Bonairian Birthday

This will be quick because we have dives tomorrow.

We took the diving class to Bonaire for spring break to do all of the diving required for the course.  During the week here, we've done a lot.  Today in particular, we did a well-known wreck dive to 30m (the Hilma Hooker), snorkeled with a manta ray, had a little bit of down time, did another dive farther down on the south end of the island, made dinner, got gelato, and would have done a night dive if the swells and visibility would have been in our favor.

The most memorable part of the day is definitely being in the water with the manta ray.  The group agreed that my reaction to being the one to see it and "sound the alarm" was about as good as actually being in the water with the manta.  I've never seen one before and I wanted to make sure everyone knew where it was so I started screaming and flailing about.  It got the job done because everyone in our group was able to come see it before it swam past.  It's incredible how quickly they can move with just a single flap of their wings.  I was amazed how graceful this 10ft wide creature was.  It really took my breath away.

Another memorable part of the day would have to be going to breakfast and having most of the class wish me a happy birthday when I didn't even tell them that it was my birthday.  It was a really nice touch and I appreciated it a ton.

I'm very excited for Christina to come in less than a day and a half!

Diving Symposium

Golden Gate Bridge

 This will be short because it's well after 1am and I have to be at work by 8:30 tomorrow.

I spent last week in Monterey, California at a symposium for the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS).  They are the organization that sets the standards for scientific diving.  It was interesting to see my first annual AAUS symposium and to see coastal central California.  It really was beautiful out there even though the pictures might not entirely show it.

Steep Streets of San Francisco

Kelp on the Beach!

The symposium was successful in the sense that I was able to see the other Diving Safety Officers (DSOs) from other universities.  The chance to network was very helpful because I now have faces to put with names and diving programs.  It might take a few years to really get it but I'll eventually get to the point where I personally know the DSOs from the universities that we are getting some students from as well as to where we're sending some divers once they finish at UM.

Monterey, California

I learned while there how special our program is.  In talking to people from other programs, it made me have an even greater appreciation for ours.  Our gear is top of the line, we have a big pool, year-round diving that is easily accessible, 2 full-time motivated dive officers, extensive courses, the list goes on.  My opinion of our program being one of the best is now much more based on actual experience instead of bias.

I have already begun working on a presentation for the next symposium in Curacao.  It outlines our training highlighting specifically some of our unique and cutting-edge techniques.  I am proud of the scientific diving program I work for and I am extraordinarily thankful for being able to be a part of it.  There is often a feeling of frustration when trying to explain my job to people because there is only a small fraction of people who actually understand what I do and to everyone else who doesn't quite understand, my job description doesn't quite describe what I do.  It's a frustration that is largely unnecessary since others' impressions of what I do don't matter but I still feel it from time to time.  Maybe I'm just developing an ego because I do honestly think that our program is better than most others and I believe from the bottom of my heart that my opinion is virtually unbiased

Is it really a bad thing to be proud of my work and to believe that we are doing the best we can do in the diving program?  My feelings are internalized and I'm not going around telling other DSOs that I think our program is better but is it really a bad thing just to think it?  I sure hope not because it's too late and I can't help it.  I think I'm overall personally humble and modest but apparently part of me wants to throw modesty to the wind and have more recognition and respect in the professional world.

Quick Update

Casey and the shark.

I'm really tired so this is going to be short.  On the dive today (which remember, I'm only a support diver so I'm not seeing the bottom) we saw a 6-7ft silky shark and a pair of adult dolphins.  They came and went throughout the decompression, never seeing the shark and dolphins at the same time.  It was the first time I ever heard dolphins communicating underwater.  A very cool experience.  Things are going well and I'm having a great experience.

Out to Sea

Research Vessel F. G. Walton Smith

I’m back out to sea for work yet again, for the last time for many months to come.  We came on board Tuesday the 14^th at 6:30am.  The Walton Smith was under way less than an hour later.  Tuesday was spent getting familiar with the boat, watching a required UNOLS video, going through a boat orientation, having science meetings, and setting up our gear.  It was a slow day and I was very tired for most of it.  Yesterday was the first diving operation.  I’ll spare the details but a couple enormous weights are dropped and 2 rebreather divers descend to 180ft (50+m) to attach some instruments to them and connect a line between the two weights.  They will send up a buoy when they are on decompression which is the cue for me to descend and meet them at 100ft (30m).  I take information from the divers about their well-being and the decompression schedule, ascend and relay the information to the boat, then drop back down to be with the divers for the remainder of their ascent.  The dive I completed yesterday was to 98ft for 61 minutes.

By the end of the day yesterday we set up the second site with the two massive weights and the plan was to complete the dives on them this morning.  Everything was set and the divers entered the water on time.  Within 5 minutes, they surfaced with a current that was unbeatable even with torpedo-like scooters with which to fight it.

We are now in transit to Pulley ridge where we will set up the third and final mooring site and do a dive there.  By sunset, another part of the project will start up that involves me to dive to about 30ft (10m) to set up what is called a light trap.  It’s an apparatus that involves a net and a flashlight that will be set up at sunset and retrieved at sunrise to trap larval fish.

Hopefully we will be able to make everything happen according to plans from here on out!

1 June - Dry Tortugas

After going to sleep around 9 last night, I felt great waking up at 6:30.  I had breakfast and everything was going well until Mel came bursting through the cabin calmly but deliberately to get the oxygen kit.  It turned out that Dave and Tracy had gotten tangled in their line and shot up from 50ft at the end of a 100ft dive.  We put them both on oxygen and tried to get them to sit still.  They are fine last I checked (some 14 hours after the incident) so that's good.  Apparently they only sat out for one dive before getting back in for another 70+ft dive.
After that incident, another dive team had their float caught in the prop on the descent, my team had our float disappear (but got recovered), and it was 100% overcast all day long with wind and rain for the majority of it.  We've all had better conditions.  Oh, not to mention the Heat lost tonight.

However, the day did have its glows.  The food was great, the sunset was stunning, I found a handful of other euchre players, and the diving was amazing.  The sites today were easily as good as some (not all) of the better spots in Belize but with more fish than Belize.  The 3rd site had pinnacles that were about 20ft high with schools of jacks, snappers, and chub.  The diving here is indeed very good.
I'm fitting in more but still feel like a weak link particularly when it comes to knowing my fish.  I'm going to have to work on that.  It's almost midnight which means it's after bedtime.

31 May - Dry Tortugas

The first full day has been interesting.  There are already some people I don't fit with perfectly and others that I would work with on any project.  It's funny though because I seem to have been wrong about a handful of them.  Some I thought I would struggle to relate to are turning out to have the most in common whereas others I thought would be great to be around don't seem to have as compatible personalities as I thought.  I get along well with everyone but as I'm sure you all know, there's a range: people can fall anywhere on the spectrum.
Overall I would call this first day a success and I'm looking forward to the days to come.

30 - Dry Tortugas

My first research cruise has officially begun.  After a weekend of being sick and not getting much done, today has been a total whirlwind of craziness.

My day began at 5:45 when I awoke to rent a ladder from Home Depot so I could install my motion sensors on my outdoor floodlights.  It doesn't make sense to leave them on for 10 straight days while I'm away so I wanted to get it done before leaving.  I struggled to fit the components into the existing fixture so to make a long story short all I did was replace the bulbs with energy efficient ones and left the 4 by the corner/backyard on.  While up on the ladder, I noticed a serious accumulation of leaves and muck on the roof of the screened porch, likely the culprit of all the leaks I've noticed below.  I decided to clean out the roof of all the debris then decided the grass had already gotten out of hand and needed to be cut so I quickly took care of that.  After showering, paying my cable bill, and finishing up the last of the packing, I headed out to return the ladder, pick up a few things from CVS, fill up my car with gas, and drive to RSMAS for a meeting.  Afterwards, I rushed off to the post office, picked up lunch, returned to RSMAS to eat and fix an inflator hose for the trip.  We got away late but reached Key West by 7pm.

I have been introduced to the crew, several of the divers, and the boat.  After an hour and a half briefing, we were able to take some time before the 11pm departure during which time my carpool (Steve, Nathan, and I) got dinner.

We watched the end of game 2 of the Heat-Celtics playoff game where the Heat won in overtime.

Now I've climbed into my bunk below deck and am being lulled by the slow steady rocking of the boat cutting through the calm waters on a clear night on our way to the Tortugas.  It's been a long time since I've slept on a boat (and Passion, the yacht I sore didn't hardly rock anyway) so it's nice to feel the calming sensation again.  I write this at 12:30 in my bunk tucked away below deck behind my curtain nestled up against the wall under a dim, almost flickering light thinking to myself that I'm finally on another grand adventure.  I'm excited to see what this new experience brings.  As for now, I've earned my sleep.  Goodnight.

Dry Turtles

I meant to post earlier about my upcoming trip.  This is really my last opportunity to put anything before I go.  Tomorrow I leave for the Dry Tortugas, an area about 70 miles west of Key West, accessible by only sky or sea.  I'll be spending a bit of time out there doing what are called Reef Visual Censuses.  I'll be doing working dives about 5 times a day where the entire dive is devoted to surveying the sites by identifying and recording fish species, recording the amount of each species present, minimum, maximum, and average lengths of each species.  The census also includes a plethora of recordings for the benthic habitat: type of substrate, hard/soft coral species, vertical relief, slope, visibility, temperature, cross-sectional area at several heights above the base depth, and a number of other sightings such as trash, lionfish, urchins, conch, etc.  It's going to be a lot of work, but from what I hear of the diving, it's some of the best in nearly the entire Caribbean.  The Dry Tortugas is an area whose regulations are very strictly enforced, thus keeping people out.  Boating, fishing, swimming, and diving are highly restricted and the paperwork required to bring a boat into it keeps most of the world away.  This means that many of the fish that I will see out there have never seen a diver before.  Many of the reefs are potentially unexplored.  I'm anticipating that the amount and the variety of marine life is going to be rivaled only by the Philippines and the Red Sea (of the places I've dived).  Yes, I know my hopes are high.  I don't honestly expect the diving to be as good as either of those two places but I do think it will be the best I've seen since Egypt.

I desperately need some sleep because I'm waking up tomorrow at 5:45 to take care of a long list of tasks that need to be finished before I leave at 1:30.

P.S. there's no internet or cell reception on the boat so you'll have to wait until I'm back to find out how it went.  Peace!

Recently

The academic year has come to a very sudden end.  I didn't see it approaching but finals week is nearly over by now, marking the end of my second full academic year in Miami, the end of the first full academic year of teaching.  One year ago marked the last time I was a student.  Since kindergarten, the longest streak I've ever had of not being a student was my year abroad (the reason for starting this blog) and in a few months when this summer is over I will have tied that streak though this time it is evident that I'm going to continue the streak.

In the news (of my life)...

I have moved out of my parent's house completely.  All of my remaining belongings are in a pile ready to be picked up by a moving truck and will be here in less than a month.  It's certainly a weird feeling and I do feel significantly grown up.

Christina has started her internship at Biscayne National Park.  It's a year-long internship that's located about 45 minutes to an hour and a half away (depending on traffic).  I'm excited that she's going to be within driving distance for the next 12 months.  I don't know if I mentioned it before but I was concerned that she would end up in an internship that was outside of southern Florida and we would rarely see each other but realistically we'll share each other's company on a fairly regular basis especially since she's living within a mile of me for the entire summer.

For someone who makes a living out of diving, I don't dive all that often these days.  This is why this week is looking so exciting.  Monday: help on a checkout dive.  Tuesday: 2 nitrox dives for our students from this past semester.  Wednesday: dive with.... actually, I forget now.  Thursday: practice dive for the reef surveys I'll be doing over the summer for a few weeks in and beyond the FL Keys.

If you don't count orchestra which was 3 hours a week, I'm playing about as much viola these days as I did back at Denison.  Okay, so maybe that's even still an exaggeration but I play an average of 30 minutes a day, so frequently in fact that I haven't even put my viola in its case for the past 2 weeks.

Field Work

Little Salt Spring

Remember how I said that I need pretty constant stimulation? This characteristic renders me not impressed when I drive across the state to watch over a diving operation for a week that is already running smoothly. There are two reasons why I'm here: oversee the diving/tending to any problems or emergencies, and to become more familiar with Little Salt Spring and the way classes are run out here. Both are necessary but I end up doing nothing. I waited from 9 until 11 this morning for divers I was supposed to give an introductory dive. At 11, Dr. Gifford tells me that he misread their email and they were instead planning to come Wednesday or Thursday. After that, I filled tanks, weaseled my way into the diving schedule, and filled more tanks before dinner. I don't normally read but I allowed The Old Man and the Sea to stow away with me and I'm keen to start it.  Again, I understand  and agree with the reasons for having me here but I just need to find something to keep me busy.

Floridian Life

There it is!  It's official!

Allow me to start out by announcing I am now officially a licensed Florida resident.  On the right is the proof.  In Florida, getting a driver's license is the only step required to becoming a permanent resident.  Fancy that!  Not only is all of that taken care of, but I registered to vote, bought some work clothes, had lunch, and renewed my causeway toll card all before noon.  I then took the liberty of going to get a haircut (my license picture makes it pretty apparent that I needed one).

Diving the Sapona Wreck from Steve's Boat

Enough about Florida though.  This past weekend (Sunday and Monday) I went to my 25th country: the Bahamas!  I'm one up on my goal of seeing as many countries as my age.  ...one up for the time being.  The experience was fantastic, going over with the diving class on one of the students' 50' boat and staying at his vacation house.  What a treat!  The only semi-downer of the entire experience is that the weather was constant sorrow the entire trip from the moment I woke up in Miami until the moment I finally walked back through the door back at home in Miami.  That being said, the Bahamas had it a little easier than Miami did in terms of Monday morning's rain.  The bottom line though is that we left RSMAS with 13 people and returned back with the same amount the next evening and had a fantastic experience.  Big shout out to Steve, Rick, and UM Risk Management for allowing this trip to happen!

Moving farther backward in time, Saturday was my first shark trip in 6 months!  Due to some complications and scheduling issues with our normal boat agency down in Islamorada, we are now going out of Key Largo which is only an hour away as opposed to two so I can leave at 6:30 instead of 5:30.  I love it.  Anyway, needless to say we went to a new site and while there, we caught a shocking 7 Nurse sharks and 2 Caribbean Reef sharks as well as one Goliath Grouper.  Although I was rusty and made a few mistakes, it was great to be out on the water again with the team.

Stimulus Plan

I have determined that one of the ways for me to be happy is to be constantly stimulated.  Much like an 8 year old boy, I can't sit and do the same monotonous thing over and over.  This is one of the reasons I would not last a single month in an office job.  I need change, expansion, development, action, improvement, and constant stimulation.  This explains why automatic cars are so boring to me, why I like to move, why I decide to randomly pick up new hobbies like rock climbing and playing the ukulele, and it helps explain the way I run my life.

I bring this up not due to what the new job is but what it has the potential to be.  UM has one of the top diving programs in the country already, but we don't want to just stop there.  In a conversation I had with my supervisor tonight, we have the potential to earn the respect of THE premier university diving institution in the country.

I am totally amped up about all the possibilities that there are such as the science diving club, the advanced techniques in research diving course, and the eventual masters degree involving diving and field technician training.

If I end up staying in Miami for more than 4 years, it will be specifically for this diving program.  If it continues to grow, it's pretty much the only thing I can see that might keep me here in Miami and for good reason.

It's well past my bedtime but I'll keep updated about any new developments.  Stay tuned for greatness!

This Is What I Do

I thought I had it rough when I tried explaining my student status last year when people would ask what year I was in school:
"Well, I already graduated but I'm switching fields to marine science (not just marine biology like everyone automatically assumes). I'm taking some undergrad and some grad courses with the long-term goal of applying for a masters either here in Miami or elsewhere."
That's about as short as I could possibly get it.

Now that I'm an employee, things are even harder. Whenever I give the bare bones answer of what I do at UM, it goes something like this:
"My job has two components. First I'm the general lab manager for all marine science undergraduate labs. Second, I'm the assistant diving safety officer."

I generally have to give more details about both positions. Explaining the lab manager portion of the position is not hard because the job is very straightforward.  However, no one really understands the other part of my job.  Part of the reason it's hard to convey is that I don't know all of the duties I will have but the other hurdle I have to overcome is that when I say it, it sounds like a petty position.  Anything I say henceforth is out of excitement and to convey what my job is.  I'm not trying to make myself sound better or brag about my position.

Based on facts I've pieced together and a little bit of research I've done on my own online, it's pretty clear that the University of Miami's scientific diving program is one of the most established, safe, and active programs in the country.  Scientific diving differs drastically from recreational diving not only in the goals and purpose of the dives but also in the training and the style of diving that is done.  All divers, regardless of experience, background, and position in the university are required to go through a rigorous semester-long course that honestly covers more diving theory and rescue skills than the PADI Divemaster course and extensively teaches different techniques for positioning, propulsion, buoyancy, and data collection.

As the assistant diving safety officer, I will be overseeing all diving operations that go through the University of Miami of which we had about 130 active science divers last year logging dives.  I will be helping with the classroom sessions, pool training, and open water training dives for students going through the course.  I will also be doing check-out dives for those who haven't been diving in a while, equipment maintenance and servicing, administrative paperwork, and even the chance to go out on field work both locally and internationally.  The position provides full university job benefits as well as the  unwritten ones like obtaining more diving experience and certifications and eventually being able to take and teach the graduate boating certification course alone.  My excitement is pretty intense even though the job has not yet been signed off by human resources (remember my last post?).  I have a lot to look forward to and I will be posting about it right here in this blog so please stay tuned for exciting news from the academic work force!

Included below is a video about GUE, a diving organization (PADI, NAUI, SSI, etc are examples of diving organizations) that commits itself to education, exploration, and conservation.  It is the system in which our science dive training is based on and it is the most thorough system I've ever encountered.  By the way, you can find my instructor and boss in the video sometime in the last third of the video.  His name is Rick.

You Just Gotta Belize

I'm sorry I can't say anything about the trip or the students due to legalities because I really have a lot to say that was not covered in the trip updates written by the students.

Belize is nice. Diving here is not like in the Pacific or the Red Sea but the country has a lot going for it. My favorite thing about it is the accessibility of all the cayes (islands) along the coast. Every caye has a different vibe and you need to see several to get a real idea of what Belize is all about.

A stroke of good fortune has come my way over the course of today however. The potential job at RSMAS that involves diving is very much within my grasp. If a few more things fall into place over the next month in Miami, then I may have a real-life job! I don't want to speak too soon so please don't spread the word yet. It's just been on my mind so much that I have to put it into writing.

Rounding out February

As black history month winds to a close, my life continues to be full of fun and excitement.

On Friday I went on another shark trip. I was in charge of writing the blog for the day, so I will insert here the entry I made for the program:


Preparation for the trip this morning was carried out with efficiency and enthusiasm. Interns and students alike were itching to get out on the water and start reeling in the sharks. There was an unmistakable excitement in the fresh early morning air that built as the Miami-Dade College students volunteered to load the bait-crates with our collection of assorted fish parts. Watching them jump in to help without hesitating at the sight of sliced fish reassured us that this was going to be a fantastic day for catching sharks.

[The level of anticipation was very high as the hooks were being baited and dropped]

When all was ready, we set forth on our way seaward. Everyone pitched in when the time came to set the drumlines out with the tasty fish steaks attached. An efficient round of setting the lines brought us to our lunch break right on schedule. We used the opportunity to get to know the students, share shark stories, answer questions about sharks and shark research, and demonstrate exactly what will happen when we do catch one. The atmosphere became electric as soon as the time came to pull back around to the first line.

[There was a slow start to the day but it quickly picked up from there]

One of the things we have to deal with is nature's biting sense of humor. All of the buildup for reeling in sharks started to fade after 9 consecutive lines were pulled up empty. Just as hopes were starting to fall, I felt a good deal of tension on the 10th line. Sure enough, a 7ft nurse shark was on the other end.

[A total of 4 nurse sharks were pulled in today. All of them were large and were therefore not brought onto the deck.]

Like clockwork, everyone assumed their proper positions and we geared up with the tail rope. Nurse sharks have tougher skin than other species thus we do not bother with the muscle biopsy. They are notorious for putting up a fight making it difficult to safely bring the larger ones on board, hence the decision to rope the tail and make our measurements without pulling the shark out of the water. After an exhausting struggle, we successfully brought the nurse to the boat, roped the tail, and stabilized it without causing it any harm. Measurements were taken and morale was boosted as each student was able to come and feel the rough scales of this bottom-dweller.

[Here a black tip is being measured. The pump in its mouth causes water to flow across the gills allowing the shark to maintain oxygen levels.]

We let the shark go and with a renewed vigor proceeded to the next drumline. Throughout the rest of the day we managed to pull in 3 more nurse sharks, two black tips, and one lemon. The nurses tested our strength and tail-roping abilities but the black tips and lemon were brought to the deck, measured, sampled, and tagged with the precision and efficiency expected of an experienced team.

Alex Rodriguez Park

That night I ended up going to a UM baseball game where Appalachian State U upset us 7-5. That was my 4th UM sporting event I have attended and it was the 4th loss I've witnessed. Yes, it is sad.

Viola Day concert

On Saturday, there was an event at the Frost School of Music (in the heart of the main UM campus) called “Viola Day.” Yes, there was in fact an entire day devoted to sharing the love for the best instrument ever. I attended a couple of the forums and heard the concert. It was really quite nice to be back in the music atmosphere, albeit very brief.

Today was another early morning with a wake-up at 6am (30 minutes later than Friday morning!) but with plans of diving, it was completely worth it. I should mention I have the freakish ability to be wide awake within about 2 minutes of waking up without needing any energy supplement: it works about 90% of the time but it's amazing. Anyway we made it out to the marine campus, loaded up the van, and headed toward Miami Beach to load the boat at the marina. The dive boat was disgustingly full: there were 49 people on a 50 person capacity boat and easily a hundred tanks (2 per diver plus spares). One of them was a good friend I work with at the dive shop. It was completely overloaded but the diving ended up going very well. The dives were with my graduate “scientific research techniques in diving” course and we spent our time working on positioning, finning techniques, and skills. The highlight of the dives actually was on the descent of the first dive when I found a dive knife. This is a piece of equipment I've been thinking of buying for a few months and now no longer have the need for one. After the dives we came home, showered, changed, and met up at one of our classmate's houses for a bar-b-que. We made our own burgers, had great conversation, and ended up on the roof. Since we met at the marine campus at 7 and some coconuts caught my eyes, I'd been dying to have one but had no way to get up the tree to retrieve one. Earlier in the afternoon I had spotted a coconut tree that was particularly close to the roof of the friend's house. When we finally decided to go up to the roof, I went straight for the tree, grabbed a loose palm branch, and after about a minute of shaking, successfully dislodged the branch and several coconuts in the process. About 5 minutes after grabbing a large knife from the kitchen and hacking away, we were passing around the freshest coconut water many of them have ever had. By the time we finished drinking them, cut them open, and scraped out some of the meat, it was time to go. What a spectacular end to a great weekend!!!

WFR - FTW!

I'm behind again. This is starting to become the theme of the blog. I suppose it's due to the fact that I have much less time to blog nowadays as compared to my time on Gili T for instance.

So here is a brief list of highlights since the last update:

Bernard came to visit while on a business trip here. We went out to dinner at an all-you-can-eat Argentinian steakhouse and it was absolutely stunning. I finished off with a fantastic filet mignon. The whole experience was exquisite and made up for the fact that I had to study for a test the next day and write a paper.

With a bit of magic (not on my part), I got into the scientific diving course that I've been dying to take! It's a graduate level course that meets a minimum of 8 hours/week and is going to be quite rigorous. This will have a huge impact on my decision of where to go post-December. The other class that I was registered for is a graduate course titled Tropical Meteorology based on a recommendation from a marine physics professor.

I bought bike parts. After a mishap with a popped tire, I bought two new ones (of high quality so it won't happen again), as well as head and tail lights. I'm back on the road and as long as there is a minimal chance of rain, I'm taking to the streets! Okay, well, not the main ones. Just the ones where I won't get killed. And the bike paths when available. Actually I'm probably going to go on a very long ride tomorrow since I have nothing to do before 2pm.

I went up to North Carolina for Thanksgiving break! It was great to see family again since the chances I have to be with them have been severely reduced over the past year and a half. We scoped out the venues for the wedding in June which was a bizarre experience for me. Marriage seems so far away for me that I struggle to relate and it's weird to see my sister going through the process. It's not bad at all – on the contrary, I couldn't be happier for her. It's just that it's weird b/c it's such a foreign concept in my life right now, that's all.

The PhD student who is ultimately in control of the lab I'm working in successfully defended his dissertation today. He did a spectacular job and I couldn't help but admire him through it all. Not only his composure, well-made smooth presentation, ability to field questions, but particularly the joy I could see in his eyes when I saw him walking around with his parents after he passed. My degree was earned through 4 years of blood, sweat, and tears but he has been working on his PhD for 4 and a half years. I would be fooling myself if I thought for a second that the joy I experienced when I finished my degree compares at all to the feeling I could see beaming across his face today.

I WFRed a girl at school today. Allow me to explain: I finished a marine science test and as I exited the building, there appeared to be a massive traffic jam. After pushing my way through the crowd, I noticed that just outside the doorway was a girl lying on the ground with a few people around her. Unsure of what had happened, I squeezed my way through a few more people, through the door, and started asking what had happened. Faith in UM students quickly faded when the guy “in charge” told me that he wasn't present when she went down and in fact none of the ones standing there saw it happen. It was between classes and there's no way she could have been in the doorway without traffic. Whoever saw it happen must have actually walked away. Anyway, she was responsive but a little weak. I gathered the facts, found out that she had a recurring iron deficiency, and asked a few other questions. My WFR instructors would not have been entirely pleased because once I figured out what was wrong, I stopped asking questions. I should have taken what's called a SAMPLE history and written it out on paper to hand to the paramedics. There's always next time.

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for me! It's crazy to think that a semester has already passed me by. I don't think I'll have too much to say between now and my exam on the 8^th, but road-tripping adventures are on the horizon!