WARNING- Thursday's write up includes information about a bird dissection and pictures of a gizzard and heart. There is no blood visible but if you're squeamish maybe give it a skip.
Monday 16th February-
There were no classes on today seeing as it's President's Day, I did however have to work. I signed up for another shift on Mondays so that meant I was at the Zoo from 11am- 9.30pm. I got held back late at work because the kitchen wasn't fully clean and had to help out. Luckily Shannen came in and collected me seeing as there were no buses running on the holiday.
(Pancake) Tuesday 17th February-
Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in Ireland on the day before lent begins. Typically this celebration involves eating pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not a bad tradition really! You get your fill of sweet food before your supposed to give it up for 40 days. So I made some pancakes for Shannen and myself before our rangeland class at 11am. That evening at the Wildlife Society there was a bat biologist there to talk to us about his work in Alaska. He illustrated the dangers facing bats, including white nose syndrome. He also spoke of the difficulty of catching and tracking bats. Any radio transmitters have to be less than 0.5g because bats are so tiny. For dinner I made some more pancakes with bananas and blueberries cooked into them, yum!
Wednesday 18th February-
Typical Wednesday with class and double work shifts, except this week I didn't have to try and read a recreation behaviour paper during lunch. We're not having a typical class tomorrow, so no paper due.
Thursday 19th February-
I started off the day dissecting a rock pigeon at 8am for my ornithology lab. We worked in groups of four to pluck, slice, identify and remove various parts of the bird. I had already studied bird anatomy last semester so didn't find it too hard identifying the muscles and organs we will need to know. We also learned to identify Montana owls, grouse and swifts. After lab Shannen and I went to the UC and worked on assignments. I finally decided what I want to do my ornithology proposal on and it involves owls and shrews in Ireland. We reviewed three papers in rangeland and then had an hour and a half after class to work on some more assignments. Our Recreation Behaviour class was on in the library today for an information session on how to use library resources. I was skeptical, thinking it would be your stereotypical "Here's how you find research papers". I was very wrong :P We learned some great hacks that will make assignments much easier, especially a tool that will format your references for you! No more long proof reading to check whether the volume number is bolded, or the jornal title is italicized for me! That evening Kate, Aoife and Bridget called over to talk about plans for a weekend trip to Seattle. We're going to go on Thursday 12th of March so that we get three nights there. I can't wait to see a west coast city and the Pacific Ocean for the first time!
 |
| A gizzard is full of pebbles and is used to grind food. |
 |
| A bird heart. |
Had my usual genetics class, ornithology class and work shift as a cook's help today. That evening Bridget, Shannen and I went to the UC cinema for two movies; Disney's Big Hero 6 and Mockingjay. It's unreal how cheap it is, just $4 for two movies, $3 for a large popcorn and $1 for a drink! Not like going to the actual cinema. I hadn't heard much about Big Hero 6 but it was great! Had me laughing and crying, along with most of the other students there. I'd already seen Mockingjay but it was worth it to go see it again.
Saturday 21st February-
I got up early today (no sleep ins here :P ) so that I could try and do my three research papers and proposal assignment for rangeland, my genetics homework and also study. I have three exams next week, with ornithology on Wednesday, recreation behaviour on Thursday and genetics and evolution on Friday. Add to that the fact that I work 18 hours a week and that leaves very little time for study. So weekend study session it is! To have a break that night Sarah, Shannen and I watched Mulan. Nothing like Disney movies after a long day of studying!
Sunday 22nd February-
Got up again and spent most of the day studying. I got through half of the ornithology lectures and summarised all of the recreation papers so twas a successful day. That evening Kate, Siobhan, Shannen and I went to Walmart for grocery shopping and stopped in at Dairy Queen on the way home for a treat.
 |
| Walmart's getting ready for Easter... |
Safe to say another busy week at UM in preparation for the Hell Week that's to come. Thanks again for reading- Fiona :D
No comments:
Post a Comment