Don't Be A Helper T-cell...

Sooo I believe I told you all that I have an immunology test coming up and today was the culmination of lecture material for the exam. My professor, who people (who shall remain nameless) say sounds like Rafiki (sp?) from The Lion King gave us some sage advice just in time for Valentine's Day next week. He proclaimed "don't behave like a helper T-cell", don't "bind" to someone and forget about them... make sure you send the card and the roses. Now I know he was trying to make a joke because let's face it activation of T cells and immunology in general can be rather boring, but does a silly insincere holiday need to consume us so much that we find reference for it in cells that help destroy the nasty microbes that invade our bodies? Living on this small island really does create a disconnect from the real world and all of the consumerism that revolves around holidays. Think about it, if you didn't watch TV, went to stores that weren't plastered with pink and red decorations and didn't sell those candy hearts with those silly sayings I bet most of you wouldn't even remember that Valentine's Day is next week. I didn't, haha I barely know it's February! I figured I would just voice my opinion and say that Valentine's Day is just another day and if you are going to "behave like helper T cells" every other day of your life then why should Valentine's Day be any different. Is it okay to express feelings on a holiday devoted to candy, flowers, and cards just because everyone else is also doing it or because these are easy superficial ways to say, "hey, I care about you"? You might think I'm being cynical and I usually don't use these posts to rant about "society", but my brain is so fried from all the formalin fumes I've breathed in in the last few days in the anatomy lab. Just thinking about things other than T cell selection and vessels of the thoracic limb and thought I would share!

And Life is Flying By

So I know I sort of promised I would stay in touch and write to you all once in a while, but like the title of this post blatantly implies this semester is just flying by. I've been extremely busy trying to balance this hectic work intense semester with getting out there and living life a little. As I write this post I am now in week 5 of my semester and that means that it is nearly 1/3 of the way over! Oh and it's already February…it seems hard to believe. This is all well and good, but you see I haven't noticed the time passing because I spend roughly 8 hours a day on campus in classes, endless hours studying the afternoon and night away and of course I have to sleep! I'm trying this new thing with trying to get out and do something at least one day a week (usually Friday afternoon/evening) so I feel like I'm not literally studying my life away which was basically my experience last semester. We've been doing fun things like going to the movies (yes I know some of you wouldn't believe that there is a legit movie theater on St. Kitts and that I've been to it TWICE in the last few weeks), dinner, or the beach. This past weekend (yes I know it's Wednesday and most of you won't see this until tomorrow anyway, but the day of the week means nothing to me anymore as some of you will attest to by reading my away messages on AIM)…back to the subject at hand, this past weekend was a lot of fun because we didn't have any exams this week even though we have two to prepare for next week. I went to the beach every day this weekend which was awesome for my tan and gave my mind the relaxation needed to jump start into this week (which actually seems to be dragging). Yesterday I was on campus for over 12 hours between classes and studying and my brain is tired already! Anyway, Saturday was really fun because I took Tucker to Shipwreck Beach and we had a lot of fun! Tucker made a new puppy friend and he finally swam in the water and wasn't afraid!!! Although this weekend was fun and this week has been pretty hellish, next week is for sure going to be worse so please don't expect to hear from me for awhile. Starting on Sunday afternoon my group will me walking the kennel dogs and we have exams on Monday and Wednesday along with a quiz on Thursday…translation Hell on Earth. This blog might not make much sense, but it gives you all a good idea of both what I've been up too and how "well" my brain in functioning right now. Miss you all!