Week 13: Famous Last Words: Goodbye OU!

Wow, it is really hard to come to the realization that this semester is only two more weeks from being over. In fact, I graduate in exactly 23 days! I can’t even believe that I will be graduating from the University of Oklahoma with not one, but TWO degrees. This week has been a particularly special week because I just got accepted into graduate school! I will be pursing a masters in public health with an emphasis on biostatistics and epidemiology.  I will also be attending medical school at Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. I am trying to figure out now if I want to spend a year only working on a masters, or if I should go ahead and start medical school and then do joint enrollment and take one masters course per semester while in medical school and graduate with my MPH and DO on the same day in 2019. Although it kind of makes my head hurt thinking about it, I am also extremely excited for the future!

On the same topic of great news, my friend informed me of a really great job opportunity this week! She just started working with United Allergy Services as an Allergy Technician and she loves the job. The company is based out of San Antonio, although they are located all over the country. They require a bachelors degree and at least one year of experience in the medical field, which I have! The start pay is really great and I am a phlebotomist so I found out they may pay me even more. Needless to say, about two weeks ago I was absolutely frightened about graduating, but I more excited than ever about my future after undergrad. I  will be moving back to Ft. Worth, Texas a couple days after convocation and I couldn’t be more excited! 

Graduation photo taken by Matthew Griffin Photography.

Week 10 Famous Last Words

Wow, getting back into the swing of school after being at the beach for a week is difficult. With graduation quickly approaching, I find school work becoming a burden! Senioritis is truly hitting me. Luckily that dreaded post-spring break week is over and I am finally finding some motivation for this second wind before I graduate. Taking 19 credit hours my last semester of undergrad was not a wise decision.

This weekend was the Medieval Fair which is my favorite part of the spring semester! In the past, my mom and little sister have been in town and we went as a family. This year, knowing my family wouldn’t be with me, I got some of my friends together along with my boyfriend and his little sister. We all went and had a really great time! My favorite part about the fair is the food because I love every kind of food. Unfortunately, almost all of the food there is fried and my body didn’t appreciate that very much. However, I endured the pain and ate a funnel cake, corndog, and a spiral spud. A spiral spud is a whole potato that has been cut in one continuous spiral form and then fried.

In between binge eating fried foods, I played with animals at the exotic animal area. I held a tarantula, pet a large iguana, and cradled a baby kangaroo. I also almost got stepped on by a giant tortoise and took a picture with a ridiculously heavy snake around my neck. Overall, it was quite a success. I made sure to wash my hands with soap and water afterwards before returning to my food. If you haven’t been to the medieval fair, definitely go next year!

After such an exciting day, I went home for the evening and completed some homework. However, I was quite exhausted and ended up falling asleep. It was quite a successful weekend back in Norman! I will be sad to graduate and leave this fun town.

Personal photo taken this weekend at the Medieval Fair in Norman.

Famous Last Words Week 8

This past week has been quite crazy as I have been recovering from being stranded last weekend! With all the snow days and missed classes, I’m sure everyone has had quite a crazy week also. I can’t believe that D-Bo cancelled so much class! Thanks again pres!! With spring break just around the corner, I decided to take full advantage of the snow and went sledding with a bunch of my friends over at Griffin Park. We had so much fun! I think we went all out because we knew this would be the last snow storm we would get before the weather begins to stay consistently warm. We had a massive snow ball fight also. I felt like a kid on christmas morning.

Anyways, one of the things that everyone has been ranting about this week is the video of SAE on campus. In light of recent events, it is important that we as a society realize that racism is still alive. I feel bad for the men who are forced to evacuate their home in the middle of their mid-terms. But, it is really great that president Boren sends a message that racism WILL NOT under any circumstances be tolerated on his campus. One thing that has bothered me throughout this whole issue is the fact that students are posting statuses on social media saying that they are “ashamed of their alma mater.” For starters, one stupid fraternity does not depict this university as a whole. I’m confused how people can say that they’re ashamed of their school just because of a handful of people. Obviously this is heartbreaking to our university, but I feel that our President has made it clear his stance on the matter which should make all of us as students at his university proud. Anyways, hopefully everyone’s voices will be heard. All I have to say is thank goodness next week is spring break!

Personal photo taken March 2015.

Famous Last Words For Week 7

Wow, what a crazy week it has been thus far with the weather, huh? Well, last week my boyfriend surprised me and told me that we were going to Vegas for the weekend that I should get to packing. So, this past weekend I was walking through elaborate hotels and watching amazing shows. When we went to go print out our boarding passes Sunday night, we were informed that our flight into Dallas was cancelled because of the ice/snow storm. This was at 11pm Sunday night. Well…. Reversing a little bit. We checked out of our hotel Sunday morning at 10am and had the hotel hold our luggage for us until our flight that night. SO…. After walking up and down the strip for 13 hours we then found out we weren’t going home that night. Due to excessive ice we were unable to get a flight home until Tuesday… Into Dallas… and then had to drive up to Oklahoma after that. I didn’t get home until pretty late last night so I have been playing catch-up on all of my school work at the library since 8am! Let me tell you I am exhausted. Luckily most of my friends are doing a lot of homework and studying today also so I’ve had some company here at the lovely Bizzell. Anyways, despite the ending of the trip I had so much fun! Las Vegas is a beautiful city. I’ve heard it referred to as “Sin City” but I never felt like it was too terrible. Then again, maybe that’s because I didn’t enter any establishment that would make me feel that way :). The first day we were there it was sunny and beautiful! We were able to go to the top of the Stratosphere and ride the roller coaster! The great thing about being stuck in Vegas is that we were able to walk all the way south to the “Welcome to Las Vegas Nevada” sign! I love traveling and taking pictures in front of icons. If you haven’t been before I would suggest going!!!

Personal photo taken last weekend (Feb 2015).

Famous Last Words for Week 3

So this week we finished the first version of the Ramayana that we are covering. I felt like I really learned a lot about the character of Hanuman this week!  I really am starting to enjoy reading my classmates Storybooks because it gives me insight to see how others perceive the characters. My favorite story was in the Storybook of Brandon and he wrote from Hanuman’s perspective throughout his journey to rescue Sita. I felt that I perceived the personality of Hanuman very similar to what Brandon did. He is a very loyal friend and servant of Rama. I also went a bit overboard this week with my Pinterest with Hanuman. As it turns out, many Pinners out there have a board specially designated for Hanuman so he must be a very influential character in Indian mythology.

I am really looking forward to read the Ramayana again next week from a different author. I am hoping it will give me new insight on the characters in this epic. I am also starting to get a hang on my website. I still have a lot to learn and I want to make it much prettier but I believe I have picked the theme I am going to stick with for my project!

At the beginning of this week, the weather was extremely beautiful so I went roller blading on campus. I usually go with a couple of friends that like to run but since I have pre-arthritic knees I am unable to run. Thus, I roller blade! We went all over the south oval and we stopped to get a drink inside so I chose to post a picture of me inside Kaufman Hall (I didn't roller blade all over the building like I made it look). I love being outside especially since I feel like my life is consumed with studying. It really helps calm my nerves. 

Personal photo of me skating on campus

Famous Last Words: Week 2

Wow, this is the week that I am finally starting to get a hang of this Indian Epics course! I am really starting to enjoy these assignments. This week we started reading the first half of Narayan’s Ramayana. I can’t believe we’re already halfway through this first epic! In here we read about Rama, Sita, and Ravana (at least those are the three characters that stand out the most to me thus far). I really am starting to delve into the topic of this course. I was a bit overwhelmed last week with all of the assignments, however, as we have moved into the second week (now third week) of the semester, it is a lot easier to complete the tasks and enjoy them without being overwhelmed.

As stated earlier, we have started reading the Ramayana. I have learned about many different Indian gods and it has been so much fun! I am now able to relate photos I have seen, such as Ganesha, with stories about their origin and history. My best friend is from India and is actually living there right now because she graduated last month. She is the one who recommended that I take this course because she knows I am interested in learning about Hinduism and Indian gods. I am now starting to understand why she said I’d love this course! I really enjoy some of the concepts also like Karma. I have learned about the chakras from Yoga and I loved reading about how some of the Indian gods have to do with the chakras.

Overall, this week has made me really excited to continue reading and posting in this class for the rest of the semester. I love reading other people’s blogs and I have already learned so much from my other classmates! Now that we have just created our Website, I can’t wait to start creating my Storybooks!

(Photo of the seven chakras found online)

I chose to post a picture depicting the seven chakras because I am interested in learning more about the history and meanings of the chakras.