Senior Year Blog

So, I'm finally ready to leave Judson..I've been accepted to the University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa Rural Medical Scholars Program (RMSP)! In the coming school year, I will be at the University of Alabama getting a General Studies in Human Environmental Sciences Masters degree with a Rural Community Health specialization. I have automatic acceptance to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School following my masters.

I came to Judson just taking courses that interested me. When I signed up for my first course, I didn't even have a major or minor in mind! My professors at Judson not only taught me well so that I could do well on my MCAT, but gave career advice when I was starting out and helped me to recognize my priorities. After narrowing my career focus, I ended up in rural medicine. Suddenly, I felt like I'd found a fit!

I hope that you prospective students who have read my blog will see that Judson was a homey place for me and helped me find my best self. If you're a smart and hard working student, professors will notice and reward you. You won't just be a number in a crowd. Chances are that by the end of your first semester, professors not only will know your name - first and last - but also your hometown, your interests, your activities on campus, tidbits of information about your family, and stories from your past. I'm glad that I chose Judson. I hope that you will too.

If I can give any help or advice about summer programs, volunteer opportunities, or premed advice from a student's perspective, you can add me on Facebook. I'm listed as Caroline Rankin Price. If you do, just send a message with your friend request so that I know who you are! 

Goodbye and good luck!

This coming semester will be my last at Judson. I thought that it would be fitting to wear a dress that my mother wore to Christmas Tea and Vespers when she was a student at Judson to my last Christmas tea as a student. Surprisingly, the dress fit perfectly and didn't seem too very out of style.. I realize that I need to savor every blip of time I have here. This spring semester will fly in a hurry!

Course signups took place several weeks ago. It looks like I'll be in Ms. Bartley's Biochemistry, Ms. Susan Jones' Biochemical Nutrition, Ms. Castro's Spanish II, Ballet with Jill Coplen, Bioethics with Dr. Wilson, and of course one of Dr. Betty's voice classes. I'll still be working on the biology honors project. Dr. Wilson (my project sponsor and major advisor) is encouraging me to present what I have so far at the Alabama Academy of Sciences meeting this March. As well as trying to pull that together, I'm worrying over my applications to the two rural medicine programs - RMP at Auburn and RMSP at the University of Alabama. I already feel busy just thinking about the honors project. I doubt Biochemistry will be a walk in the park either.

In addition to all of that brainy work, I do plan to keep dancing and try to work on jogging. Unfortunately my jogging/workout buddy Christina is going to Australia soon.  (Check out her study abroad blog :)) I'll miss having accountability and am worried that I'll get sidetracked. I know it'll be a an incredibly fun and huge learning experience for Christina and can't help but be excited for her though! It's frightening how easy is is for me to get tempted into homework, papers, and other things I need to take care of during workout hour. I desperately want to finish my Judson years in good form. If you like working out and need a buddy this spring, let me know!      

Monday was my 21^st birthday. I didn't have time to have a real on the day celebration, but am definitely feeling the love! I tried to reply to my Facebook wall birthday messages. Gave up after the first 15 or so!

Chapel the day after was a hymn sing. Rev. Dr. Washburn, the librarian and Mrs. Leah, his wife ran it. Mrs. Leah is a very gifted singer and pianist. Dr. Washburn calls on students to pick a hymn out of the hymn book for everyone to sing. Somehow happy birthday got chosen and all of the people with birthdays had to come up..Only 3 of us. Kind of on the spot. Don't think I can ever remember birthdays being recognized in chapel.

My friend Audra insisted on giving me a gift. Told her she couldn't spend anything. Audra went to stay the weekend with Holly Beth, another Judson student. Holly Beth's grandma is a prolific painter and gave Audra one of her paintings to give to me. It's a gorgeous landscape with a church similar to the church I grew up in, and a lake with a swan infront. The sky and lake have gorgeous pinks. I immediately went and hung it in my computer room!

Among other things, one of my aunts gave me a $21 gift certificate to Marion's ice cream parlor. I'm working on whittling it away. A group of Science Club and Tri Betans met last night to make a sign for the club Treats on Bibb Street booth. (Treats on Bibb is a yearly Halloween trick-or-treat event that takes place in front of Judson. Different clubs on campus make booths.) After we finished the sign, we all got ice cream! (Well, actually, I'd already had mine for the day - a delicious scoop of praline pecan topped by the new strawberry shortcake flavor.) One girl got Rocky Road and another got some kind of chocolate shake, but other than that, everyone got coffee flavored ice cream! I will have to get that next time I go! Another reason to come to Judson - an ice cream parlor only a few blocks away!

Everything's starting to settle as far as schedules, classes, and plans for the semester are concerned. When I was planning course loads, I had the idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to have time my senior year for mostly fun classes that wouldn't really have anything to do with my majors and minors. Now that my fun courses have all started, I think it was a smart decision. During lunch break today, I went over to the art building to clear up a few bad spots on a shoe still life I'm doing for one of my Painting I projects. Surprisingly, although the paint shoe still doesn't match the real leather shoe, I'm getting attached to it.

I need to get some PVC pipes attached to each other. I'm currently in the setup stage of a Biology Honors Project, "The effect of photoperiod on hatchability and hatching time of wild type Northern Bobwhite Quail, Colinus virginianus, and the Tennessee Red Quail color variant." I turned in a prospectus to the Judson honors committee outlining my procedure. While the procedure was ironed out and approved, there are a few pieces of it that need some starch before the experimentation can begin. Because the project is concerning effects of light periods, I'll work in a closet with as little light pollution as possible.  Opening the door, light from the crack under the door, changes in hall lights, and anything in the vicinity that can emit, reflect, or affect light might cause light variation on the hatching eggs. A PVC frame covered in black fabric around the incubator will help. If I can make the frame almost as large as the closet, it should work. I need to hurry up and get to building!  Dr. Wilson, my main honors project sponsor put me in touch with Moore's Gamebird Farm near Marion. The Moores have been kind enough to help me with the quail eggs. I'm not sure how far into the year they will be able to get eggs though!

While I'm on the subject of projects, I'm the subject of a project. The amazing Dr. Betty, Judson's voice instructor, will show her powers of transformation this semester. I'm signed up for one of her one hour private lessons. Last fall and spring, I took half hour lessons. Dr. Betty is slowly but surely moving me away from my only semi decent lip syncing to actually belting a song out loud and being on key. She's been trying to convince me to sing on stage, but so far I've had the strength to resist. I've finally decided that while I'm stumbling shoes first off cliffs in my other courses, I might as well toss myself off of one more..