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| Look at my lovely nerve cords! So maybe they're not "mine," but some I've been doing my research on. So I've decided to share and the best part of xanga is I can post any silly thing I want... so nerve cords it is! 
So looking at the rearrangement of the manduca nerve cord during metamorphosis, I was really studying the pterothoracic ganglion which you can see in the last pic. The pterothoracic ganglion begins forming in the pupal stage with movement of 4 ganglia fusing to become 1 bigger one (the pterothoracic). What I was really looking for though was the cell bodies in the ganglia to try to figure out how the neurons rearrange in the fusing. This first pic is the 1st & 2nd thoracic ganglia of the 5th larval stage (before the formation of the pterothoracic). The staining turned out really well because you can see the commissure connecting the two ganglia in the neuropil and then the axons branching off to 2 cell bodies on each side (the bright little spots). The next two pictures are from the the 4th pupal stage, the little guy that gave me so much trouble because it's sooo fragile making it even more difficult to deal with things you can barely see with the naked eye. I actually got pretty good results with it though. The first is just a segment of the nerve cord, but the next is looking way into a ganglion. The last is part of the adult nerve cord showing the 1st thoracic and pterothoracic ganglia. The antibody didn't penetrate the ganglia very well, but it's still one of my favorite pics just because I think it looks so cool.
   
So that's what I've been working on lately in the lab every day. Although it's only part of why I never get to sleep anymore, it's all good. Finals start next week though, so let's see... at least bio seminar is completely done, I have to write up my formal report on this research and I think I'm almost ready to start writing with just a little more background research, then my 20 page religion final paper on the cultural aspects that caused the rise of Minjung theology in South Korea and its Biblical parallels, then comes the calculus final, and then physics and neuroscience exams in the same day. So next Friday night when my neuroscience final is done with at 9:30pm I think I'll just pass out and then I'll be good to go for a little while. Sometimes I feel like I have 800 things going on at once. Hmm...maybe it's because I do.
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| Not tooooo long ago were nights out in the city where the sun would rise and we'd catch the 6am bus back to the village. I'd crawl into bed to the sound of those crazy birds just to wake up and head to the beach.
Yeah, so for some reason I was remembering those times as I was walking back to my room a couple minutes ago after all night studying. About the only thing I can do is laugh. | | |
| So I'm realizing I'm becoming more of a nerd everyday. I just spent my Friday night reading my neuroscience textbook by the fireplace in the ski lodge and I'm just excited about all the super cool things I learned (that and the 2 large coffees might have something to do with my excitement too). It was nice because nobody else was there at 4am.... hmm...I wonder why? Yeah, and I'm excited about my independent research I'll be starting next week. I'm going to be dissecting out manduca nerve cords to look at the the movement of ganglia cell bodies and the axonal and dendritic connections to determine the development of the pterothoracic ganglion. It should be a good time. Next semester I want to take an extra course even though I don't need it, but I think it'd be fun because it's working with Dr. Bayline in his lab doing neuromuscular developmental biology research. I think I might be insane. Eh... I suppose you'll have that.
This year is going really well. All aspects. Life is just pretty dang good. I have no idea where I'll be this summer or exactly where I'll be after graduation, but I don't even care right now. There are lots of important decisions to be made in the next few months and I just feel completely at peace about it all. Lately there seems to be tons of opportunities popping up and I'm just going to see what happens. This summer for example I was planning on getting an internship doing neuroscience research (so that'd complete the neuroscience program), but then there's a scholarship that the study abroad director thinks I'd be a really good candidate for and in that case if I got it, I'd go to another country to do research and the only thing is then the internship can't be paid. Then I might have some sweet hook-up at the Cleveland Clinic and in that case I could just postpone the neuroscience research until spring semester next year, but that'd mean not graduating early (and if I stayed I could get a chemistry minor too). Then for after graduation I plan on taking a year off before med school, but I'm still taking the MCAT's and applying this year and I can just defer (and as to where I want to apply is a whole other issue). So, that year off I've said I want to do a world tour and I just got a call from Rachel the other day making sure we were still doing that because then she can wait and take the MCAT's at a later date. I could also work doing research for a year and just chill and save money, but then it was also suggested to me that I should apply for the Fulbright Scholarship because of my experience in Australia and Tanzania and in that case I'd go there for a year all expenses paid and do research. So after all that rambling, basically I just think it's pretty nifty that I could be anywhere, but I'm going to say I'll end up where I'm supposed to be.
I was thinking about how a year ago I was looking forward to going to Australia and in about a year from now I could be done with my undergraduate degrees. For some reason that just seems crazy to me. Time flies I suppose. Hmm... well I think my brain is going at warp speed right now. Yeah, I love coffee. 
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| So I've known/ know this year is going to be really tough. I know where I went wrong last fall and I'm determined to not let that happen again. See the sad thing is when I get super busy I forget to take time out to spend with God. After a few months of that I feel like a mess because that relationship kind of turns to poo when you don't spend time with Him. SO on our "Operation Pretend You're 10 (Again)" night we made super nifty notebooks and I had a brand new one to start off the year with my new goal. Basically I totally suck at anything daily and this goes for devotionals as well. Sometimes I think I need to be punched in the face every day to remember or something, but that seems a little extreme and painful. Anyway, no matter how busy things get this year, I've decided that this is the one thing I can't let slip. Before last year I never really realized how super important daily quiet times are, and yeah I'm just excited to be really working on spending more time with God.
ALSO, some other girls and I are having a Bible study on Monday nights. These girls are super fun and one great thing is I think all but one of us are pre-health science majors. I suppose that's to be expected here at W&J, but really, how great is it that we can all relate about all that crap too? We all understand what it's like to have busy schedules and whatnot, but also the importance of taking time away from all that because there is more to us than that. It's going to be great to have this support and be there to support these girls as well. I really need this accountability too. Plus, we're having our Bible study in the lounge across the hall from my place so that means even on the days when I think I'm too busy, it'll be like my punch in the face to go. Actually, I kind of suggested this place on purpose for that reason and little did I know I'd be the only person from this building so I have to be here to let everyone in. It's a good thing. Then there's Intervarsity on Wednesday nights. The other night at large group some people were saying how they were going to fit in their devotionals and I was like "ahh.... that's what I'm really working on too!!" This sparked a conversation and so now we have each other to keep accountable for that too. It's nice to have people to talk to about these things, and it's funny how much a lot of us have in common.
THEN, while I was gone the kids I went to church with decided to switch churches on me. Today I got to go to this new place and I like it a lot! Seriously, the past couple weeks back here so many things have just popped up. So with my determination of not sucking at daily devotionals, support of friends, and Monday/Wednesday/Sunday of things, I think some pretty amazing things are going to happen this year... at least for me. That's why the theme of my post is "excited" because today I was just putting all this together and realized how great it is that God really knows just what we need.
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| -I'm so close to being done with organic chemistry! I have just one more lecture, an entire day of studying, and the final. Well if all goes well I'll be done. Lab is over and I'm pleased with that grade, so I'm hoping that'll help the lecture grade enough.
-I get 2 free dinners this week! This is pretty exciting because that means I don't have to make it. Well it's not like I really make anything anyway because that takes time, but still going out is good news. *I got to go to the Outback tonight! Not the real Outback again, but the steakhouse. It was a really nice thought though. It was all decorated with Australia stuff, which was kind of saddening and exciting at the same time because I recognized all the stuff and it brought back lots of memories.*
-I just got another job. The study abroad director has been actively seeking me so I finally went to see him today. I think he wants me to do his job. He never did it when I was wanting to go abroad and didn't even contact me while I was gone. I did everything myself. Hmm... maybe that's why he wants to hire me... because I knew what I was doing and he didn't. Anyway, it should be kinda fun. I'll be convincing kids to go abroad (so W&J can screw them out of lots of money), but I fought that part and won! I suppose I'll just have to leave that part out. Then I'm supposed to help place them in countries/schools and help with courses and pretty much tell them everything from my experience that they need to know about being abroad. Again I say Viet Ha doesn't know what he's doing to help anyone. I'll have "office hours" and everything... oh boy! Another cool part about the job though is that I'll be a mentor for the international students coming in. I'm supposed to be their friend and show them a good time. Oh, and take them on field trips. This should be interesting. "Alright guys, this Friday we're taking a field trip to the library because I need to study!" They'll love it! Well it'll be sweet to have a budget and get paid to take them and do cool stuff. Yeah, there's also trips to D.C. and such which will all be paid. Sounds like a rough job right? Heh... the only rough thing is the time factor. I seem to not have enough of it... EVER!
-My 3 week "vacation" at home is quickly filling up. I've got 3 books to read for Africa. Not to mention my entire first biology seminar research/paper/presentation and the huge book to read for that. At least this first one is the "short" one. Dr.Bayline asked me how my research this summer was going... haha riiiight... I was working on it when I was in Australia and then when I was taking chemistry...riiiight. Gosh, this is a great time to be doing my senior capstone project. My first research is starting with "Ventral dominance governs sequential patterns of gene expression across the dorsal-ventral axis of the neuroectoderm in the Drosophilia embryo."
I suppose next week I'll tackle that. I want to have a fun break too... AND I WILL! 
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