Obama WON!

I'm watching Obama's acceptance speech as I type. I am so proud of my vote. I truly believe he is capable of doing what he says he wants to do for the US. I truly believe he is what this country needs. The right man at the right time.

I love that he is telling the nation what I've been saying for years. We need a cultural revolution to truly change the nature of this nation.

I think Biden was an excellent choice for VP. He'll be a great adviser.

Shock and Awe is the best description of my state at the moment.

Work and School, School and Work.....

So I've decided that I definitely talk too much. I just talked the ear off of my new coworker Brittany. She seems really nice, though. She let me blather on for quite some time without complaint. I definitely come off as quite insane or odd I'm sure.

I'm hoping to make it to the War Eagle Native American Festival before it's all done with. Hopefully the dancers will still have a few dances left once I get off work at 1 PM.

I've been procrastinating too much. This afternoon I'm going to the office, and I'm going to read globalization theory, transcribe some interviews, and then I'm going to study Middle Eastern History with Jenny.

Hopefully I'll be as productive today as I want to be. It is my intention to force myself. All I've been doing is editing my Teach For America application and the NIH cover letter. The sad thing is all of that stuff is months and years from now. I should be focusing on what needs to be done right now.

Here's to my new found dedication!

Teach For America

I have recently decided to apply to Teach For America (T4A). Sadly, I won't be able to apply until next fall because I won't be graduating until next December. Man I wish I had taken the second chemistry directly after the first one, but hey, I can't change the past so I'll have to roll with it.

I'm going to apply for a summer internship with the NIH. I'm going to apply to the NIDDK diabetes research in Arizona on the Pima Indian Reservation. My friend worked for them a couple summers ago and thought it was a great experience. I'm hoping I can get that. It'd be a lot of fun and very informative.

I've just finished my volunteer application for the Safe House for Victims of Domestic Violence. I want to start volunteering with children mostly. I love working with kids, and I really feel like I could make at least one child feel special. Of course, I'm not sure what they'll need me to do, but I'm willing to do anything. I just really need to feel like I'm serving a purpose right now.

I'm hoping both of these experiences help inform the way I relate to my students in T4A. When I apply to T4A, I'm going to request to be sent to South Dakota. You can be placed on one of two different Reservations, Pine Ridge or Rosebud. Diabetes, alcoholism, and domestic violence are all big issues on the Rez. I'm hoping that everything I do in the next year and a half will help me to better understand the obstacles the children I'll be teaching have faced.

I've gotten really excited about this opportunity. It's apparently extremely competitive, but I think I have a pretty decent chance at getting picked. I know sheer passion isn't enough, but I've got boat loads of it and plenty of leadership/volunteer experience, which seems to be what they want out of their teachers.

When I'm done with T4A, I'm going to apply to med school. I want to work in a rural community as a family practice doctor (hopefully one of the Rez's I'll work for in T4A). I'll probably end up switching to policy making, but I know that I need to be in the thick of things before I can really know how and why things need to change and how feasible certain changes are. The system is messed up, but the anthropologist in me says that you have to know what's wrong and what people think of it before you can actually make a lasting, positive contribution.

Lab Time Is Fun.......

I was at the lab from 1-8 today. I feel like I got a lot done. It's nice to feel productive. I read all the dissertations that were relevant and looked up more articles online to read later. I read some of Gilgamesh during my break from research. Jaime and Lesley were at the lab for most of the afternoon also, which is funny because I got the prize yesterday for being at the lab all the time. It was a skeleton hair clip (AWESOME!). I wore it all evening yesterday. I'll have to go to bed now. Katie laid down a little earlier, and I don't want to wake her up.

Notre Dame

I've been at ND for quite a while now. I passed the lab practical with an A. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be; though there were several things I would have gotten right if I had had 10 minutes rather than 8.
I spent the weekend with my cousin Brad. He showed me his blueberry farms, my uncle's tombstone, and some Indian mounds. We had a lot of fun. I love hanging out with him and Asher, his dog. That dog has more energy than any I've ever seen. It made me miss Monk.
Amber and I chose to do the lumbar vertebrae project. We'll be studying osteophyte and syndesmophyte. We've been making our methodology all this week. I think we've had way too much time to ponder and get bored. Thankfully, I have been finding articles on other things and saving them. That's what we'll be reading for the next few days as well as the articles for the guest scientist, Dr. Clark Spencer Larsen.
I think I'll take a bit of a nap. My head has been hurting all afternoon.

Vacation

I'm going to Phoenix, AZ on Thursday for a wedding. I'm hoping I can figure something out to do for the 3 extra days I'll be staying in Phoenix. It's the wedding of a couple friends I met on my trip to Egypt last summer. I'm kind of amazed at how quickly they've decided to get married, but then again we were joking that they'd be married and having babies while the rest of us wouldn't even know each other.
I've been really busy, and to be honest I don't have time to take a vacation. I've gotten a few things done, but not nearly what I need to. I have a lot of books I'd like to read this summer. I just need to buy them. I'm hoping I have some spare time while I'm in Notre Dame to get my reading done.

New Blog

I'm starting a new blog. This will be mostly a blog about my research and readings. If you're interested in the environment or anthropology, this is the place for you. I'll be reviewing articles and books, as well as describing my first experiences in the field.