A True Break

    For the first time I can remember, I decided to make this year’s spring break, a true break. I didn’t bring any work home and didn’t have any plans during the week to do anything but rest and relax. And that’s what I did!
    I’ve usually viewed fall and spring break as an opportunity to catch up on work. The weeks before each are usually pretty hectic, there’s a flurry of exams, projects and papers due, and most times I feel like I need to spend those days off from class catching up on things I didn’t study for while I was focusing on my exams. This year was no different; I’ve got some big tests, projects, and even my senior chemistry capstone looming on the horizon, but this break I really felt like I needed to be a “true break”. The toll of running, classes, and other commitments really took its toll during the first seven weeks after a long winter break that I spent shadowing physical therapists most of the time. I’d been burning the candle at both ends of the stick for too long, and it caught up to me.
    Today I feel refreshed, rejuvenated, and motivated to tackle the last seven weeks of the semester and my final track season. It’ll be madness for most of the time, but I’m looking forward to it. Hard to believe that eight weeks from now I’ll be graduating. Time to buckle up for the rest of the journey, it’s about to get crazy!

On Writing

    The biggest area I’ve improved in academically in my time at Drake has been my writing. In high school, I focused heavily on math and science, and my ACT writing and reading sections showed that. I carried this mindset into college, and really didn’t care at first about any of the classes I was going to take outside of chemistry and math.
    However, I believe the most rewarding classes I’ve taken in college have been my area of inquiry (AOI) courses that span across all disciplines of academia. Surprisingly, I’ve found that these courses have challenged my critical thinking and writing skills the most, and have significantly made me a better student in math and science.
    AOIs have been the most challenging courses I’ve taken, and besides being a source for new interests, all have had significant writing components. In the past four years, I’ve had to write about various philosophical issues, China’s relationship with the U.S., leadership in my generation, technological ethics, nutrition, the significance of art, and more. Not to mention the numerous scientific reports. Although none of those issues may be directly relevant to me in my career as a physical therapist, they’ve sharpened my intellect and provided ways for me to think in different perspectives about many issues. This will undoubtedly serve me well in my career and in all areas of life.

"The Bubble"

    Often times on campus, you’ll hear students refer to Drake’s campus as “the Bubble”. It’s kind of like it’s own little world within a major city, all buildings on campus are relatively close to each other, with only Drake buildings covering the span between 25th and 31st street and University and Forrest Ave.
    The thing I love most about “the Bubble” is how quickly it is to get from one end of campus to the other. I live in an off campus apartment, and to make it Olin Hall (the Biology building), it only takes me 10 minutes! And that’s the farthest I have to walk for any of my classes.
    I didn’t consider Drake’s compact size as a factor when I was thinking about coming here, but I’m really thankful for it. Some of my friends who go to big state schools, like the University of Minnesota, have to leave upwards of 40 minutes before their classes start just to make it there on time… and they live on campus! Drake has so many little things just like this that make it a great place to live and learn.

I Get Knocked Down... But I Get Up Again!

    This Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships were held this past weekend at the University of Northern Iowa, marking the end of the indoor season for most athletes. I ran in the Distance Medley Relay and the 5,000m for Drake to cap a successful season marked by big improvements in fitness.
    I was able to lower my 5k PB (personal best) from 15:34 to 15:15. For distance runners, our training is set up to have a big outdoor season, and specifically I’m looking to run a fast 10,000m and score some points (place in the top eight) at the outdoor conference championships which will be hosted by Drake in May.
    My senior season has been a bumpy ride, I had a cross country season ending hamstring strain in the fall, and have dealt with a few dings here and there throughout the indoor season. Starting tomorrow, after a two day break, I’ll get back to the grindstone to put in some hard work to cap my collegiate running career with my best times and races yet.
    There’s a catchy 90’s song that’s stuck in my head right now thanks to one of my teammates. Throughout my career, I’ve been “knocked down” frequently with injuries, but “I get up again, they’re never gonna keep me down”!

The "Mild" Des Moines Winter

    One thing that I’ve really appreciated about Des Moines that I didn’t consider before choosing Drake is how much more mild the winters are down here compared to the Twin Cities. From a running stand point, the warmer temperatures and less snow make it much easier to get in consistent and enjoyable training compared to three hours north.
    Yesterday was absolutely beautiful! The high was 47 degrees, and I went running in only shorts and a t-shirt! Back home, it’ll be at least another month before we’d experience similar weather. It’s getting a bit colder again for the week, but I’m thankful for the temperate weather that we’ve been able to experience for the most part. Disclaimer: this is written from the perspective of a Minnesotan.

When Learning Gets Real

    One of the classes I’m most looking forward to this semester is my abnormal psychology class. Besides discussing and learning about disorders such as schizophrenia, bulimia nervosa, and post-traumatic stress disorder, we’ll cap off the class with a ten page term paper about a specific disorder we’re assigned. Sounds fun right?
    The paper will be a departure from the specific term paper. Instead of using strictly scientific, peer-reviewed sources, the main objective is to portray our knowledge of a specific disorder (alcohol abuse for me) by stating what we learned through first hand accounts of Internet blogs. For this reason, it’s called a “Lurking on the Internet” paper, and I’m excited to dig in and get going! I think the firsthand, vivid accounts of individuals and their family and friends who are affected by alcohol will transcend the traditional information that textbooks and other teaching methods can deliver. This is an area that impacts our society so much, and I’m excited to learn about it on a first hand basis. I look forward to comparing and contrasting the textbook cases with first hand accounts. I’ll keep you updated on what I find!

Branching Out

    A week ago I did something I thought I’d never do: I registered for a business class. The course I signed up for is called “Seminar In Business And Values”, is only one credit, and meets once a week. I initially heard about this class from a friend, and although it is offered through the business school, the material is relevant and applicable to all careers.
    The objective of the course is “to discover the role of work in one’s personal life, including the integration of work responsibility with life mission and purpose.” In the first class this past Friday, we talked about our “work philosophies”, primarily whether or not work is solely just a means to an end.
    There are about 12 of us total in the class, and almost all of us our Christians, so God is brought up a lot in the conversations. I’m looking forward to gaining more insight to a lot of thoughts about work from a lot of cool people. It’s courses like these that epitomize the Drake education. At many schools, it would be difficult to take courses from the biology, business, chemistry, health sciences, and math departments all in one semester. After one week of classes, I can tell it’s going to be a challenging and rewarding semester. I look forward to sharing what I learn along the way.