20110320

Countdown to Adventure


In twelve hours, I will be at SMF about to go somewhere and do something I've never done before. The South. A long drive alone from Atlanta to Auburn. I've had a friend recommend I get myself two souvenirs as quickly as possible: a Sweet Home Alabama t-shirt and mace...

Of course, I'm certain that the Great State of Alabama will show me its Southern hospitality. I'm excited to check out a new town and program and meet faculty and grad students! I've heard great things about Auburn, so I'm ready to explore and ultimately make a good, informed decision about where to spend the next 3-5 years of my life.

I have a lot to do tonight before I head out. I have stats to run and a poster to finish (I may finish it on the plane). Need to clean my apartment/fridge. And pack. Hmm...

I'm so ready for a few days to relax-ish, friends!

I'll be keeping this blog updated with photos and such. And yeah, I will be traveling with a gnome. Oh, yes indeed! Get pumped.

20110319

Suck It, Winter Quarter

The Grand Finale
Well, Winter Quarter has finally come to an end. This has been the hardest quarter of grad school thus far. It ended with a bang -- proctoring the final human sexuality exam and handing back 500 papers to 500 students. Above is me with my stack of ~175 6-8 page papers.

So what all happened? Here we go!
  • Finalized a survey and started recruiting for a study on emerging adulthood.
  • Read too much about menarche. About 10 weeks of reading about periods, evolution, and reproductive strategies. This seminar was one of the most interesting in my grad career thus far. I learned a lot, grew as a scholar, and dug deep into my childhood to answer questions. Let's just say I'm an outlier.
  • HUGE paper for that class, a little empirical study on age at menarche, perception of on-time, off-time development, and dating in adolescence. Produced what I thought was a decent draft. Found out it was subpar.
  • Pierced my schnoz. It's pretty darn cute.
  • Learned multilevel modeling, I think. For the final project, I looked at the change in body dissatisfaction over time by ethnicity. I gave a pretty swell presentation, I think, but I have doubts about the quality of my paper. *Sigh*.
  • Hung out with lots of people quite a bit. Mostly working, but hey, social is social!
  • Got accepted to two of the four PhD programs I applied to. 99% sure I've been rejected by the others. But I pay no mind. I'm just happy I got into UC Davis!
  • Recruitment at UC Davis. So much fun.
  • A little drinking, a lot of eating out and about. I went to my first college party. I know, I know, what can I say?
  • And a whole bunch of personal growth.
I still have more work to do -- so no time off until next week. But hey, as long as I'm getting more than 3 hours of sleep per night, I'm a happy Natalie! Yay for winter quarter ending!!

That's the update. I'm back on the map!

20110315

Inhale and Exhale

I've been dared to write a blog post about breathing.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Adults take ten to twenty breaths per minute. Unless they're exercising, sexually aroused, or about to have a panic attack.

Inhale. Exhale.

The average adult male lung capacity is 6 liters. The average adult female lung capacity is 4.2 liters.

Inhale. Exhale.

I've dissected fetal pig and sheep lungs. Someday, someone will dissect my lungs. Cool.

Inhale. Exhale.

Did you know that when a nurse or other medical caregiver takes your blood pressure, they're probably counting your breaths too? Since I became a CNA, I don't think I've given an accurate respiratory rate at the doctor's office.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. Exhale.