phew! College is tiring .

Anyway, I think I may have reached the point of exhaustion where I could sleep through anything. I’ve at least reached the point where I can barely type 20 wpm. haha.

Hope all is well with you and yours,

Sarah

Interviews

Sarah — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:39:46 +0000

I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in Bradenton, FL (outside of Tampa) anticipating my second medical school interview. My first interview began this morning at 9am in Fort Lauderdale (about 3 hours south of here), so needless to say I’m exhausted. The school that I visited today was a great university. Everyone from the admissions counselor, to my interviewers, to the gentleman that drove our bus on the bus tour was very nice. Though there was a part of me that wanted to be really nervous and insecure, there was something about the environment and the people that really allowed me to relax a bit and be myself (that includes being a bit too talkative ).

The day began with a video and an introduction by the admissions counselor. Afterwards, we met with the Assistant Dean of Student and Administrative Services. (I was happy to hear that I was not the only person in the world who learned of osteopathic medicine in the past couple of years!). Then, we divided into two groups and my group took a tour of the med school facilities first and then went for interviews. All of the students kept telling me to beware of getting pimped*, but I didn’t have that experience. My interviewers really just wanted to know about me and who I am. Basically I got one question (but it was really 4 different questions): Who are you…why medicine…Why osteopathic…why this school?

I know that at some point in answering the question, I had a brain fart and could not for the life of me remember where I was. I will use Dr. Gerecke’s (Dept. of Neuroscience) excuse. I must have halfzeimers . However, other than that, I feel that, if anything, they at least got to know me. Hopefully it pays off!

The rest of the day was great as well, we had a catered lunch, met with the vice dean of the university, took a bus tour of the campus and had a bit of a q & a session. Then I hopped in my rental car and drove across Florida!

I will let you know the outcome of this interview (good or bad) in the coming weeks. fingers crossed!

Well blog readers, I am sleepy and I must get some work done for the SFN conference in D.C. next weekend before going to bed for the night, so I am going to take care of that!

If you have any questions, comments, or loads of good luck for my interview tomorrow… please feel free to pass them my way!

Until next time,

Sarah

*pimped: med school terminology for hounded with questions… I’m learning the lingo

Happy Halloween

Sarah — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:50:31 +0000

photo from frugallawstudent.com

It’s Halloween night, and what am I doing?

Relaxing.

Sure, there are plenty of opportunities for me to go out tonight- and maybe next week, next month, or next year I will regret not going out on my last Halloween at Rhodes for this night of costumes and debauchery (What ever happened to full-coverage costumes and it being all about the children?), but right now, I don’t regret it at all. And I have a feeling that I won’t regret it much later either.

Hmm… maybe I’ll watch some scary movies. There have to be some on cable, right? I know I sound old or perhaps dull, but the truth is I have much to do this weekend and I would like to start it off by getting a good night’s sleep.

I never realized until college how valuable a good night’s sleep really is, but let me tell you something: It is more valuable than any material thing you could possibly imagine. Well, I don’t know about any, I mean my down comforter that I invested in last year is pretty awesome too (haha) .

So– the question: Can you be a good student at Rhodes and still have fun?

Yes! I’m asked all of the time by Rhodes students how I can be a neuroscience major and still have fun and my answer is that I may have a lot of work, but I have to take some time for myself.

I used to be really bad at that. Any free moment that I may have developed I would dedicate completely to someone else, some other cause- and then I met Burnout. And let me tell ya, it’s real and it’s bad. I joke every now and then that I’m reaching burnout mode, but real burn out can border on depression (no joke!) and what I’ve got these days is a lil’ case of senioritis (I hear it may be contagious, so wash your hands often). With burnout, not only do you no longer have any desire to do work, or study, but you stop wanting to go to class and when your friends ask you to go out, you say no- and not because you want to study all night- only because you’ve forgotten how to find fun in anything social. You have a desire to do nothing but sleep and maybe eat and each new assignment ways on you a bit heavier… fun it is not. (Are you a Rhodes student experiencing burnout?– Visit the Counseling Center!! They can help.)

After that dreaded experience in my sophomore year, I (like many Rhodes students) learned to take time for myself. While some prefer to have nights out on the town, I still prefer getting comfortable in jammies and slippers, watching movies, playing games, drinking a glass of wine- both with and without company. I’ve learned to really treasure the time that I have to relax, because I have a feeling that there will not be as much of this in med school. But I’m ready!… I think. (Any med school adcoms reading this- ignore the slight hint of self-doubt in that statement ).

Oh goodness. Well, I’m off to take my time to myself now. I hope I’ve imparted some tid bit of wisdom. If not, I’m sorry… but I enjoyed writing it!

If you have any questions about Rhodes life por lo general, a specific department, Memphis life, etc. send me an e-mail or comment and I promise to respond! Who knows? You may even spark an entire post!

Until next time!

Sarah

They say time flies when you’re having fun

Sarah — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:01:20 +0000

And I believe it! Fall break has passed as if it were a mere blip on my radar of my last fall semester at Rhodes. I’m still home. Should I be packing up and leaving now? Probably, but this is the first time that I have been back to my house since May and so I am taking advantage of being in the country. I’m going to at least stay through dinner and get that one last home-cooked meal- mmmm.

I have spent my break in Franklinton, Louisiana (the place I call home). I went to the Washington Parish Fair, a rodeo, and enjoyed some fresh air and sunshine in my own backyard- backyard being a loose term for wide open fields (we live in the country). It has been wonderful. I have even found it rather easy to get work done, so long as I can get quiet time away from my five year old sister, Logan, which has worked well today because she’s at school!

It has been relaxing and I’m sure you can tell that I am not ready to go back.

I could tell you about what I’ve been up to, but the pictures tell so much more. See below for a photographic summary of my break!

November will be a month of traveling for me so expect to see some exciting updates! I will be flying to Florida for an interview with LECOM-Bradenton (yes, my first med school interview!). Then I will be in Columbus, OH for the BACCHUS General Assembly. I will leave OH for Washington, DC where I will present at the Society for Neuroscience Conference (and see Stephen of course!) Then after a week back in Memphis, I will be spending Thanksgiving break with Stephen and his family in North Carolina. Look forward to exciting updates from all over the country!

Until next time,
Sarah

Midterm procrastination

Sarah — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:20:20 +0000

So you’d think that by the time your senior year rolls around, midterms would be as routine as avoiding the slate on rainy days when you’ve decided to break out your favorite pair of flip flops. (flip flops + wet slate = pain). But it never seeks to amaze me how every midterm week can be different. For instance, I don’t have any tests this week. Sounds fantastic, eh? Well, it’s not all that great, because I most definitely have a rough draft of my senior seminar paper due on Thursday!

Something to note about me… I love writing, but I despise deadlines! (One reason I could never be a journalist.) Hmm. I’m always somewhat embarrassed by drafts, because they are such a work in progress, that I feel it’s not apparent that I have a directional paper, when really it’s just getting there! Anyway, The paper is going to be great by the time its finished in December. As for this weekend… there will be no nights out on the town… just me and my reading. LOTS of reading. Oh yeah, and a lot of writing too!

Well, that’s all I’ve got, blog readers!

Fall break in 6 days!

Until next time,

Sarah

A different kind of Parent’s Weekend…

Sarah — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:31:58 +0000

My parents and I have never been real big on Parent’s weekend. It’s just not really our style. However, this year my dad came up during Parent’s weekend, though not under the circumstances you may have guessed.

Friday afternoon I was greeted by a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I was determined to ignore it and push through it figuring that it would probably fade, but it soon doubled me over and had me shaky. I decided to walk over to the health center. It’s not a very far walk, but it felt as if it were miles long. I saw the nurse and as she was worried that it could potentially be appendicitis, she suggested I go to the E.R. Long story short, Brent from ResLife took me to the hospital. My dad flew up to be with me and was here just three hours after I first called him.

While everyone was partying it up at the Kappa Delta All-sing, I was being poked and scanned and prodded. Worst of all, I was waiting. So much waiting. I got to the hospital at 3pm and was not discharged until just after midnight. So what was wrong? Well, we don’t know yet, but they were able to tell me what it was not. They gave me some antibiotics and pain pills.

A bit of an update: I still hurt though definitely not as bad as when it first hit me on Friday. My dad is home and everything is almost back to normal. Hopefully, my stomach will be soon as well. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The Health Center and Residence Life were both very helpful… I owe thanks to both of them!!

Until next time!

Sarah

All is well

Sarah — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:37:21 +0000

Gustav was no Katrina.

And I’m not complaining one bit! I would say that there were some pretty big post traumatic stress symptoms with this hurricane, but other than that my family, my friends and I are all in great shape! Being here at Rhodes throughout the hurricane was both a blessing and a curse– I think you could probably read that in my last post. I’m done with this hurricane business!

I spent so much time blogging about the hurricane that I haven’t even had time to say this… I am in my second to last semester at Rhodes! It is almost unbelievable. My classes, while definitely not easy, are doable and enjoyable. I am taking Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Psych Research Methods, Neuroscience Sr. Seminar and Acting I. Which class am I most excited about? Well, don’t tell all of my science professors, but I am thrilled about my acting class! I have spent so much of my last three years buried in the sciences and in spanish (which might as well be a science ) that the opportunity to do something so different is very exciting!

All of my other classes are intriguing and enjoyable as well, but where else can you play three on three basketball with no ball? Yeah, that’s right. Only Acting class!

I must say that is all I have for now. I will blog again sometime next week after I’ve had a few quizzes and tests and really embraced the fatigue that is college life.

Until then,

Sarah

It could be so much worse…

Sarah — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:44:56 +0000

That’s not to say Gustav isn’t still “lashing out” at south/southeast Louisiana right now, but its hitting as a weak category 3 or maybe even a category 2 which is way better than the strong cat 3- moderate cat 4 forecast we saw a few days ago!

This provides relief to some, but if you remember Katrina, many of the levee issues occurred after the storm passed. Here’s a picture of one of the flood walls in the industrial canal taken just a few moments ago by the Times Picayunne (a NOLA newspaper). This is why you shouldn’t watch the news during these things, because this is scary.

Anyway, I will write again after the storm has passed and after I talk to my family and learn a little bit about their experiences through the storm. I will also write about my experiences here in Memphis, TN.

Pray for those in the direct path. The public’s preparation this time was incredible! Let’s hope that pays off!

Peace,

Sarah

Hurricane Gustav

Sarah — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:13:35 +0000

I’m from Louisiana. Katrina devastated my city in my freshman year 3 years ago yesterday. And now, my friends, my family and I are waiting… waiting to see what Hurricane Gustav has in store for us. It’s Labor Day weekend. I was supposed to meet my family in Vicksburg, MS for some time together. But, my family’s lake house is now an evacuation place for some of my dad’s employees and I am here in Memphis, TN at Rhodes.

It’s scary. I don’t think that anyone will contest me on that. And the forecast cone keeps narrowing down on Louisiana. There are several students here from that region (including the Mississippi and Texas gulf coasts) who saw devastation with both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and I know that they must be feeling the same way. We’re not ready to see this again. We’ll never be ready. We’re scared. At the same time, we are frustrated. While, our families are unable to make plans past Tuesday, we are here expected to keep on keepin’ on like nothing is happening. The people of Memphis, and the people at Rhodes are hardly affected. And it’s not to say that they don’t respect that there is something terrifying happening in our lives, it’s that most, cannot understand.

The Residence Life and the Deans’ offices sent out a kind e-mail to residents in the affected region about letting them know if there is anything they can do for us, and quite honestly my initial response was a bit sarcastic. “Yes, can you move the hurricane, please?” But I really do respect the gesture. It’s just that, its very much the same idea behind trying to reassure someone who lost a loved one. There is no right thing to say. And there is nothing that we really want to hear unless it’s, “Hey so, I have this really big and awesome fan thing that controls weather patterns, and if I aim it perfectly, we will be able to tear Gustav apart.”

If you had that. You could be my new best friend.

Anyway, I plan to keep y’all updated. God bless all of you who are potentially in harm’s way.

With prayers,

Sarah

One last summer update…

Sarah — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:55:28 +0000

So… I get a phone call on Friday. “Hey, Sarah, we need to talk about your cell phone bill.” Now, I, like many people in our age group have most definitely gone over with my texting in the past and I’ve most definitely gotten one or two (or more) of these phone calls before. And these phone calls usually meant that I had $20 in texting fees above my normal bill. (I’ll call that an oops moment.) However, this cell phone bill was more like an “Oh crap!” moment. See below:

Yes. I went over my normal bill by like $530.00. Advice moment #1: Fair warning to all first years (and upperclassmen) who may be talking to family or significant others often… know your cell phone plan, keep track of your minutes, and keep a real close eye on rollover, because even if you’ve had them for years… they will eventually disappear! : ) Basically, avoid the “Oh crap!” moment, because it is not pleasant. If you plan to be talking more than your cellular plan will allow, look into Skype or plug in a room phone and have people call you there. (It’s worked for me so far!)

Anyway, moving on. Life since the last time I updated you has progressed as follows:

(1) Visit to Eagle Lake, MS (2) Visit Stephen in North Carolina (3) RA training

1st… I didn’t see my family much this summer, so before I headed to North Carolina, I drove down to Vicksburg (Eagle Lake) to spend a few days basking in the sun, playing in the water… you know, the stuff that we all wish we could do for the entire summer sans work. We had a great first day at the Lake House. My step mom and I got a kick out of riding the tube and my 5 year old sister was the spotter, but didn’t really want to actually get on the tube. It was a funny reversal of roles– the grown ups were having a blast playing and being silly and Logan was loving being the responsible one.

Then came the night. I was laying in bed when I noticed that the house was moving. Initially, I chalked it up to someone walking around. Until the house really started swaying. Then the power flickered- once, twice, thrice and then out. With my blackout curtains, I had no idea what could have been going on so I grabbed the flashlight next to my bed, and stumbled around the room to get out in the hallway…. It was storming. I couldn’t see the lake except for when it would lightening, but the water was fierce. The next morning, I was greeted by an extraordinarily warm house, no power, and a damaged boat. The neighbors porch roof was actually on top of their house. Pretty wild.

Anyway, long story short- my trip was cut short due to no power and a forecasted high of 100+ degrees!

2nd… came North Carolina. Another piece of advice: www.studentuniverse.com. Cheap plane tickets for college students. They don’t always have the best deals, but for this trip, the ticket was $100 cheaper than anything I could find elsewhere!

My visit was wonderful. I expected this to be the quintessential “meeting the parents” trip, but it was far from it. There were no embarrassing or awkward moments (outside of my usual awkwardness) and I felt like part of the family from the very first night. Advice #3: Don’t be afraid or worried to meet the parents. Just be yourself. Chances are your significant other has already filled them in on your personality and quirks and they will just be happy to see their child happy!

Cool places to visit if your ever in NC: the zoo, Carowinds, UNC campus, (I didn’t go to the Duke campus, but just to satisify the Duke fans) the Duke campus, Charlotte in general… There are more, but this post is getting long!

Here’s a great picture of Stephen and I at the NC zoo! We had a great time and really cherished every moment that we had together. Just 93 days til I see him at Thanksgiving!

3rd: RA Training. RA training was well-planned and implemented, but as a third-year RA, it was tough. At times it felt repetitive and I had a very hard time getting myself pumped up for sessions. However, I made it through and had a really great time getting to know the new RAs! They seem like a really wonderful bunch and I really cannot wait to see the pictures we took before move-in, because I think they will be fun!

Now, its time to end this business! Here are some of my favorite pictures that I have taken in the last few weeks. I am attempting to really give myself some time to get back into the hobby of photography, so expect to see more in the coming months!

Until next time!

Sarah

Fin! (trans. Finished!)

Sarah — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:23:09 +0000

Done with what you ask!? Well here is the laundry list of things that I have finished since I last blogged. I have finished all prelim medschool apps; I have finished my research for the Summer Institute; I have finished my paper for the Institute (minus a few edits); I have finished with the Roadshow; And I have done my final Institute presentation.

Phew… I’m exhausted just thinking about all of the things that I have accomplished in the past couple of weeks. I honestly didn’t believe that I would make it through everything and I honestly started to feel as busy as I am during the school year. Between research in the morning and afternoon, babysitting most evenings and my volunteer work at St. Jude, my free time has been extremely limited. But it has been wonderful.

Submitting my prelim med school apps came with a huge sense of accomplishment, pretty similar to the size of the dent they have made thus far in my bank account. (*Note to future med school applicants: prepare to pay two sets of application fees: the first for the prelim and higher fees for the supplements.) Now that I have nearly 1,000$ invested in applying to schools, I’m really hoping that I get accepted into one of them! *crossing fingers*

Anyway, I finished my work with the Institute today with our final presentation of the Neuroscience Roadshow and of our research on the effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin®). I think it went pretty well! It’s hard to present science to a general audience and I am very glad that I had that experience. So far the groups that have presented in addition to the Neuro research group have been the group researching at the Clinton library and the Music in Memphis group. Everyone has given fantastic presentations and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s presentations. I am amazed by the dedication that college students will give to a summer project because it is on a subject they love. Oh how I love academia! (nerdy? maybe!)

Anyway, now the countdowns begin, 3 days til I move back to Bellingrath to RA on the first floor again (woot woot!). 3.5ish days until I meet my family at our lake house in Mississippi. 6 days til I’m back in Memphis and 7 days til I’m in North Carolina visiting Stephen. Also its 16 days til RA training begins and 29ish days til classes start.

Life is fantastic!

Well, that’s all she wrote.

Peace out fellow Rhodents, prospective Rhodents and loyal blog readers!

Sarah

Sunshine and Summer Time

Sarah — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:11:51 +0000

That’s right blog readers; I am back in Memphis– home of the blues and some pretty awesome barbecue! While I have not spent much time walking 10 feet off of Beale, I did spend part of my first week back on Beale. You see, on June 9th the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies (you know… the program I’ve been talking up) began! The first week was spent learning about local history. We visited such places as the W.C. Handy House, Slave Haven, the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum. We also went to Tunica to visit the Tunica River Park. If you are looking to know more about Memphis, these are some pretty great places to visit. If you want my opinion on them, send a comment my way!

Anyway, I have spent the past three weeks researching. I know that I initially told you that I would be researching protective effects against neurodegenerative disorders, but some things have changed. We are actually now researching the long term effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin). One of the main things we are testing are the addictive properties of the drug and whether living in an enriched environment can effect the tendency to become addicted. Below are some pictures taken by another student working in the lab (courtesy of Stephen Spainhour).

Any free time that I have had so far this summer I have tried to spend at my lake house. I had my first experience with wake boarding and my first experience with… a banana. That’s right, a banana- not the kind you eat. Rather, the kind you ride. Okay, that sounds dirty, if I dare say so… see the pictures for a better description!

As you can see, it was fun! Also in the past week, Stephen came to visit me. It was really exciting and we had a fantastic time together. Here is a picture that he took of one of the sunsets we watched at the lake. (You know how I love my sunsets!)

This summer has been an interesting journey so far. I’ve been applying to med schools, taking the mcat, doing research and learning how to be in a long distance relationship. I’m almost done with my applications; I’m done with the mcat (at least for the ‘09 application cycle); our research is going strong (despite some problems in the beginning); And I learn something new about my relationship every day; all of which is absolutely fantastic!

Anyway, I’m off to see if maybe I can see some 4th of July fireworks from campus somewhere….

Happy 4th! Happy Summer!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Peace,

Sarah

I survived :-)

Sarah — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:14:06 +0000

Hey there loyal blog readers,

I will be keeping this one rather short, but I thought it would be appropriate to let you know that I have finished with the MCAT… for now at least! I began my day at 5:30, sat for the test at 7:30, was out a little after noon and home just before 2. Needless to say, I am exhausted despite the rather long nap that I managed to get in this afternoon.

Now is the time to focus on applications so that I can get them submitted as early as possible (ie within the next few weeks).

Before that, however, is a trip to my lake house.

I will blog again from Memphis! Below are some pictures from my day…

(1) If you look closely you will see a deer feeding underneath that tree. This was taken at about 6am as I was leaving my house.

(2) This picture is of the sunrise. That’s right, the sun RISE not set. I had forgotten how beautiful the sunrise can be.

(3) This last picture was taken on my way home. I couldn’t help but capture mile number 111,111 on my car!

Sorry for the lack of intellectual content in the blog, but right now my thoughts are still too exhausted and scientifically minded.

I will be back on the blogging scene in a week!

Peace.

Sarah

3 days and counting

Sarah — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:52:51 +0000

’til I take the glorious, or not-so-glorious MCAT. Cue fake enthusiasm now. Advice from a few good friends: Sarah, stop studying!

It is hard, but since I received a pretty awesome Facebook message from an even more awesome soon-to-be first year med student , I have been met with an uncanny calmness. I may not be able to explain it, but it is very welcome. I have tried throughout this process to remind myself that this test is not the end of the world and will not determine whether or not I have a good life. However, I found myself falling into the state that most pre-meds seem to get into: the OMG state where anything and everything evokes panic.

For instance, I was trying to relax by watching a made for t.v. movie. Don’t laugh, but it very well may have been a Lifetime movie. (If it wasn’t, it should have been.) This commercial came on advertising some form of blood pressure medicine and I immediately started attempting to recall the lab flow chart from hell. Essentially this was a flow chart from my animal physiology course that traces what happens in all of the organ systems when there is a change in blood pressure and how they work to regulate it. So as I was busy thinking about angiotensinogen, ANGI, ACE (found in the lungs), ANGII etc., my movie had progressed through nearly a half hour of plot development and I was thoroughly baffled.

By the time it ended, I had deduced that the mom had been hounding her daughter about sexual responsibility. And while one would expect that it would have been the daughter who would get pregnant, the mom became pregnat..definitely a Lifetime movie (I just searched their website to see if there was anything that fit this description and this is what came up.

So that is the MCAT journey thus far. After the MCAT I will be going to my family’s Lake house in Mississippi for some R & R with the whole crew. The whole crew being my dad, stepmom, sister who will be 5 on June 4th, and almost 16 year old brother.

It will be fun, sunshine, water, bikes, boats, tubes, really it’s the life. And, this place has some of the most beautiful sunsets that I have seen. I went up there alone this weekend to get some studying done sans 5 year old and I only wish I could be this undistracted and undisrupted in my residence hall sometimes! I was extraordinarily effective and I got to watch the sunset three nights in a row, each one of them different and each one of them beautiful. I kept wishing that I had a real camera and not just my iPhone. Though my phone takes decent pictures, it couldn’t capture it the way I was seeing it.

In just over a week, I will be back at Rhodes researching with the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies which is part of the CARES program. I have talked about this before and you should expect me to talk about it significantly more in the coming months! I will be researching protective factors against various neurodegenerative disorders using rodent models and their implications in society. In addition, we will be working on a Neuroscience Roadshow to bring around to Memphis City school children.

I am so very excited! However, as a science person I am a bit hesitant about this more historically based parts of the program. While that is most certainly the point of the regional studies aspect of the program, I do worry about my ability to truly discuss history with others and have enlightening discussions. I am sure that it will be fine despite my apprehensions.

Lastly, throughout the year I have run into people who say, I’ve been reading your blog! Sometimes they continue to talk about what they may have read, but sometimes it ends there leaving me with many questions. All of those natural human insecurities running through my head: How many typos were there? Which post did he read? What did she think?

My most loyal readers has been Stephen’s mom, Betty (Photo below courtesy of Stephen Rintoul). We’ll be talking on the phone and he will say, “My mom said that you haven’t updated your blog recently.” It is great because it always makes me want to update when I know people are reading. So, thanks, Betty (and all of you other readers), not only for reading, but for encouraging future posts!

Anyway, loyal blog readers, this is just as much your space as it is mine. If there is something you want me to blog about, let me know! If you have questions, comments, funny song lyrics, or life goals you want to share feel free to comment, Facebook me, e-mail me, and if you look really hard you can even find me on Myspace. (You need to friend me to see me on myspace though, so there is a bit less anonymity ).

Looking forward to hearing from you!

(And feel free to send some good thoughts my way on Saturday morning!!)

Until next time,

Sarah