Fall Semester

The fall semester is well underway, as it is now the fourth week of classes. I am enrolled in Pathophysiology, Histology lab and a Cellular and Molecular (protein based) lab. My classes are going well so far. As usual, there is that one class that just doesn't stand up to the rest... Histology. The class I wanted oh so badly, is now just a ball of regret every time Tuesday evenings roll around. I just find myself saying "If I weren't in this class, I could've gone to the Women's Bible Study at church this Fall". ha! I even considered switching courses the first week, but I could find another class that I was actually interested in taking, therefore I am deemed stuck with it.

Granted, histology should be an interesting class. I was actually super excited about it during the summer because I was learning a lot of histological techniques in the lab, but this class is nothing like what I experienced at FCCC. Also, it's a dry lab. (Trust me... no fun can come out of observing previously prepared slides under a microscope ALL SEMESTER LONG.) Also, the professor is a little dry. She seems pretty young. No, I'm not stating that age is directly correlated to experience, but she could use a little umph in her teaching. She is well versed in the subject and knows her stuff, but her powerpoint presentations consists of photos of slides, and her lecture is just her reading definitions and descriptions of different cell and tissue types from her little binder. I often find myself going nuts with all the thoughts of:
1) how bored I am and
2) how frustrating it is to take notes when the 3 types of connective tissue proper and their descriptions are being read explained to me at lightenting speed.

(Ok, I'm breathing now. I promise.) I just wish it were more enjoyable.

Other than that, things are looking up. I'm almost 3/4 of the way done with my Masters. That is a feat on its own.

It Takes An Army

"Breast cancer is not a man or woman's disease-- it's a family disease"

As an Army of Women (AOW) supporting blogger, I hoped to spread the word about this wonderful organization. Although this blog does not have hundreds of subscribers and tons of sponsors, my blog statistics show that I do get a wide range of visitors residing in various cities and countries around the world. I take that information as a great medium for sharing about AOW.

One of the primary goals of Army of Women is to gain 1 million volunteers to sign up with their organization. As a volunteer, you will be asked to participate in various research studies that all share the common goal of finding a cure for breast cancer. These research studies are not all geared towards those diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact, in order to find a cure, researchers also have to find a cause to prevent further occurrences and to decrease the burden of cancer on hard-hit ethnicities, age groups, and just our mothers, daughters, aunts, co-workers, best friends and husbands in general. {Yes, men ARE affected too}.

I honestly believe that this blog and the blogs of other supporting bloggers can help. As of today, AOW has only reached 1/3 of their goal of reaching an "army" of 1 million volunteers. They still have quite a ways to go. They can either reach their goal by having 1/3 of the US population signing up, or a few hundred thousand US citizens and another few hundred thousand foreign citizens joining to make that quota. The combinations of volunteers signing up to make that quota are endless.

So, if you are from anywhere in the world, and you happen to read, glance over, or browse this blog post, please sign up for the Love/Avon Army of Women.

You can find out more about their organization by reading previous posts here or by visiting their site:
www.armyofwomen.org

From A Distance

"From A Distance" by Bette Midler

Hearing this song on the radio last night instantly brought back memories of my childhood. When I emigrated from Jamaica in 1995, I listened to a lot of Rock/Pop and Alternative music like Elton John, Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, etc. on Philly's B101 station. That would explain why I hardly know any of the 90's Hip Hop/R&B songs that many of my peers are familiar with. From A Distance was one of my all time favorite songs, especially since I was being brought up in the Christian faith. It's really a beautiful song, if you listen to the lyrics closely. It speaks of heaven and the nonexistence of anything negative. Take a listen.

"From a distance we all have enough,

And no one is in need. 

And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,

No hungry mouths to feed.

From a distance we are instruments

Marching in a common band.

Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace. 

They're the songs of every man.

God is watching us. God is watching us.

God is watching us from a distance..."