Yes, that one..No, not that one, that one!

The last few weeks of maneuvering through university red tape, paperwork, courses and course pre-requisites attempting to get started in my back to school pursuit of my dream has been exhausting to say the least.

Never haven taken college math I was required to take a placement exam before beginning college algebra. Not having taken an Algebra class since high-school (9 years ago!) this part of my brain was unusually dusty and filled with cobwebs…needless to say I did not place into College Algebra but rather into a combined Elementary/Intermediate Algebra class; how embarrassing. At first I thought the university was out to sabotage my plan, but I’m sure my adviser just thought it would be super fun to add one more class to the list of courses I’m trying to get through over the next 2 years and I myself am, well, thrilled [note sarcasm here].

In addition, it seems that I signed up for the wrong Geography course. I am working this semester on getting through all the General Education courses required by this particular university that I had not already taken elsewhere and one of those happens to be Geography. But, for those of you who may one day also require this course, not physical Geography…cultural Geography. Yes, one more humanities class just to ensure that you are 100% well rounded. No, you don’t need to learn about where things are located on a map or how the land you live on was formed, it is far more important that in addition to the 2-3 Sociology and Psychology courses you’ve already taken, you take one more class that will teach you about how different people are and that being different is okay.

To be honest, I prefer the cultural Geography course. It is a much easier ‘A’ for me and I know I will enjoy it because I enjoy humanities, sociology, psychology, etc. I’m a psych major…hello. But it does make me wonder about who came up with these rules, I mean, I already have a lot of humanities so why this one in particular? Couldn’t you just choose a number and if we’ve taken that many we’re good to go? Seems like everyone would win that way, but..what do I know.

Let’s recap. I arrive at my advisers office, take the math placement exam, embarrass myself, have to drop College Algebra, review my courses, have to drop Physical Geography, now I am 6 units short of full time. So…

Unfortunately there are no open Elem/Inter Algebra courses because they are all full of Freshman as God intended so this course gets pushed to next term which pushes College Algebra to next summer, which pushes Statistics to next Fall – isn’t this swell!

There are also no openings for Cultural Geography…”Oh wait, where do you live, near Jenks?” “Yes” “Great! You’re close to Jenks and Jenks is close to Glenpool and there’s a Cultural Geography course at the Glenpool Town Hall in October…it’s three weekends in a row then you’re done!” “Fantastic, sign me up”…Not that I have any idea how to get to Glenpool, nor any desire to spend three straight Friday nights, Saturday’s and Sunday’s in class at their town hall, but I understand that this is where my desire to succeed at my long term goal supersedes my short term desires for everything to be easy peasy so I’ll be there in October.

Okay…3 units down, 3 to go! There are no other Gen. Ed’s that you need so let’s move on to courses for your major…Infant and Child Psychology? Yes please. This one made me happy because, obviously, I love psychology and, in case you didn’t know, I love children, and, from what I understand there’s a little biology sprinkled in for better understanding so it should be a great course. “Ok, that puts you at 14 hours so you’re good to go”. Done!

I know this is already kind of a long post, but I want to share one more thing. The psychology course I signed up for had already started the Thursday prior so I had missed the first class and while the professor is actually a really nice guy and so far I like his style, the first thing he informed me (and the other 4 people who started late) was that he allows 1 free absence and all others cost you attendance points (what is this Elementary school?)…and we used ours for not being there last week. Yes, even though you weren’t enrolled. I hate stuff like this!! We actually have to sign in each class and we are graded not only for attendance but also participation so if you miss a class you lose points for both because “you can’t participate if you aren’t present…” He redeemed himself by his unbiased discussion of stem cell research and the fact that he showed a woman giving birth to her new baby and the placenta in the second class of the term – this is my kind of guy!

My feeling to sum up this week: “Fine!” And, not fine like I’m feeling fine and dandy, fine like I’m giving in but only if I get to shout this word at you to make myself feel better.

-Melissa

PS: I did not want to forget to mention how saddened I was by the death of Sen. Kennedy this week. My prayers go out to him and his family; he provided a lifetime of service to his country and will be greatly missed.

Pre-Med, Post Cali; An old dream finds new ambition

For anyone that has actually ever read this blog before, I just want you to be aware that my random thoughts and ideas will be heading in a new direction starting today. I found, through my own experience, that reading blogs written by pre-meds and medical students and residents is one of the best ways to learn more about whether or not you actually have enough drive, passion, and…stomach to follow this path. So, in the interest of some random person that might one day stumble upon this blog (and of my sanity), I will be blogging every detail of my pre-med journey. Feel free to comment or email…encouraging words are always appreciated!

As you probably are not aware, my first college experience left much to be desired in the area of grades and benefit. Without going into too much detail about my personal life, family responsibilities, and the effects of un-diagnosed OCD and depression on a college freshman, I’ll just say that I’m happy to be able to say today that everything worked out and I am doing quite well thank you. As a result of those disastrous 1.5 undergrad years at TU, and crazy as it makes me seem, I have started this pre-med journey with a 1.5 GPA over 31 hours. Don’t laugh.

(Let me take this opportunity to lash out at the college transfer and medical school application systems about how stupid it is too take into account grades from SO many years ago! If those courses were science courses, I would have to re-take them bc they are so old, but they would still include them in my cumulative GPA. Dumb.)

Happily, only 1 of those poor grades from the dark years was a science class SO, while I’m working hard to bring up my cumulative GPA, I know that my science GPA will be AMAZING because I’m just now taking all my science courses! So far I’ve kept a 4.0, made the Presidents honor list, and brought my cGPA up to a 2.5! I realize I still have to get to a 3.5 to be considered competitive at all for medical schools, but at this point I’m feeling good about it.

At this age and state of life I am considered a “non-traditional” pre-med student.  (nod to the National Society for Non-Traditional Premedical and Medical Students, or Old PreMeds, for all the advice and information I have inhaled from their site over the years.) I’ve been working full time for 7 years and about 2-3 times a year for 7 years I had the same conversation with my mom and sister about whether or not I should pursue medical school. My last full time position was in clinical research for a CRO and REALLY put my mind back on school and medicine. Blessing in disguise I was laid off from that position in September of 2008 and after crying for a week about what I was going to do, I made the decision. It was almost a relief to finally decide for sure that I was going to do what I had always wanted. I’m like a 5 year old at Christmas every time I find out something new about the process of becoming a doctor, medical school, or just doctoring in general! My family is probably exhausted of me.

The current status of my pre-med journey is in transition. Getting what you want takes sacrifice, so sacrifice I shall. Since I want to go back to school full time and really focus these last few years I decided it would be best to move from Corona, CA back home to Tulsa, OK to finish school where I don’t have to work 40+ just to pay my portion of the rent. I will be leaving CA on July 30th and arriving back in OK on August 1st.

With 3 weeks to go until classes start I am still waiting on final financial aid offers from Oklahoma State University and Northeastern State University (my admission is complete at both). I will say that as much as in the beginning I was leaning toward OSU, the admissions and advisement counselors at NSU have been so helpful that I’m almost hoping they win the financial aid race. I haven’t heard from or talked to a soul at OSU since I was admitted and turned in all the necessary docs for them to evaluate – perhaps this is a case of being “just another number”?

Tomorrow starts a new week and hopefully I will have some answers and be able to get enrolled. I am SO looking forward to starting the last 2 years of my undergraduate courses and working toward med school; I’m a nerd, I know, but I really do love being in school!

My Grandfather; May He Rest in Peace.

My grandfather was born to a woman that did not want to be a mother and a man that was never a father. He was raised by his grandfather. The woman his grandfather married had an instant dislike for him and actually attempted to drown him on one occasion while his grandfather was not home. Although he had great respect and love for his grandfather, and taught us all the things he had learned from him, he was forced to leave his home at a very young age and venture out on his own.

My grandfather moved from Maine, where he was raised, to Oklahoma. He attended the University of Tulsa and stopped attending just 2 courses shy of a degree in mathmatical engineering because he said it wasn’t what he loved to do. What he love to do was paint. He was a painter until he died.

My grandfather met my grandmother when they were still teenagers. He would fly over her house in his friends small plane and call her his favorite red head. He loved her from the day he met her.

My grandfather fought in the front lines of the Korean war. Before his ship departed he was pulled off by his captain and told to “take care of this situation” before he could go. The situation involved a girl he barely knew that was now carrying his child. He married her before he left. They divorced not too long after he returned. They had two children. He met his daughters again when they were grown married mothers and he spent the last 30 years of his life being the father he never was.

My grandfather had a heart of gold and a penchant for dancing. He met a woman with 10 children and moved in with her to help her take care of them. They had 2 children of their own. When he found out that my red headed grandmother had divorced her husband of 24 years he left his now common law wife to find her.

My grandfather found my grandmother. They both had previous marriages and children, but she was still his favorite red head. They got married. She was at his side when he died.

My grandfather was a father to more than 15 children, some his own and some not. He made many mistakes in his life and owned up to each one. He had a story to tell for any situation you could imagine yourself in. He never stopped talking. He was inherently wise. He was a Red Sox fan. He lifted up everyone he spoke to. He never put anyone down or said a negative word about anyone. He always saw both sides of every situation and always made you feel supported, even when he was telling you that you were wrong.

My grandfather was a grandfather to around 20 grandchildren; some I have never met. He made each of us feel special. He taught his trade to the majority of the males in our family and they have raised their own families by those means. He used nicknames and you never minded because it meant something important. He needed you. He wanted you.

My grandfather spent the last days of his life thanking everyone around him for allowing him to be part of their life. He told us stories of how God placed him in each of our lives at just the right moment and “allowed” him to be there for us. He literally counted his blessings.

My grandfather spent the last years and months of his life instructing his pastor in exactly the message he wanted to convey to us at his funeral. He asked him to tell us of his conversion story. He asked him to tell us of his fears and doubts over the years because of the sinful things he had done in his life. He asked him to tell us about the exact moment that he accepted that his salvation was real and his forgiveness complete.   

My grandfather is in heaven looking down on me today. I pray that I can live my life according to the principals he taught me and remember all the wisdom he shared with me. I look forward to the day that I will join him and my father there so that we might spend eternity worshiping the Lord together.

Random Blog Ideas (Alternate Title: My Boring Flight Home)

I wrote these “blog ideas” on my plane ride from Dallas to Ontario – I was trying to look busy so I didn’t have to interact too much with my seat buddy. I had totally forgotten about it until I was looking through my Notes on my iPhone…these are a laugh, enjoy!

Blog ideas..
 
1. Why we should always have big haired ladies with short frosted hair and too much makeup among us
 
2. Short vacations are stupid and other things you should already know
 
3. Taco bueno, braums and zios; California dining misses the mark. 
 
4. Flying first class on standby (or, warm nuts and liquer free with short seatbelt, used blanket and delayed take off)
 
5. How Republican, Protestant, Oklahoma produced a Liberal, Catholic, California Vegetarian 
 
6. Why catholic churches need baptist choirs (including “My desire to join the gaithers singing group”) 
 
7. Sharing a bed with a 1 year old for 3 nights and other ways to disturb your sleeping pattern
 
8. The ideosyncracies of old people and how their pets get away with murder
 
9. Home is where you are unless you aren’t there today
 
10. Why it’s okay to make up stuff about your life when talking to your in-flight neighbor

Participate in Blog Action Day 2008!

On October 15, 2008, Blog Action Day is inviting bloggers to begin a world-wide conversation with their readers in an effort to raise awareness about poverty.

I am excited to say that I will be participating in this effort! I’ll be working on ideas for my blog on poverty between now and 10/15, and I would love any ideas you might have about how to create a really great discussion to raise poverty awareness.

I would also like to invite all of you to join me and Blog Action Day in creating this conversation by participating on your own blog! You can register your blog and find lots of informational, promotional, and inspirational materials at the Blog Action Day website.

~~In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. –Confucius ~~

Strawberry Special

The biggest challenge for me in eating healthy (vegan or not) is coming up with dishes sweet enough to calm my sugar cravings without actually giving in to eating something loaded with sugar and calories. I also have the added challenge of creating dessert items yummy enough to make Caleb forget that there isn’t any ice cream in the freezer for after dinner.

My first dessert attempt this week was the Blueberry Special recipe I found on Dr. McDougal’s website. After a filling dinner of baked potato, mixed veggies, and salad we had to wait a while to dig in to dessert but even so I didn’t capture a picture of it until there was only one piece left!

Blueberry Special
Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups Grape Nuts cereal
• 3/4 cup frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

• 1 8-ounce can unsweetened crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 cup frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
• 5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cereal in a Ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin. Combine apple juice concentrate and vanilla. Mix cereal and apple juice mixture together. Press into bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool.

I used strawberries instead of blueberries and it turned out lovely; the strawberries were a little tart so I added a drizzle of Honeytree’s sugar free imitation honey for a little added sweet. A few things to note about the recipe: I found that the crust was too mushy for our families taste after being mixed with the apple juice so when I went back for the last piece yesterday I added some additional Grape Nuts straight from the bag and it was perfect! Next time I’ll used crushed Grape Nuts mixed with a little extra vanilla and no apple juice for a nice crunchy crust – it’s a perfect contrast to the smooth fruit filling.

This dessert was simple and quick. I already had all the ingrediants on hand (except tapioca) and it was a perfectly sweet ending to another sugar free vegan day!

Going Vegan…Again

Those of you that know me well know that I have been a long time proponent of eating a healthy vegetarian diet low in processed and refined foods…and, you also know that I haven’t always followed my own good advice – just call me Alice! In pursuit of a truly healthy diet I went vegan for about a year.  In the beginning it wasn’t difficult, the biggest change was just eliminating dairy products from my diet since I was already eating vegetarian. After a while though living in a house full of non-vegans and eating out WAY too much made the idea of a balanced vegan diet practically impossible and I gave up.

Happily, after some time feeling sluggish, achy, tired, and all around un-healthy, I have decided to go vegan once again. Even more happily my sister, Morgan, is also eating a basically vegan diet (see the picture…she’s become a super healthy shorty super model since eating vegan!) and I’m doing all the cooking for Caleb while my mom is out of state for a while so this time I’m feeling less alone and much more motivated. I’ve also been reading some great books on the science behind what we eat and how it affects our bodies which have given me more motivation on a personal level to want to eat in a way that will lead me to a healthier, longer, more energetic life.

Another big difference for myself this time around is that I’ve been collecting recipes! I LOVE to cook, especially for other people, and it’s really exciting to see that there are so many yummy ideas for low-fat, vegan meals for me and my family! In the interest of preserving my favorites, and of sharing this great way of eating with all of you, I’ve decided to post some of my most successful recipe’s here along with pictures to make you drool. A lot of the recipes I’m using are from Dr. McDougall’s http://www.drmcdougall.com/. I’ve also become a big fan of SusanV at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/. I’ll do my best to cite the source of any recipes I post and I’d love to hear feedback from any of you who try them out!

I’ll be posting my first recipe today and I’m happy to report that I’ve been cooking vegan for a whole week now and haven’t craved anything non-vegan! I’ll also report that Caleb (he’s 11) has been eating all of my vegan cooking this week and hasn’t complained once! I think that’s proof enough that we’re making some pretty good stuff – kids are tough judges!

~~He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not.  –Italian Proverb~~

Remember John 3:17?

Another post from long ago that I wanted to share. This is in responce to a lot I have been reading lately regarding California’s proposition 8 on same-sex marriage. I think there are a lot of people that really need to re-evaluate their position on seperation of church and state – consider what that means for them as Christians and what it could mean if there was no seperation (think forced religion, religious persecution, death). I also think we, as Christians, need to re-read the words of Christ regarding compassion and caring for our fellow human beings. We tend to focus largely on the condemnation of sinfulness that we find in the Bible, but if you pay attention you’ll see that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save the world…wait, I think that’s a direct Bible quote! John 3:17. So, if God did not send His Son to condemn the world then what right do we, as children of God, have to judge and condemn anyone?

Also, I don’t really understand why as a Christian I should care so much about other people’s marriage – shouldn’t I be more concerned with conducting my own marriage and relationships in a Godly way and being faithful to God through my marriage and the raising of my children?  I always think it’s best to lead by example.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

• Revelation: just because the word ’sex’ falls in the middle of the word ‘homosexual’ doesn’t mean that being homosexual is all about sex.

  Ever notice that the people who are out there trying to convince everyone of how wrong it is to be a homosexual and how against God’s plan it is compared to the ‘love’ of heterosexual relationships always talk about sex when they are discussing homosexuals, and always talk about love when they talk about heterosexuals?

  It happens so much that I think it has become imbedded in our minds somehow that homosexuality is all about the sex, but it’s not. True homosexual relationships are the same as true heterosexual relationships…the two people in the relationship love each other. They have the same bond, closeness, caring, devotion. They share in joy and struggles, they share each others pain and happiness, they sacrifice for one another, they often raise children together. They fight over money, and disciplining the kids, they complain about who’s doing the majority of the housework.

  When some conservative Christians talk about homosexuality they talk specifically about the sex in order to keep people on their side, to bring out the vulgarity and perversion and sinfulness of it all ….if their congregations heard true stories of two people who loved one another and had a relationship and a story so similar to their own they might begin to wonder what the Bible really had to say on the subject. They might begin to question the words that their leaders have been putting in God’s mouth and start searching God’s word on their own.

  Simple fact: if a minister told a love story that never mentioned names or said ‘he’ or ’she’ it could be applied to hundreds of heterosexual and homosexual relationships. if he told a story of debauchery and promiscuity in the same way, the results would be the same. One ‘type’ of person is not better than another in any way. “For all have sinned and fallen short…”

My Favorite Things…

You know what I love? I love random information. I love finding out something new about something I thought I knew all about. Isn’t it the greatest feeling to learn something? Maybe it stems from my belief in the idea that knowledge is power, but I can’t get over it!

For example: did you know that several Dr. Seuss books were considered controversial because of the underlying message? This especially applies to “The Lorax” (one of my favorites!) and actually caused this book to be banned by one California school district because of it’s negetivity toward the lumber industry! Did you know that Dr. Seuss never won a Newbury? Did you know that his first wife commited suicide during a difficult ilness in the 60’s and that while he did re-marry, he never had any children? Did you know that “The Cat in the Hat” was written in responce to a Times article that said children were not learning to read because they found books boring? In fact, Seuss’s publisher gave him a list of over 300 words and asked him to choose 250 that he thought were the most important for children to learn and then to write a book using all of those 250 words – “The Cat in the Hat” uses 238 of those words to create a book for learning readers!

Okay, one more little thing. While most American’s pronounce Dr. Seuss as if it rhymes with juice… the man himself actually pronounced his name in the German style as if it rhymes with voice (Soice).

Do you feel smarter? More empowered? Doesn’t it make you want to go tell someone! Well, that’s how I felt, and so…I told you.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” –Dr Seuss

On Becoming and Being Catholic

It hadn’t dawned on me to discuss my conversion to Catholicism until I received a question from an old friend regarding the change in my stated religion on myspace, facebook, etc. 

St. Paul the Apostle Chino Hills, CA

I was born into and raised in a Southern Baptist home in Broken Arrow, Ok. I attended First Baptist Church Broken Arrow from elementary school just about through graduation. I have so many fond memories of those years of faith formation – Sunday school, choir rehearsal (Bro. Charles!), Wednesday night youth service (Bro. Alex!), GA’s, youth camp, VBS, mission trips and so many events and people that helped me grow into the woman of faith that I am today.

Unlike many people my conversion was not a conversion from atheism or apathy to religion, or a crisis of faith that led me on a search for truth. I was not unhappy with  my religious tradition and seeking something better; for me it was a conversion to the fullness of my religious background and understanding. Years of interest in faith and religion, and a continuous yearning for more information about anything and everything to do with my own faith as a Protestant couldn’t help but lead me to research Catholicism.

Over the years my sister and I spent countless nights at Barnes & Noble reading and talking and questioning and researching and comparing and…debating. We researched Catholicism on the Internet seeking perspectives from anti-Catholics, Protestants, Catholics, converts, and apologists on both sides…and then we debated more.  Finally, in 2003 we decided to join RCIA at St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Riverside, CA.  RCIA stands for Right of Christian Initiation of Adults – this is the process of becoming a member of

Joshua's Baptism

the Catholic church as an adult. The process was amazing; initially we were just Inquirers and the classes taught us the history of the church and allowed a lot of time for questions and answers…believe me, we had plenty! Eventually we were asked if we wanted to continue the process of initiation into the Catholic faith; we did.  After much prayer, learning, and commitment on our part and much support, love, and understanding on the part of the entire parish we were both initiated into the Catholic church at Easter Vigil service April 10, 2004. Morgan was baptised, and we both received the sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion. In addition, my younger brother, Joshua, received his sacraments of initiation at Easter Vigil this year on March 22 after completing RCIA himself at St. Paul the Apostle Chino Hills where we now attend.

I love being Catholic. I love walking into the church and knowing that there is a reason and message behind everything I see down to the color of the tiles behind the lectern. I love the reminder of my baptismal promises in the Holy Water. I love the sense of comfort I feel by crossing myself; like a  physical prayer I can

use anytime I need it. I love the mass – the sense of stillness, solemnity, sanctity, and anticipation. I love the Confiteor where we confess to one another that we are sinners and need each others prayers. I love confirming each week my beliefs through the Nicene Creed. I love hearing the priest weave a perfectly sound message from scriptures I thought had nothing to do with one another. I love taking communion and knowing the Lord is with me. I love the sense of community and knowledge that you are being held to a higher standard – not in how you dress or do your hair, but in how you serve the Lord and his creations. I love the stations of the cross and can’t contain my tears as I go through them and understand ever better the sacrifice that was made on my behalf. I love the priests and brothers and nuns that have devoted their lives to God and his people. I love confession – you can never know the weight that is lifted just by hearing someone confirm to you verbally that God has forgiven you until you have experienced this sacrament. I love the history. I love the tradition. I love that there is an answer to all my questions, and that sometimes the answer is “we don’t know, but that’s okay.”

 Being Catholic makes me feel closer to God and closer to the person I long to become through Christ.