Micro Lab

My journey to nursing has me in a classroom this summer at UW sitting in Microbiology lectures and working in Microbiology lab. The first lab assignment was to collect microorganisms from various places - your skin, bathtub, sink, etc. and then incubate them at room temp on TSY medium (a growth medium). So I got to work. I split my petri (reminds me of land before time) dish into 8 different sections and started inoculating...my ear, fingerpad, fingerpad after purell, shower, tolietseat, cell phone, and computer keyboard...one was left blank because I ran out of sterile swabs.

A week later I checked in on my work and found some interesting results...

• Purell doesn't work...MO's grew ferociously...although there was a little less diversity than the original fingerpad sample.


• My ear was freakishly clean - only one little colony (I think it was a stray from the air)


• The colonies from the shower were (not surprisingly) the same color as the pinkish gunk that builds up between cleanings.


• The sample with the largest growth, fuzziest growth and most diverse growth was....wait for it....the computer keyboard! SICK! but I do use my computer everyday, multiple times a day...and think about all the places your fingerpads touch...it was disgusting. Let's just say my next project is to research ways to sterilize/clean my computer and cell phone (it wasn't any prettier!)

I wish I would have taken a picture in lab...next time I'll bring my camera so you can all be enlightened in regards to the microscopic world!

Summer Class

So I am taking a class this summer through Montana State University and it is about learning how to use web tools in your classroom. I'm really excited about the things that I am learning and I think it is interesting the way the class is run. It is all online and we have readings and videos to watch and then we respond by posting on our blogs which are all connected in a group. I've never been in a classs like this before where I am assessed on my written responses to things. It's kind of fun! This last week we looked at using blogs and wikis in the classroom and now we are setting up our own personal learning networks. pretty fun stuff...reminded me that I have this blog and so I am once again motivated to try to keep up on it!

A few pics

Summer at the Hood Canal

The Girls in Malibu

The Graduate!