5 posts tagged “school”

This thought occurred to me this afternoon after a little event in my Microbiology lab.

I was looking through a microscope at some pond scum (it was the basic "let's get everyone familiar with the microscopes" introduction).  At first I just saw these tiny rod-shaped bacteria squiggling around quite rapidly, and random bits of trash (dead plant matter, perhaps?).  Then I saw this object that was roughly ovular, with one end slightly pointed, and the other end had a very distinctive cap.  I get really excited and proclaim that I found an egg for a parasitic worm in my slide.  Then I had to put myself through the mental exercise of remembering what kind of parasitic worm it came from.  Clonorchis?  No, that can't be it.  Then the words japonicum and mansoni sprung to mind.  A schistosome, perhaps?

Of course, as soon as class gets out, I have to immediately look up these parasitic worms to figure out what it was...it was definitely something I saw in my Parasitology lab two years ago.  It turns out that it was Paragonimus westermani (I knew it was some kind of flatworm!).

Anyway, I go off to lunch, and on my way back, I reach an epiphany of sorts.  I got that excited over identifying . . . the . . . egg . . . of . . . a . . . parasitic . . . worm?  Perhaps I am on the right track after all, if I got excited over something like that.  Or if it wasn't that, maybe I was just excited that my brain hasn't turned to complete mush in the past two years.  I may just make it after all.

My last day working at the shoe store was on Sunday.  Yes, that's right, my last day just had to be on tax-free weekend.  Actually, the tax-free weekend really wasn't that bad...it certainly wasn't as bad as it was at the Lakeline store the previous year (having one register certainly didn't help).  I am going to miss my coworkers (but not really the job itself).  Of course, it's definitely time to move on.

Anyway, most of this week was spent getting my things packed up so I could move into the dorms.  Yes, I'm finally back in school full-time after taking a two year break.  I arrived in Denton on Thursday afternoon around 3:30, got my parking permit, then finished unloading the car by 6pm.  It feels weird driving up on my own to the dorms...I've always had my parents drive me up in the past.  Hell, I wasn't even driving until earlier this year (no comment on how I didn't get my license until after my 22nd birthday...that's a whole post in itself).

So far I'm adapting to campus life pretty well...seem to get along with the roommate okay, I've gotten everything somewhat organized, I'm getting used to the chow halls, I now own a map of Denton (useful if I end up going around in circles like I did last night!), my father bought us a fridge today (he drove up to drop off a few things I forgot), and I even went to a party my first night in town (no, there wasn't booze...it was a civilized gathering of adults).  Now if only I can unloft my loft bed, I'll be set (this is the point where I make the shameful confession that I've been sleeping on the couch because I just can't cope with the loft bed).  Otherwise, life is pretty good right now.

Let's see if I still feel this way when classes start on Monday. ;)

My last post was about how I've had the last four days off from work and school.  So what did I do with my time the last four days?  Did I get anything done that I said I would?  Well, yes and no.

I did get my things sorted out in my room, although it's still a mess in here...no sense completely unpacking when I've got to move into the dorms in just two weeks!  I also got some nice CD crates from IKEA (and a matching LP box too...might have to go back to get another one), which solve the problem of how to store and transport my media collection.

On the knitting front, I did decide what to do in place of the too-small hood on my cardigan in green Tahki Baby (which was to eliminate the hood altogether since I don't have enough yarn left to make it longer), but I still haven't finished it.  I haven't sewn buttons on my burgundy cardigan (in Knit Picks Gloss) because I still haven't found buttons small enough that I like...that's the trouble with fingering weight garments!  And then I discovered that I didn't have enough yarn to finish the top with pleated ruffles I was making out of some old yarn (taupe Reynolds Tiara) from another sweater I had unraveled, but I knew I was running a risk anyway...I have no idea how many balls I originally had, and the unraveled balls are all different sizes from each other (I must have had several balls with bad spots--there's no other reason I can think of as to why there aren't more "whole balls" left than there are).  I suppose this would be a compelling argument for me to get a scale that could measure grams somewhat reliably.  It looks like I won't be getting around to unraveling that sweater out of purple Wildflower DK and doing anything with it by the time I have to go back to school...I was hoping that I'd finally get something wearable out of that stuff after all these years (it started life as that beautiful Anna Sui lace sweater with matching kerchief from VK Winter '99 [I think], but the yarn wasn't stretchy enough for the lace rib and it was a contortionist's contraption to pull it on and off [if you want to knit that sweater, think stretchy merino wool or perhaps something like Cascade Fixation...it needs to be stretchy], and then the second incarnation was a top that might have been okay if the bust was at least four inches smaller around...this yarn doesn't drape enough to look nice loose).  On the bright side, at least I've got some yarn sitting around for two pairs socks...perfect knitting for when classes are in session.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any work done on my drawing portfolio...I must do some work on it tomorrow after I get off work so I can be prepared to ask my instructor questions on Thursday if I need to (it's the last class day before our portfolios are due).  I should also remember to order a transcript to send to North Texas, even though I really don't need credit for this drawing class.  For that matter, I've got to call the College Board and have them send my AP scores because North Texas evaluates AP credit and foreign language in a different manner from Nebraska.

And now the sad bit...I have no idea how I'm going to get a loan to cover the part that the Federal Stafford loans don't cover.  So far I've been turned down twice, and I was applying with a cosigner.  I've got a bad feeling I'm screwed as far as private loans go.  The school did offer the Parent PLUS loans, but my parents do not want to go that route.  I fear we'll have to.  It'd be so nice if some money simply materialized on my doorstep right now.

Somehow I managed to get the next four days off...no work or school.  I'm off from work because my boss gave me the weekend off (very odd...I'm usually lucky if I get one day in a weekend off), and he usually doesn't schedule me for Mondays or Tuesdays.  I'm off from school because my drawing instructor has to go in for jury duty on Tuesday, so he canceled our class (I'm only taking the drawing class this summer).

The question is what do I do with these four days?  I could finish unpacking the boxes I brought back in from the garage, but that's a day job at most, and at this point it's probably better for me to start packing what I want to take to the dorms with me (which also won't take that long).  I could finish up the sweaters I'm working on, but there's not much work left there either.  Even the work I need to do for my drawing portfolio won't take that long.

It is times like these that make me wish I had bothered to save up some money...I could have actually gone on a proper vacation for once (haven't been on one in years).

Unless anyone has any better ideas on what a broke person can do, looks like I'm stuck around the house for the next few days.

What set you apart from the rest of the kids at school? 
Submitted by jks.

Oh dear, what set me apart from the rest of the kids at school?  A better question might be what didn't.  Well, I am human (or at least resemble one close enough to get by), and I was approximately the same age as my classmates.  From there, the similarities ended.

Let's go back to my first ever day of school, sometime in August 1990.  After the parents leave, our teacher gives us a few minutes to look through a box or two of 'picture books' on the rug.  I do some reading in mine, then decide to ask the people sitting around me how they're enjoying their books.  The kid on one side of me said he couldn't read and was just looking at the pictures.  I think to myself, "Moron!"  I ask the kid on the other side of me...same reply.  Eventually I discover that the only other person in the classroom who can read is the teacher.  Since I could also write and do some basic arithmetic, the school eventually decided after taking me away from classes off and on for about two months and running all different types of academic and intelligence tests on me, that it would be best to promote me up to first grade.

You'd think getting me out of kindergarten would help (well, it solved the boredom problem), but you'd be wrong.  The problem was, all of my classmates knew I had been promoted.  They knew I was the smart one.  Needless to say, this left me open to lots of bullying as a kid.  It wasn't until I started using my trombone case as a battering ram on a particularly fat bully in eighth grade that the violent bullying finally ceased (I emphasize his obesity so you don't think I caused him any major harm--trust me, this guy had more than enough padding to endure the blows).

And there were other differences besides the very noticeable one of me being the youngest in the class.   I was decidedly more bookish than my classmates, many of which could care less about reading for pleasure.  I was never particularly good at sports in elementary school, although my ineptitude did help in middle school when I went up to serve during games of matball or volleyball (no one could hit off of me).  I was also never really interested in the music, TV shows, and movies my classmates liked--my tastes really aren't too mainstream.

Of course, I suppose being 'different' (or 'freak', 'weirdo', whatever you prefer) when you're young makes you 'interesting' when you're an adult.  And being 'interesting' as an adult can be an advantage if you develop the social skills to flaunt it...it's just the problem of developing those social skills you couldn't develop as a kid because no one wanted anything to do with you.