Post MCAT

Since the end of my summer semester, I have spent the vast majority of my time preparing for the MCAT.  I took it a week ago, and I should have my results in about three weeks.  In hindsight, I found it to be a fairly difficult test to prepare for because it was very much driven by passages.  I am currently working on my medical school application, and I am very much looking forward to applying and getting into school.  In the meantime, I'll be looking for a job so I can earn some money while I wait.

New job and straight As

Well, its official.  I am now a medical scribe at SSM St. Mary's Health Center in St. Louis.  I'm very excited about the chance to help people and learn a lot about the medical profession.  Basically, I will follow a doctor around and help a doctor with documentation and transcription, all the while having the chance to learn about medicine from observation.

I was also able to get straight As this semester.  I hope I have put my place in a position academically that makes me attractive to med schools.

Two midterms

This is a pretty important week academically for me.  I have midterms on back to back days.  I'm doing my best to balance everything, so we'll see how it goes!

The end of an era

This post is one I've been thinking about for a few days.  When you have something this major in life occur, you want to think about its wording and what it means to express it.  I have reached the end of an era in my life, and I'm hoping to start a new chapter that will hopefully lead me to the path God has called me to.  I have resigned my position at the school as the IT director and will be a full time IT student.

The bible says a man can not serve two masters, and I know that was the road I was attempting to walk as I completed my first half of my pre-med coursework. Up until this upcoming fall semester, I have been able to get along by taking a night classes.  This summer, I used my vacation days to go to class during the daytime.  Looking at my schedule options for this semester, the classes I needed were only offered in the day.  In the final analysis, I believe that medicine is part of my future, so I must make my commitment in that direction.  Is it risky...yes.  It is a step I've been praying about since I received my calling as I knew this day would someday come.  Here is to the hope and belief that I am on the path God has set before me.

I will still consult the school when I can.  I have nothing but love and a positive view of the district and what I was able to accomplish while I was there.  I have made several great friends, and I wish everyone the best and a great year.  Now, I'm ready to move on to the next chapter in this adventure called life.  I would ask for everyone's prayers and I undertake this journey.

Chem final and journal

A couple of upcoming events in my life:

I have my chem final on Wednesday.  I don't know what my final grade will be; I'm probably between an A and A- right now...I hope I don't slip into the B+ range.  I'll be glad to get this final behind me; my life will return to normal for the rest of the summer with only one night class that meets only two days a week.

One of the things frustrating about a blog is what you put on it is the world's to see for all eternity.  I enjoy being an open book, but I have been wrestling with things of late that I know I would be posting if they were not so "public".  I know there are some of you who think I'm totally public, but trust me, there are a lot of things that don't make it to dantheblog.com for one reason or another.  Yet, I know I would benefit from writing them down, so I've decided I'm going to start an offline journal for my personal use in addition to this blog.

I'll try to let you know how chemistry works out, assuming I don't bring shame to my family with my grade.

Update:  It was an A!

Study group

On Monday, I had my biology final. I took off from work in order to study all day. I found myself understanding the material pretty well (still waiting for my grade). I was walking around looking for a quiet place to study in the science building, when I saw some of my classmates trying to do the same thing. They mistook me as someone who knew what I was talking about in the class. They probably made this mistake because during every class, I would sit in the front row of the class and eagerly ask my professors questions (I wanted to make sure he knew I was). They asked me if I would be willing to help them study. The professor had given out some old tests, and they were looking to use some of the answers I had filled in. We ended up finding a nice quiet spot at the end of the hallway with a nice view of the Bugg lake. I found it was a good way to study my material as well because it made me think about the answers I was giving out. See, do, teach.

Jerry's Kids

What does it mean to be a great teacher? For some, they receive the admiration of their students, others receive local or national awards. A particular former teacher of mine received the ultimate honor...a fan club page dedicated to him on Facebook. Jerry Garrett was my high school World and American History teacher. He was also my favorite teacher in school because his class took you beyond the subject matter and expanded your brain in different directions which in many ways taught you to think in a higher level. Seemingly, the first two or three weeks had little to do with the subject matter being taught and more with learning a particular organization system and set of classroom procedures. Intermixed with this was a plethora of Garettisms, such as "status quo", "glass ceiling", "connotative", and others. He would use unorthodox means to teach, such as taking his classes on "field trips" that involved walking a class down the hall to another class and asking another teacher a question. As a student, I ended up spending more time with Mr. Garrett than most because he was the sponsor of the Scholar Bowl team in which I was part (our senior class brought home the school's only Scholar Bowl regional championship to date). After high school, I always try to make it a point to go back and talk to him to see how things are going (and to debate the issues of the day). I hope you take an opportunity to go to the following link below and read some of the comments shared by Facebook members who had the honor of being Mr. Garrett's students. As I did, I thought to myself what a difference one person can make in the lives of students.

Things I learned from Mr. G.

The onion

I am a slave to learning, but as of tonight, I will no longer be learning's guinea pig. I was in Bio lab tonight working on a sensory lab. We came to the lab dealing with taste, and it was my turn to be the test subject. I was blindfolded, and several things were put in my mouth. I tasted a fruit of some sort, then a potato. Then, against my will, an onion was placed in my mouth. I immediately gagged and spit it out, fighting my reflex to want to throw up in the lab trash can. The Ecuadorian TA Gonzalo was laughing pretty hard as he asked what happened to me. I told him that I hate onions, and he just started laughing harder. It took about 45 minutes for the taste to escape my mouth.

Why do I share this story? I hope my story of courage through struggles will inspire all who read it. I'd like to shine a light on the effectiveness of torture techniques. And I'd like to document the event, as I plan on complaining about it during my course evaluation.

Chapter 47

So I was reading biology tonight in my apartment, and I was nearing the end of chapter 47 in my book, which deals with Animal Development, specifically the development of embryos. Chapter 47 is a brutally long chapter with very complex concepts, and as I was finishing it up, I felt myself fading in my comprehension (and probably falling asleep). I was reading about the zone of polarizing activity, which is part of the mechanism that help signal the formation of limbs, and the reading went something like this.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Sonic hedgehog* blah blah blah blah blah blah ....

Wait wha? I shake my head to wake up and I see the words Sonic Hedgehog, referencing an important protein growth factor secreted by the ZPA...and the term has an * by it as I indicated in the passage above. In the lower right hand of the page, you can read what the * stands for, and this is what it says...and I quote

*Sonic hedgehog gets its name from two sources: its similarity to a Drosophila protein called Hedgehog, which is involved in segmentation of the fly embryo, and a video game character.

Oh those wacky biologists.

B on my Biology Test

I received a B on my biology test. I'm a bit disappointed. I missed an A by about 8 points (roughly three questions). In another sense, I felt I prepared for the test decently, and the score hasn't doomed me in the class or anything like that. I hope to do a bit better next time and pull out an A in the course :)

Biology Test

For those who read this blog and believe in the power of prayer as I do, I have my first Biology test tomorrow. I have been preparing for it all weekend, and I feel like I have a decent grasp on the concepts of the book, but the amount of information is so vast and complex, I have no idea how I'm going to do. If you would, please say a prayer for me.

A dork in any decade

I discovered one of the truly great websites of our generation: http://www.yearbookyourself.com. This website proves a theory I have long suspected: that I would be uncool and a dork in any decade in which I happened to live. Enjoy the photos and various comments.


Dan Surfer Dork


I make one incredibly ugly black guy.


I look like a cross between Anthony Michael Hall and Debbie Gibson


Did I mug Bill Cosby for that sweater?


Business in the front, party in the back.


Is that an alien life form on my head?


Here, I looke like I could be a love child of President Obama or this could pass as my cousin Alan's actual high school picture.


The unknown Gibb brother...Gilbert


I can't wash my hair all that often to keep that shine.


This is when I was going through my Jim Jones bodyguard stage.


If I cut up a carpet and pasted it to my head, I wouldn't have burns like this.


Sadly, this wins the award for coolest pic.


My mom once had the exact hairstyle.


I have seen stop signs that swing out from the side of a school bus that don't come out as far as that one ear.


Ronnie Shelton



A lean mean lovin machine right there!


Here, I look like a second cousin to the Mad Magazine mascot.


My official NASA ID badge photo.

And what yearbook would be complete without some student life photos?


Coming up next, tradegy strikes the band when Behind the Music continues.


These two high school sweethearts would get married and have some seriously ugly children, all of which would join the AV club in the next picture.


See what I mean.


There is a good chance my mother has stitched my name in my underwear in this picture.


Sadly, the closet I've ever been to playing football.


I think I have a striking resemblance to John F. Kennedy in this one.