End of July - Updates

Hard to believe school starts in two and half weeks! This summer has flown by for sure!

The internship is still going well.  I finally have an idea of what I would like to pursue in terms of research.  I want to compare mosquito biodiversity between the school's nature preserve and areas in the next county over.  Time permitting - I want to do some molecular work with the samples we had collected this summer.

We have continued to set out and pick up traps in various locations, collected ovi-traps, and went to "investigate" complaints and find new areas to trap. Last week, we got to go to a graveyard and find larval samples. It was interesting to check out the graves themselves as we looked in the urns for any standing water.  (I talked with C.S about the names and graves - and she mentioned bringing the older names back). We have also gotten to learn more about a type of mosquito treatment and been able to treat some areas with a mosquito dunk, also known as Bti (a bacteria that is used to prevents the mosquito larvae from becoming adults)

With this internship, I have gained a new mentor, C.S. I am glad that I have gotten the chance to get to know her better recently.  She really knows her stuff on mosquitoes.  She fields all my questions and has taught me so much this summer in regards to mosquitoes.

I also got the chance to help at Vacation Bible School this past week.  I was with the my normal bus route I help with during the school year and another route in the evenings.  It was great to see a lot of the kids and teens on route 5 (the normal route). The other day, one of the teens (who always seems distant Sunday mornings) - came to me when the kids were playing games - she gave me a hug.  After, I got to know her a little better.  She is about to start high school and has mixed feelings about it (I remember the apprehensive feeling about high school).

I also got the chance to work with 6 year-old boys again for 3 of the days and then helped with the 6 year-old girls the last night. The 6 year-old girls class had 5 of my bus kids - and they were super glad to see me.  During the last night, I had 2 by my side the whole night, and then 2 or 3 more during and after game time by me.

Lastly - I got to go to North Myrtle Beach with my friends.  And this was my first time booking a hotel - and there is all kinds of things I didn't realize were important in purchasing a hotel (taxes, check-in ages, and rates for weekdays and weekends).  Overall, the hotel was nice.  We got to go to the beach (although not many people were in the water - sharks, jellyfish galore, and levels of bacteria being through the roof), we swam, went to Boardwalk (a shopping and activity place), and ate at some different restaurants. Johnny Rocket will be forever my favorite place to go to in Myrtle - the staff actually stops and breaks out into song and dance!

The final leg of summer

So hard to believe that summer break is almost over.

I love my internship - I have learned so much this summer and am looking forward to continuing with this particular topic (mosquito - vectors) for independent study this coming school year.

We have been setting up traps and gathering ovitraps in different areas all over the county the last few weeks. Recently, we went to old permanent sites to deliver notices about checking for mosquito larvae.  These places ranged from Kannapolis, Harrisburg, and Concord. We had 4 or 5 places that were non-existent from 10 years ago, since C.S last visited these sites (funding for monitoring abroviruses/other vector borne diseases was cut back in 2008 and they started funding again because of the Zika virus threat).

We have also gone to check on complaints. Yesterday, we followed-up (with CS) on a complaint near CHA, and found a surprising breeding ground on the premise with mosquitoes. The person lived next to someone who put old cans of soda in a plastic bin filled with water from the recent rains,  Yet - when the larvae samples were dead - due to someone putting pertherin (not sure on spelling) or another similar insecticide in the bucket to prevent other insects.  The other complaint we went to had breeding all over - including a storm pipe, water on a trailer, and some miscellaneous buckets filled with water.

It was also interesting to learn how to control mosquito breeding - which they use 3 types (I only remember 2 off the top of my head).  MMF - is a layer of molecules that inhibit growth of mosquito larvae (Larvae stage is the stage before the mosquito is fully grown) but isn't harmful to other insects.  C.S had a bottle of this (looks like cleaner) but has told us that they stopped making this particular kind of insecticide.  The other control method is using gambusia - which are fish that eat mosquitoes (I am not sure if it is larvae or adult).  (Disclaimer: we don't do the control methods as interns).

In other news,  I was able to eat lunch and catch up with my high school creative writing/English teacher (and mentor) K.S.E. It is hard to believe that it has been 2 years since I last saw her and 8 years since I had her the first time in high school.  She was the one who went up with my graduating class in our English classes (she taught every English class except for Freshman English when I went to Carson) - so she watched me and many others advance through high school.  She also encouraged me to finish school (I questioned school as a freshman in high school) and saw the potential in me, both in life and with my creativity (along with the only time I ever got in trouble in school was her and only because she cared).

Funny to think of our conversation today and much of what she used to tell me is similar to me and Dr. H's conversations.

Internship – end of week 3 - 7/2/16

Hard to believe it is July 1st!  The summer is half way over – and my birthday has come and gone…

My internship is going well.  Basically, we are learning more in-depth about mosquitoes – both identification and anatomy/physiology of them, along with collection methods and surveying/checking out complaints.

For collections, we use several types of traps – which include a light trap with CO2 (dry ice), light trap with a lure (bait), and sentinel trap (large black trap with an inverted collection bag).  Each of these traps appear to attract different amounts of mosquitoes (and other insects) and species of mosquitoes.  We also use dippers, which is a method used to gather larvae samples to ID or send off to Western Carolina for further use.

ID’ing has turned out not to be as bad as I had originally thought.  We were taught by looking backwards for original characteristics (using the manual) and told which specific features to look for.  I definitely enjoyed how C.S has passion when it comes to teaching us the characteristics of the different species. She becomes very animated and uses sound effects when explaining it.

The other aspect (public health) is going to check out the sites where complaints are coming from – the first one we went to was at the Purdue Chicken Plant – and I only went on the first visit – where we went all the way around wood lines.  We also saw someone with a large tent set up that was very elaborate in the middle of the woods.  The other visit was a neighborhood with mixture of trailers and modular homes.  This was an interesting adventure to say the least – I ended up on the side with some questionable houses.  Tuesday, me and T left notes about checking the properties later in the week and Thursday – all of us followed up by looking for larvae, using the dipping method to collect any if found, and letting the residents know what we had found and what they needed to.  Some were quick to tell us who had mosquitoes in their yard or that they didn’t have any.

We have also contributed data and on Wednesday – we were introduced to 5 department heads and C.S. presented what we are doing and what we have found thus far (I was glad not to have to get up and present).

Definitely looking forward to what the rest of the summer has in store!!!!

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Reflection - 6/18/16

It is funny how life has many twists and turns… sometimes with where we end up living, who we date, and what we end up doing for the rest of our lives.  One of the biggest things for me is trying to figure out what I want to do the rest of my life… and it’s hard for many people my age… but its interesting to see how things work out.

Growing up I was very creative – I loved to draw, write, and sing.  I always thought I was going to be a writer or journalist (and I have done some writing for my work study and have been published in the local newspaper – something I dreamed about as a young girl.)  I also was strong in math (aside from calculus and my early experience with stats) and health related classes.

In high school I dabbled in different areas – I was in chorus, in creative writing and our school’s writing club, in honors classes, and lastly, I took some CTE (Career and Technical education) courses in health science – which if I took the last class, I could have taken the state test to get my CNA. In 10th grade, I started to realized I had an interest in science.  I took biomedical tech – which I did well in and enjoyed learning about forensics and genetic technology.  I fell in love with biology when I took honors biology and learned that we were going over genetics – I actually went home and told my mother, “I really love biology {class}” and heard “I always feel asleep in that class.” My other favorite class was psychology – both general and AP.

When I got to college, I anticipated that I was going to major in psychology, and eventually become a art/music therapist. But when I took my first biology class, I fell in love with the subject.  My first biology professor, Dr. H., was really enthusiastic about mosquitoes and biology.  I had not seen passion like that during my first semester of college, so it was different.

For two and half years, I went back and forth between doing biology or psychology.  So – this meant I took a variety of classes for my major and minor- including behavior modification, environmental change and human health, parasitology, etc. By the time I graduate next May – I will have a BS in biology and psychology minor – which I am only 2 classes short of a major… (and env science and chemistry)

During the moments of not knowing what I am meant to do – I had several opportunities in both areas.  During spring break of my sophomore year (2014), Dr. H offered to take me for coffee (we both may have a slight love for coffee) at Panera Bread. While we were there, she asked if I would be interested in helping with her research.  I didn’t know whether to be super excited or surprised.  She knew I was insanely curious about thing and understood more difficult concepts and topics. Well – I ended helping some but it didn’t count toward anything until I became a junior.  At that point, I became super anxious about school and the opinions of those around me that did the research (honestly not the smartest thing).

During my junior year – I took experimental psychology – (I thought I was going to combine majors – again it didn’t work out) – although I struggled in that class, I learned so much.  My favorite part of the class was being allowed to create my own experiment.  I chose to do my experiment on faces (thanks to interpersonal relations).  It was cool to run the experiment (and everyone showed up that participated) and do the statistics. I even got to present the research to my biological research methods class – and everyone was interested.  This past semester I was able to take a TPS (topics course) that combined health psychology and behavior modification into aiding one of my professor’s research.

Lastly, almost 3 years ago, I had Dr. C. for an introductory biology class (Ecology and Evolution) – one of five classes I would have with her.  She brought in black widows the first week of class – and I remember thinking, “that is soooo different.” She occasionally showed my intro bio class pictures of her macro photography of spiders – and she had similar passion I saw in Dr. H. I was amazed with how pretty a lot of the spiders were when I saw the pictures and she would always answer my questions about them.  Taking entomology with her this past semester was something memorable and I am glad I took it.  I never in my life would have imagined being interested in insects and spiders (even those who have known me for 5+ years never would have guessed)

With this said – I have contemplated public health for my masters. (with an overall goal of becoming a professor).  OR if that doesn’t work out – look into environmental health positions with my 4-year degree.

So far, my internship has sparked my interest in learning more about the behind the scenes of  mosquito control and disease vector research.  Sometimes, the best thing you can do is go for what you had a passion for…

Internship Week 1: Vector Control technician 6/17/2016

It is hard to believe I have been at my internship for a week now.  I found out about this opportunity from another source back in late April and I am glad that I took advantage of it.

The ironic thing is that I am planning on working with my professor/mentor this coming school year on her mosquito research. I had shadowed and been a part of her research in the past, but I took a break from it for about a year.  Partly because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and was a bit apprehensive of the people doing the research. BUT… I had the experience, interest, and knowledge that helped my application stand out.

This internship is a grant based one due to the Zika virus concern and its connection to cases of microcephaly.  We are doing mosquito collection and ID’ing. Essentially, we are looking for Aedes Aeygti - which is the species responsible for causing Zika virus, along with other mosquito-borne diseases. (Other species cause disease as well)

The place I work at is very interesting.  Interning here will give me a feel for public health and if I want to pursue that avenue after graduation. They have a medical and dental clinic (to help those who can’t otherwise afford medical care), WIC, international travel health, environmental health, and wellness programs – including exercise, cooking, and others.  So far, the environmental health seems very interesting to me.

The department I work for is very nice – the head of the department is laid back and very understanding,  The person I work under reminds me a lot of my entomology professor (who I had for my environmental science courses) and of course, my mentor.  She can identify mosquito species really fast!!! I work with two other guys – who are very nice – and will be doing mainly collections and ID’ing.

So far, I tried ID’ing while waiting the other day and have shadowed and helped with collection – setting out traps and retrieving them, I hope to become decent at ID’ing and bring some of what I learn this summer to my Independent Research this coming school year.

First day at the Internship - 6/9/2016

Today was my first day at my internship.  Starting a new career, job, or internship feels like the first day of school.  I couldn’t seem to fall asleep last night and was up early this morning.

I got the chance to explore the city that the internship is located at.  I have lived in this general vicinity for half of my life and have never really stopped and visited these places.  I feel like that is the case with a lot of the local areas.

Today was general orientation, I had to take an IT test and a Safety test online – which took an hour.  I also had to sign a lot of papers, and couldn’t keep the dates straight (I had to write my birthday so many times and today is my sister’s birthday, so I kept mixing those up).  I also got a tour of the building – which has many facets of public health, including the physicians, dentists, WIC, and environmental health.  The HR person working with me on the paperwork and then showed me around was super nice.

We have a major research center close by my school and home that ties together different colleges known for their research.  I am hoping this summer I can talk to someone at the research about touring the different buildings, but I am unsure of how likely they will be open to me shadowing. However, I will have the opportunity to shadow other departments where I am interning at, which also happens to be affiliated with the research center.

My goal with this internship is to see if it will be a career path I can take.  As of now, I am thinking of taking the GRE’s, and applying to graduate schools OR ideally working at the research center for a year and applying to graduate school and finding a job working as a lab technician or in environmental health. I would ideally like to go to a school in another state, but it will be cheaper to go in-state. I think Western or UNCC might work for either a Masters in Biology or Public Health (UNCC).

Thoughts on Body Image - 6/4/2016

Today I went shopping with one of my long time best friends.  We went to two malls and visited many different stores, including clothing stores.  Up until recently I felt very uncomfortable with my own body.  This happens to most of us because society expects a person to look a certain way (everyone has different builds, circumstances), including some medical professionals (The BMI chart was created for life insurance policies – which was used to determine people’s risk of other health related issues (hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc).

I remember as a pre-teen I was embarrassed because my calf muscles were large, yet the rest of my body was small – slim (I remember being a 10/12 girls in my shirts and 16 girls in pants).  That led to me being conscious about my body and contributed to my symptoms of OCD prior to treatment.  Throughout my teen years I had the typical fluctuations in weight, due to being on certain medications and of course, the natural process of puberty. BUT… I never was called fat or struggled with my health. (I was very active and very picky)

Now – flash forward to my first year in college.  I finally was able to drink soft drinks (I never was allowed to have them as a child/teenager) and junk food.  On top of that, my first year living on campus I was on Vyvanse (Stimulant for ADHD) and Zoloft (used to treat anxiety).  Vyvanse caused me to never eat during the day – and by dinner I would eat like I hadn’t seen food.  The other medication, Zoloft, slowed my metabolism down – which from what I understand serotonin is tied in with metabolism/appetite control. This lead to me avoiding pictures and ultimately absolutely hating clothes shopping.

The last year and a half  I have worked hard to lose weight.  The first change happened due to the fact I couldn’t afford the medications and insurance didn’t cover the cost of them (which is hard to swing when you are a college student).  And in January of 2015 – one of my best friends’ friend offered to work out with me  - and little did I know how much that would change my life.  I knew early on, I wasn’t going to check my weight – which I knew my heaviest – but I didn’t want to focus on the number. My friend kept tabs of that for me and she only let me know the total weight loss. The first change I made was cutting out soft drinks (and thankfully I was in behavior modification, which diet and exercise were common topics that related to the concepts and I applied them to this particular experience) and things like ice cream, milk, etc.

Other changes happened to during that time – I learned how to push myself at the gym (I was scared of running because of the extra weight and having exercise induced asthma since my teens). I also paid a bit more attention to portions and be more mindful of what I needed nutrition wise (protein and iron were two huge ones).  I noticed when changing my diet around – it was so common place to hear other women I know and love talk about starting a specific diet (low-carb, high-protein, vegan, etc.). Thankfully through my behavior modification and health psychology classes I learned it is okay to splurge every now and again, rather than cutting everything out and then caving in to temptation.

Throughout this process, there were certain points I still saw myself as the same size I was at my heaviest – and with the help of my friend I learned to set small goals and try to meet them, along with looking at little victories.  I remember the excitement/confidence I had when I could run 10 mins, 12 mins, and 15 minutes on the treadmill without stopping.  Or when I could finally lift 75 lbs on the arm machines at the gym. The biggest thing has been seeing how I went from being on the border of plus sizes to finally being able to fit in 12/14′s in pants and going from an XL to a M/L in shirts and dresses.

From this I have learned it is more important to focus on health rather than a number on the scale.  You can lose a dramatic amount of weight, but it won’t last if you don’t make permanent changes. It took me a year before I saw a change in the number on the scales – yet during that time, I was able to tolerate more at the gym, my skin cleared up some, there were less stomach issues, and lastly more confidence.  Health should be put first rather being expected to wear a certain size and look a specific way – not everyone will look that way.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

1 Corinthians 15:10 (KJV)  - one of my favorite Bible verses!!

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May – Mental Health Awareness - 5/29/2016

Before this month ends, I want to take time to write on the topic of mental illness.  Many people are affected by a mental illness(es) or know someone who has a mental illness.  Having a mental illness can be seen as a stigma by society and can affect someone reaching out for proper help and receiving the appropriate treatment. But what many people don’t realize is having a mental illness isn’t a bad thing.

Aside from my interest in psychology, I have been affected by mental illness, both my own and others I know.

I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).  These don’t define me but they are just a part of my jourrney.

OCD is disorder where a person has obsessions and compulsions (although I did see a The Mighty article that talked about OCD- that can manifest as solely obsessions). A common myth about OCD is that a person with OCD is super meticulous and hate disorganization. I have had symptoms of OCD since I was in elementary school. It started off as an obsession with contamination (I had the classic hand washing symptom) but as I got older I started to obsess over other things including streaks on things around the house (I would clean something over and over), checking locks, and re-doing assignments (I went through notebook paper like crazy).  In middle school, I started obsessing over my weight, leading to skipping meals, checking weight repeatedly, and exercise.  I was 13 years old when I was put on Zoloft, which changed my life.  I was on Zoloft for 7 years, but stopped taking it a year and a half ago.  I am more stable than I was as a child.  However, I do have obsessions, but compulsions are very covert and manageable.  They include numbers (GPA, weight), repeatedly asking for reassurance, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufqFO5B1vQY

GAD is chronic low-grade anxiety with physiological symptoms.  These physiological symptoms include increased heart rate, increased urge to go to the bathroom, sweating, increased blood pressure, fatigue, irritability, and the list goes on.  I was diagnosed with GAD my junior year of high school.  I was constantly running to the bathroom, I would sweat through my clothes, had muscle tension constantly, and fatigue so strong that I would come home from school and took naps on my bedroom floor. This tends to be under control (without medicine – although I took it short -term my senior year in high school) except for during times of high stress.

Having these two disorders has taught me a few things.  The first thing it taught me is to take care of myself. I struggle more with anxiety when I am hungry, overtired, and when I have an illness. So remembering to eat, sleep, and be well is very important in managing the disorders.  Second, catharsis is very important.  I have a few people that I can vent to when I am upset or something is bothering.  I also write and draw.  Third, having a support net is always a good thing.  My close friends/a couple of professors that encourage me during the rough times and genuinely love me.

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Reason behind the title “Uncensored Musings” - 5/26/2016

I am a person that believes a person’s writing should reflect their voice – tone and style. After doing work for Public Relations (PR), I saw that writing for a website or other media is quite different than writing a thorough lab report, research paper, or free writing. There are instances where what you write (paper, essay) will be completely butchered and changed when edited, which is devastating when you worked hard on writing a piece. Or you have to keep a word or sentence limit to keep the article flowing and short.

This blog will be varying lengths and cover different topics. I will incorporate my voice into my writing, which is very important to me. Especially since writing is about creativity and expressing yourself, important for blogs. 

End of Semester and Summer 2016 Post - 5/25/2016

To start off, I am relieved for a break from school for three months (minus the online summer class I will be taking).  This semester was one of the most challenging semesters to date, but I learned so much and have grown as a person.  I took microbiology and immunology, organic chemistry 2, entomology, health psychology, and TPS: health behavior modification.  Those classes were very heavy on the assignments and projects, but I learned how to manage my time better especially since I juggled different classes assignments and projects. The other learning curve this semester was how to deal with difficult people.

I got to continue with my work study for Public Relations.  I never understood how a non-communications/writing major ended up in the position but I am glad my mentor decided to recommend me. (Even though I may or may not have kicked and screamed about being placed in a work study out my comfort zone.)  In the end, I honed in on my writing skills, along with gaining skills in interviewing, media, editing, and writing articles that catch peoples’ attention.  With this work study, I got to interview 17 professors (about first year seminars), have 2 articles published in the post (along with others on the school website), and establishing rapport with new people.

This summer will be interesting to say the least.  I landed a paid internship at Cabarrus Health Alliance as an environmental control technician, which will entail of collecting mosquitoes, ID’ing them, and educating the public about the diseases that they carry.  I also will be blogging, searching for graduate schools, helping at my church, teaching myself physics, and taking world music online.

About this Blog - 5/25/2016

I am a senior at Catawba College.  I am a senior and majoring in biology, with minors in environmental science, psychology, and chemistry. I plan on going to graduate school for my masters in either biology or public health along with doing some free lance writing.  The overall goal is to become a college professor with an eclectic approach to teaching.

I will write about some of my research interests, my thoughts as I face new challenges, life, and opportunities, along with any thing else interesting.

*These blogs have been transferred blog.com