Wow! I cannot believe it’s only been six days since I arrived at MSA! The days are so jam-packed that it feels like it’s been a decade! I’ve met so many people and learned so many things! According to everyone here, I have a southern accent, and I look like a farmer’s wife/southern belle…I guess wearing pearls makes you southern? Oh well!
My roomie and our friend!
Day 1: Sunday, June 11
I left my house around 7 A.M. to make the journey to Columbia. After a two hour drive, we pulled into the parking lot of the Mark Twain dorms, and the MSA staff put all of my things into a cart and unloaded them in front of my door for me. (Thank the lord!) I had to check myself in, and then my parents met me in the lobby. After double checking all of my paperwork on file, my parents and I went to my room to unpack. Luckily I was the first one to my room, so I was able to pick which bed and closet I wanted. I chose the bed closest to the air conditioner because I get hot so easily! After unpacking, I went to lunch with my family then returned to the MSA campus for the opening ceremony. We all packed ourselves into Jesse Hall, where various faculty members gave speeches about their times at the academy and told us the rules and what not. After saying a heartfelt goodbye to my mom, dad, and brother, I walked back to my dorm… alone. I will admit, I cried. And if you know me, you know I only cry about my grades and GGs, so this was a big deal. I went upstairs to my room, but my roomie had beaten me to it! We hugged right away, and I knew we would be a perfect match! We are both high maintenance – in the best way, of course! We had to change into our MSA tshirts and take a group picture. Then we had a small group conversation with our RA. We played name games and get-to-know-you activities. After this, we returned to our rooms. I took a short nap then headed to dinner. I ate a boring salad, as we were tight on time. We headed to PlayFair which is basically a huge team building/icebreaker activity that lasted two hours. It was very nerdy, but what else should I have expected?? I met a ton of people which really helped calm the nerves. We came back to our dorm rooms and showered before going to room meetings. We discussed rules, policies, and Day 2.
My outfit for day 1!
Outside of Jesse Hall
So proud that my clothes fit in the closet!
Day 2: Monday, June 12
I woke up at 7 A.M. then headed to breakfast with my roomie. Following breakfast, I headed to my major class with Dr. Lovercamp, a really cool guy. We spent some time playing get to know you games, then dove right into a full PowerPoint all about endocrinology feedback loops. After major, I had lunch. Then we had Big Group and an introduction to PSD – personal and social dynamics. We then went to the location of our minor classes and had our first PSD session. It was filled with name games and ice breakers, but I’m constantly surrounded by people with the same value of education, so all is well. I met my minor teacher after PSD named Ake. He’s a cute, old, smart man who seems like he knows everything. I was taken aback to hear how many of my classmates were already in Calc II, when I’m only going to be going into PreCalc! I went to afternoon activities after minor. I chose math puzzles, as I just cannot get enough math in one day! By this point, I was starving. Thinking and walking make me hungry, so I filled up on salad. After dinner, my roomie and some of our friends went to the student center to hang for a little bit before evening session. We got very lost, but eventually found our way. Our guest speaker was Kevin Wanzer. He was such a positive and inspiring man! (+ I got a kazoo, so snaps for me lol) Following evening session, we had a tornado and fire drill, which was so sweaty and smelly; however, in time on emergency, I will be aware of what to do. After these drills, we had house meeting and got our schedules for day 3!
My outfit for day 2!
Day 3: Tuesday, June 13
I woke up at 7:15A.M. after pushing snooze a couple of times, I’m not going to lie. I got ready, ate breakfast, then walked to my major class. I had a wonderful time because I found out I get to do IVF on a sea urchin and rectally palmate a cow! I know this sounds very strange to most people, but I feel so blessed to be given these opportunities! We continued learning off a PowerPoint about puberty in male and female animals and the hormones that play a vital role in the process. After major, I ate lunch then went to big group. We discussed evening activities and learned “boomba hey” – the MSA slogan. Then we went to our minor classes. I learned verdic theories and applied them to equations such as 12345*111=? We used these techniques to be able to solve the equations in a matter of seconds, which was super cool. Following minor, we had PSD where we discussed our ‘dream partner’. I thought it was dumb at first, but I got to hear a lot of interesting perspectives from my classmates. For afternoon activity, I went to a discussion about Dana Shutz recreation of the infamous Emmitt Till casket photograph. We discussed trauma and racial discrimination, as well as the moral aspects to recreating such a violent image. Then I ate dinner, then headed to big group once more, where the RAs performed a skit for us. Then I headed to evening activity which was a discussion about the moral aspects of consuming, enclosing, and profiting off of animals. It was a very interesting conversation, and I’m so glad I was able to take part in a discussion that I typically wouldn’t have. We returned to our dorms for house meeting and got our schedules for day 4! I’m feeling very tired, so I’m going to try to take a nap tomorrow.
The artwork we discussed.
My outfit for day 3!
Day 4: Wednesday, June 14
I woke up at 7 A.M., got ready, ate breakfast, then went to Taiso – a Wednesday morning tradition at MSA. Following Taiso, I headed to my major where we learned about the anatomy of female reproductive systems, comparing those of swine to those of bovine. After learning off a PowerPoint, we were able to conduct a dissection on three reproductive tracts – two swine, one cow. It was super cool to see in real life, but it smelled absolutely horrible! After major, I went back to my dorm and ate lunch. Following lunch, I went to big group where we learned about the afternoon activities and departed to go to our minor classes. I got to my minor, only to find out I had gotten the highest score on the math worksheet, which was an accomplishment considering I thought I was the dumbest person in the class. We learned about base numbers and Vedic math again. Then we had PSD where we worked on actively listening to one another and respecting opinions of others in an Agree vs. Disagree activity. It was fine, but I think it will get better as we delve into deeper topics and discussions. Following PSD, I went to my afternoon activity which was a discussion about time and space being relative to the viewer, and it was a little too complicated for my tired mind to fathom at that time of the day. I went back to my dorm and took a quick nap before I went to dinner, and then I went to evening session which was the coolest thing I’ve done so far. I went to a stem cell lecture where I learned all about the most current advancements in stem cell science. Did you know that scientists have been able to successfully grow a human embryo inside of a pig? Or that a baby was born with two mothers and a father by having the embryos of the women fused together? How crazy is that?? Then I headed back to my dorm for snack and house meeting where I got my day 5 schedule. I’m very exhausted, but I’m learning a lot, and I’m so inspired by all of scientists I have been able to meet!
My outfit for day 4!
Day 5: Thursday, June 15
I woke up at 7:25 A.M. and fell out of my bed. (Lol) My roomie and I were running late, so we only had about ten minutes to eat breakfast. After breakfast, I headed to my major class where we took notes he whole time…ugh. Following major, I went to lunch and then big group. We discussed the afternoon activities, none of which interested me. After big group I went to my minor class which was hard, like always, but I think it’ll get easier. We had PSD where we shared stories about what made us who we are today. It was interesting to hear others’ life stories. As for afternoon activities, my friends and I opted out because we needed a break and none of the options piqued our interest. After a relaxed afternoon and dinner, we went to evening activity, Singlehandedly Shakespeare. One man acted out 10 characters and performed Romeo and Juliet as well as Macbeth. It was just okay. Props to the man who acted out the show, but I just wasn’t that into it. After the show, we headed back to our dorm to listen to live African music. I got a HUGE burst of energy and had a solo dance party – shocker, I know! Then my roomie and I jumped on our beds for awhile before we had house meeting. We got our schedules for day 6. It was a super fun day today!!
My outfit for day 5!
Day 6: Friday, June 16
I woke up at 7:15 A.M. today, got ready, then headed to breakfast. Following breakfast I went to my major class where we learned about folilculargeneis and oogenesis. It was pretty boring except for the fact that we got to watch a laparoscopically filmed video of a rabbit ovulating. After major I ate lunch then went to minor and PSD. In my minor class, we worked some more challenging problems and went over our worksheet from last class. In PSD, we did a gift giving activity in which you had to write valuable items on a paper and “give” the items to someone in your class. It was fun, but I put clean linen air freshener down as one, so people probably thought I was crazy. Following PSD, I watched a feminism movie for afternoon activity. I don’t consider myself a full blown feminist, so i didn’t really enjoy the movie that much. I think females should be able to be beautiful AND intelligent – not one or the other. After the movie, I took a short nap and headed to dinner. After dinner we had square dancing. I was dreading it all day, but it was SO fun! I was having a blast!! After square dancing, we had house meeting where we got our schedules for day 7!
My outfit for day 6!
Miss MM 