Bibliosphere

As the nation thinks about the recent tragedy in Connecticut, where 20 children and 7 adults lost their lives, many look to bring gun control into the news. Gun control is seen by some as a way to prevent shootings, but it's not the real cause of this problem. With gun control, guns will still be availible, honest people just won't have any.  That's not to say every gun should be availible.  We don't really need assault rifles for purchase. The true cause of tragedies is often untreated mental illness.  For many, affordable and accessible mental health care is out of reach.  Medications are expensive and may not be covered by insurance.  Counseling is even less covered, and is more expensive without benefits.  Psychologists and psychiatrists are often overbooked, lacking the time to treat many patients.  Mental health care facitilities are shrinking, and are now mostly found in prisons.  Indeed, the incidence of mental illness is the prison pop...

Monday night another angel earned her wings. After over five years of fighting childhood cancer, Ariel passed away in her mother's arms on Monday night.  Ariel always fought like a lion, and will always be remembered as Brave.  Rest in Peace.

"The Truth 365" has been released! Watch it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oljTL1iuMmY

Here are a few quotes to think about: Guerir quelquefois, soulager souvent, consoler toujours.  translation: Cure sometimes, relieve often, comfort always.  A french proverb on the goals of a doctor. In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. -Carl Sagan Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstien As for you Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the li...

Book reccomendations from readings this fall: Birth, by Tina Cassidy The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larssen. The Two-headed Boy and other Medical Marvels, by Jan Bodesen Cosmos, by Carl Sagan Hyperspace, by Michio Kaku Enjoy! There will definetely be more after Christmas Break.

Some excitement is coming for next spring here is Salt Lake. I get to start major level classes in Biomedical Engineering, which is really exciting! I have two classes at major level, and another intro class. I also get to start working in a lab. I got a job working in the Patel Lab at the University's School of medicine, where I will be studying cell growth, tissue grafting and stem cells. The lab also makes and processes grafts for actual patients in the hospital, which is pretty rare to see lab work be used in a clinical setting (or so I'm told). I am super excited for the Spring semester to begin. On a more current note, we have about a foot and a half of snow here at the University. It has been dumped here since Friday morning, and nearly constantly. Ski season is coming soon, and it is beautiful here.

It's election year here in the US, and the Affordable Healthcare act is one of the key platforms that the cadidates argue about. Now this act isn't about research, or improving treatments; it's about health insurance. Don't get me wrong, it's very important to have health insurance so that health care can be affordable and so that everyone has access to preventative and long term care, not just emergency care. Today, 26 years after Chernobyl, the nuclear disaster is still taking it's toll. The area around the site is still off limits due to high radiation, but the fallout in a large area around the zone of exclusion is still affecting new births. The rate of heart defects alone in babies is 8 times the normal level. Birth defects, including limb deformities, cerebal palsy, epilepsy and cognitive defects and delays are at extremely high levels. In Belarus, many of these children end up in orphanages, and later in adult asylums, simply due to the high financial ...

Tonight, please keep Ariel in your thoughts and prayers tonight as she bravely battles on against rhabdo.

It is almost Halloween, and I've been back from fall break for two weeks. A few updates: Sorry I haven't been writing much. Life has been hectic with midterms, projects and some rather interesting (read: difficult to fully understand) concepts. We had our first major snowstorm/ snow fall here in Salt Lake City on Thursday. While it's mostly melted here in town and at the U, the mounains have a nice cover of snow. It's simply beautiful. Ski season isn't too far off. Today was a Pre-med outreach event up at the medical school, and I have now seen my first cadaver (well, 18 of them). Very interesting. I got to see both normal cadavers, as well as most of the major systems, lung cancer, metastic melanoma, and implanted pacemakers, ports and dialysis equipment.

It's been a few weeks since the Salt Lake City Curesearch Walk that i participated in, and here's the current numbers: I personally raised $175, with the help of family, friends and some gift matching from corporations. Thank you so much for everyone who donated. I also roped a friend into coming, which was pretty awesome. The Salt Lake CureSearch walk raised $168,427 as a whole, thanks to over 3000 participants and many donors. But wait, if you've been a slow poke it's not too late to donate. You can donate to the walk's page at  https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp? , although no telling how logn it will be there. You can also donate by mail to CureSearch for Children's Cancer 440 E. Huntington Drive Suite 400, Arcadia, CA 91006 or cut out the middle man and donate straight to cure search at  https://www.kintera.org/AutoGen/Single/SinglePledgeBasket.asp?iev

For the CureSeach walk today, since I didn't have a team or t-shirt to say who I was walking for, I made a sign to wear. All of the names that are written on the sign are children that I know who have, or had cancer. Children with names dotted with gold passed away as a result of treatment. When I opened my computer, after returning from the race, I was greeted with the news that I would need to dot a name with gold. Rest in Peace Bo. http://www.doorcountyadvocate.com/article/20120929/ADV01/309280328

Today, September comes to a close. And with it, 2012's childhood cancer awareness month ends. However, this is not an ending. This is just the beginnning. There is so much more that can be done for childhood cancer, in terms of it's research, detection, prevention, treatment and long term managment, whether that be survivorship or grief management. Why do we need a cure for childhood cancer? So that no parent has to answer, "Mommy, what's cancer?", "when will I get better?" and "what's hospice?". So that no child has their life cut short by a disease or it's treatment. So that families don't live with the possibility that cancer could come back into their lives again with a relapse, a secondary cancer, or even another child's cancer. Childhood cancer awareness is year long. Cancer doesn't stop, so we can't either. Fight for a cure for cancer, until childhood cancer is a bad memory, and until children no longer need t...

This graphic shows the true long term outcome of childhood cancer, with a 30 year span. While 20% of patients die within 5 years of diagnosis, an additional 14% die of their cancer 6-30 years of diagnosis. 19% of patients suffer life threatening or severe health problems, and an additional 25% suffer mild to moderate health problems. That leaves a mere 22% of children living a normal life after treatment, meaning they survive at least 30 years, and have no health problems related to their treatment. Only 22%. These 22% of kids, about 2900 of the 13500 kids diagnosed yearly, will go on to live a "normal" life after cancer. This is the only acceptaple long term outcome. Some people might be ok with mild to moderate health problems. I'm not, and neither are parents, or the kids who have them. Even if we do settle for these 2 outcomes, that still leaves over half of kids in the poor outcomes: death or severe, life-threatening problems. This will never be acceptable. We not o...

4 Year old Aisy pulling her IV at Florida Hosiptal. Read more about Aisy at the foundation founded in her memory to help fight childhood cancer :  http://aisysangels.com/

From "In it Together" : 30 Reasons to get involved in finding a cure for childhood cancer. http://neo4u.org/30-reasons-to-get-engaged-for-pediatric-adolescent-and-young-adult-cancer/

Childhood cancers affect children and young adults ages 0-20. Cure rates have been steadily increasing over the last 20-30 years. However, in the 15-20 year age group,  no  improvement has been made. Yes, teens with cancer die at the same rate as they did in the 80s. Teens have the poorest prognisis for cancer of all age groups, including adults. While the cure rate has stayed the same, incidence has increased. This means that even though more teens are being diagnosed and dying of cancer evey year, we haven't been able to improve their treatment in the last 30 years. Teens also expirience the highest rate of secondary cancers due to the chemotherapy they recieve, and often suffer more side effects. Teens are harder to treat because they sit in the chasm between adulthood and childhood. Teen and adolescent cancers are also notoriously under researched. While childhood cancer is under funded and under researched as a whole, teens are the group least represented. They are of...

In order to make statistics seem real and important you often need a face and a story. Today, I'm going to provide you just that. Aisylin Bledsoe. Aisylin died of nueroblastoma in 2010, just shy of her 5th birthday. Becasue the symptoms of nueroblastoma are so generalized, her tumor wasn't found until it was the size of a grapefruit. Her mother gained much publicty by posting a somewhat controversial photo, one of Aisy surounded by stuffed animals, which at first glance looked as though the little girl was sleeping. Actually, the picture is Aisy in her casket, a grim reminder of the reality of childhood cancer. Why this photo? It raised awareness and donations by giving people and in your face way to see childhood cancer. Something that couldn't be ignored. Here is the article about the picture:  http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2012/sep/23/mother-helping-raise-awareness-of-pediatric-cancer-ar-510263/ , and here is the foundation started by Aisy's mother :  http://www...

A father's story of his daughter's battle with cancer. Raw and honest. http://www.upworthy.com/nsfw-a-comedian-silences-a-room-for-9-minutes-its-not-an-awkward-silence NSFW (a few curses)

It is said that when a child has cancer, the entire family has cancer. In many ways, childhood cancer affects the siblings, parents, extended relatives and friends. Studies have shown that within two weeks of diagnosis, parents show post traumatic stress syptoms, including anxiety, nightmares and sleeplessness. Patients show a higher risk for behavoiral and emotional problems after treatment, including depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic stress symptoms. Even toddlers have shown an increased risk for post traumatic stress syptoms, with the increase being seen signifigantly in kids as young as 18 months. Siblings too, are affected by treatment of their brother or sister. Younger siblings have shown to have more external syptoms, including agression/ behavioral problems, and trouble in school, while older siblings tend to have more inward syptoms, indluding anxiety and depression. Adolescent girls are the group at highest risk, both in patients and siblings. Childhood cancer will...

What were you doing at age 10? I as being a kid: playing with friends, going to fourth grade doing what most other kids do. What was my little brother doing at age 10? Going to chemo treatments and getting radiation therapy for cancer. Just like tens of thousands of other childhood cancer patients: kids who's childhoods were put on hold, or even stopped. The average age for diagnosis of childhood cancer is age 10. What do you want your kids to be doing at age 10? Probably not fighting cancer. That is why we need a cure. So that children don't have to give up years of their childhood to fight for their lives.

A raising awareness challenge for today: Has your local, state or student newspaper published anything related to childhood cancer awareness? Maybe, but more than likely not. So today I challenge you to write to or call your local newspaper and ask them to run a story about childhood cancer awareness. You can also write a letter to the editor, which I just did for the U of U student newspaper (fingers crossed it gets in). What do you say? Speak from your heart. Why is childhood cancer awareness and research important? Who does it affect? Why? How many? What can we do? Be straight-orward, passionate, and direct. Here's my letter: Every day, 46 families are told life shattering news: their child has cancer. Another 7 families will end their battle with cancer today, as their child has passed away. This equates to 12,500 kids being diagnosed with cancer each year, and 2500 deaths. Everyone knows what a pink ribbon stands for. But what about gold? Gold is for our children, who a...

Today is the first day that "The Truth 365" will be releasing previews of their documentary about childhood cancer. Day one:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URnulziqMNA Everyday a new preview will be released, and the final documentary will be released on September 23rd. You can visit their facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/#!/theTruth365film , or their website at  http://thetruth365.org/  to learn more about their movie and childhood cancer.

So there have been some pretty big stories is the childhood cancer world lately. Here are a few: Founder and spokesman for the "I Back Jack" foundation, a foundation dedicated fighting childhood cancer, Jack Bartosz, passed away from neuroblastoma on August 27th.  http://www.ibackjack.org/I_Back_Jack/Home.html Stand Up to Cancer has partnered with St. Baldricks to bring more awareness and funding to childhood cancer and research. Taylor Swift performed an original song written with the help of the mother of Ronan, who passed away from cancer in 2007. She performed this on the VMAs, during which SU2C hosted a telethon. Proceeds from the song will also go to childhood cancer research.

Today, I'm going to briefly answer a huge question: What is cancer? Cancer, also called a "malignent neoplam", is a broad group of diseases (over 200). It is characterized by uncontrolled cell growth, both as a primary tumor and as metasicized tumors. These cancer cells can break off and spread to other body systems and organs, including the blood and lymphatic system. While these types of uncontrolled tumors are cancerous, some tumors are benign, meaning they don't spread, invade or grow uncontrolled. The causes and mechanisms of cancer are very complex, and are not completely known. Some cancers are caused by environmental factors, known as carcinogens. Carcinogens are a broad group of toxic chemicals, found in a variety of places, especially in cigarettes/tabacco products and industrial chemicals. These carcinogens denature/change the cell, which alone can be enough to cause cancer. Other times, an already present genetic defect is needed to completely denature ...

What would it mean to cure childhood cancer? Let's think it terms of lives saved. Every year about 12500 children are diagnosed with cancer, and this number is  increasing . Yes, more children are diagnosed with cancer each year. About 20% of these children will die within five years, and another 5% within ten (so 25% total over 10 years). At the current rate, 2500 children die each year, about 7 each day. That's a minivan of kids each day (a 16 year old driver and 6 passengers under 20) that are dying from cancer; a typical elementary school class every three days. If you heard a story on the news about 7 kids massacred, you would be shocked, horrified and outraged. You would demand harsh punishment, maybe even the death penalty to the killer. Now, imagine this happens everyday, but it's the same killer. That's childhood cancer. So, if we cured childhood cancer, 2500 kids per year would be given a chance to reach adulthood and live happy lives. That's more than ...

So here are a few Childhood Cancer videos John's Hopkins Children's Oncology singing "You Don't Know Your Beautiful"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w75xWhtQ3Lk #! Seattle Children's Hospital, Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGCj5mfCk8 I Back Jack Foundation  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5iIjAArhvM Taylor Swwift sings "Ronan", a song written with the mother of Ronan, who passed away at age 4 from childhood cancer. Buy the song, and proceeds benefit Stand Up to Cancer's Pediatric Cancer research.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS7JrI-JPOc

So, I've now been at the U for three weeks. So far, so good. My classes are going well, and I have my first test on Friday (Physics), so I'm hoping that goes well. This week is homecoming week, and to start it off, we had a huge service project. Over 800 people participated, and lots of things got accomplished: food at the food bank got sorted, over 2000 blankets were made, over 250 emergency/first aid kits were put together, and lots of yardwork, cleaning and home improvement got done around Salt Lake. Tonight is the homecoming carnival, which I'm pretty excited for. I have been super busy with homework, studying, and ddoing things around campus. 18 credits will do that:). Last weekend we had monday off for Labor day, so I had some time to relax and take pictures. Life is good in college world. In other news, I have added to the link section with some new blogs/ websites about childhood cancer and other topics. I have also added a new album of photos, which I took both...

So today, I have prepared for you a collage of articles that take a variety of view in the childhod cancer world. I've started each with a quote to capture the essence, and to whet your curiosity. "How much chemotherapy will this buy Cara?" An 8 year old spends his summer competing for $1000, so that he can donate it to his 2 year old neighbor with Leukemia.  /today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48919761/ns/today-good_news/ "Who You'd be Today?" /curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/forum/topics/who-youd-be-today "Curing Childhood Cancer is the equivilent of curing Breast cancer in terms of productive life years saved."  curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/forum/topics/nci-funding-more-lies-damn "We all have busy lives but it's urgent that we each do more to stop kids from getting cancer."  /www.healthychild.org/blog/comments/090412_childhood_cancer_on_my_mind/ "Giving a voice to kids fighting cancer"  /thetruth365.org/ "People know me for ...

Cancer isn't a one and done disease, like a cold. it's treatment takes months, years even. And even then, cancer leaves it's effects. Over 60% of childhood cancer survivors have moderate to severe late effects. These come from a variety sources, mostly chemotherapy, but also from radiation, surgury and the cancer itself. Of these long term effects, almost 2% are fatal. Many different conditiions have been tied to childhood cancer treatments. Heart disease, athsma, diabetes, infertility and secondary tumors have all been linked to chemo and radiation treatments. Yes, that's right, cancer treatments carry an elevated risk of getting a second cancer. Late effects also include neuropathy, which can limit survivors' day to day activities. Some survivors loose limbs as part of their battle, which although not the end of the world, can lead to bullying and other problems. Nearly 15% of survivors are limited in daily activies. Some late effects are psychological. Almos...

So, this is try number 3 tonight for what to write. There is so much I could say about childhood cancer, it's importance, it's injustice, the pain it causes, and the need for a cure. But I've realized I need to start at the beginning. When I was in 6th grade, I was at a special school, in a class of 28, that would move through 7th and 8th grade together. There were 2 main teachers at the middle school, neither of whom I knew, yet. In May of 2006, a friend told me that the daughter of the math and science teacher had passed away at age 7 due to complications from childhood cancer. This was my first exposure to childhood cancer. We wanted to organize a walk in memory of her, and form a group at our school to promote cancer awareness. This didn't work out, and childhood cancer fell to the back of my mind as I started middle school. But cancer didn't stay there. In November 2006, my younger brother's eye began to bulge outwards. After visiting specialists, having...

Research is an extremely important part of childhood cancer and it's treatment. It is due to research that the 5 year survival rate of childhood cancer has risen to nearly 80% (note: this is only 5 years. the overall survival rate is about 62%). While only 1% of adults with cancer are enrolled in clinical studies and research, nearly 80% of kids are. Here are some reasons why: A high percentage of childhood cancers are metasticized. This means the cancer has spread beyond the primary tumor making it harder to treat. For this reason, traditonal chemo/ surgury/ radiation treatments may not be enough. New treatments are constantly being developed, meaning doctors, parents and patients alike are on the lookout for developments and hope. Childhood cancers are DIFFERENT from adult cancers. Yes, different. The cancers react differently to treatments, have different pathologies and the kids themselves are more resiliant and can handle different treatments than adults. Yet, despite this...

There are many ways to help children with cancer, and one way to do it is to donate your fluids: blood and bone marrow. Chemotherapy, the standard treatment for many cancers, works by killing rapidly reproducing cells, which is what cancer is. However, chemo isn't an exact treatment, and other rapidly producing cells are often caught in the crossfire. These cells including blood cells. As a result of this blood cell murder, most cancer patients need a blood tranfusion at some point. This is where you come in. See, here in America, our blood supply is mostly donations. And there are never too many blood donors. In fact, many areas suffer blood shortages, from not enough donors. This causes treatment to be delayed for hours or even days until blood is located and processed, creating harmful side effects. You can donate blood at either a donation center or at a blood drives. Blood drives are usually held at schools, churches and hospitals, but can be held pretty much anywhere the ...

Today, 46 families had thier lives turned upside down. They were told that thier child has cancer. Another 7 familes had their lives irreversibly changed. Their child lost the battle with cancer. This happens everyday. This is unnacceptable. Pediatric Cancer takes more children's lives that Athsma, Heart Problems, Birth Defects and Pediatric HIV COMBINED. As you read this, there are familes dealing with the unimaginable. Mothers and fathers are answering questions from their children that no parent should ever answer: "Mommy, what's cancer?" "When can I see my friends, go to school or be normal?" "Why does this medicine make me sicker?" "What's hospice?" Together, we can work to change this. We can work to cure cancer, find better treatments, address late effects, and support survivors. Wear Gold; Support the kids.

Tomorrow, September 1, marks the beginning of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. So, for the month of September, I will be changing to color of my blog from green to gold. Some Childhood Cancer facts (courtesy of Candlelighters acco.org) Every year in the US 13,400 children (ages 0-19) are diagnosed with cancer. That equates to 46 children a day. Another way to approach this number: 1 in 330 children will get cancer. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of disease related death. About 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer will die as a result of their cancer. Over 60% of those who do survive suffer moderate to severe complications, including infertility, diabetes, heart disease, and secondary cancers. The most common childhood cancers are leukemias, followed by brain and CNS tumors. The average age for a childhood cancer diagnosis is 10 years old. 80% of children has a metastic cancer (meaning the disease has spread and is therefore harder to treat and survive), as compared ...

So, Saturday marked my last day at my job (swim teacher/lifegaurd) until I come home in December. That means that I had to bid all of my students farewell :(. So, in honor of all that I have learned from teaching, I have compiled Steffi's list of tricks to teach small children (in no particular order). Get down to their level: kneel, sit or crawl so that you can look them in the eye. Make them learn when they think it's only a game. This is the best learning. Kids love to play games. Get creative. Use their imaginations. Remember their names and things about them. This helps you bond with your students and gets them to trust you. Talk to them. Ask them about their favorite colors and things to do. Be happy. Laughter, fun and joy are all contagious. Don't be afraid. Be calm. Don't show fear. Be safe (duh). Listen. Mix it up. Repeat skills. Don't do the same exact thing weeek. But don't mix it up too much. Routines are good, and they help kids remembe...

Even though August has just begun, school is coming soon. I leave for college in less than a week, and I am super excited. Class schedules and textbook prices fly through my head daily, and my list of needed supplies dwindles as I spend my paychecks on school supplies. So, happy school supply shopping to everybody!

Some more interesting books I've read in July: Electrified Sheep  by Alex Boese Shadow of the Titanic  by Andrew Wilson Time Machine  by HG Wells (a classic in sci-fi). In this same catagory:  20000 Leagues Under the Sea  by Jules Verne A movie, and a little dated (also rated R): "Children of a Lesser God". More to follow. happy reading!

In the Victorian era, photography was in it's infancy. Exposures took many minutes, the equipment was heavy and awkward, and developing took many harsh chemicals. But, it was a novelty, and often something that was treasured for many years. A single photo could be the pride of a family. And, with traveling photographers only coming around so often, families siezed the chance to take photos. So, out of this culture came postmortem photography. The dead were posed, either with or without living family members, to form a memento. This was often the only picture of the dead. Many were posed in lifelike positions, either propped up with pillows, "sleeping", or held in position with detailed stands. While to us, this seems kind of gruesome, this was simply a way of remembering the dead.

I finally got to watch "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". It shot very cinemographically, with beautiful pans, compositions and focuses. the art of the filiming alone is worth watching for. The main character, Oskar, depicts the struggles of being nuerologically atypical, perhaps on the ausistic spectrum. As he deals with his father's death in 9-11, Oskar goes on a journey through New York city where he faces many of his fears and problems. I found the film well worth watching, and quite entertaining. Enjoy. more information on the film:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477302/

Books! •The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  by Rebecca Skloot • Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers  by Mary Roach (warning, while I really enjoyed this book, it discusses what happens to bodies after death, including organ donation/ harvests, causes of death and scientific research done on cadavers in detail. You have been warned) • A Brief History of Medicine  by Paul Strathern •Anything by the Mutter Museam (medical curiosities) Girl with a Dragon Tatoo  by Stieg Larsson (the movie is quite good too, some excellent cinematography and great visual shots. it is rated R however, and very rightly so.) most books by Caroline B Cooney are good for easy and entertaining reads. They ask interesting questions, and while fluffly, are still entertaining. Death and the Virgin Queeen  by Chris Skidmore Physics of the Impossible  by Michio Kaku Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare  Catalyst  by Laurie Halse Anderson (I will admit ...

So, just to elaborate on my post high school plans: I will be attending the University of Utah - College of Engineering/ Honors College. I have been pre-accepted into major status in Bioengineering. This means that while most students need to apply to join my major, they decided that i am special enough to just join the major right away. What does this mean for me: right now, not much. In the future: I can take 3000 level classes right away, and I'm already a part of the Biomed family :). I am part of a fellowship program at the U in engineering that will allow me to start doing research right away, which is super exciting. I am also part of the President's club, which is mostly a name, but also a lot of really cool networking oppourtunities, and a great scholarship. When in Utah, I'm going to be doing a lot of volunteering with kids. For this I am really excited. I'm hoping to get involved with PCH, Girl Scouts in Utah (already involved here, just need to move), an...

Here are a few of my favorite blogs to read http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/ http://doctordavidsblog.blogspot.com/ http://www.oddee.com/ http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/ http://www.signingsavvy.com/

So, I'm creating this blog for all the people who want to follow me. In the fall, I will be moving from Wisconsin to Utah. I will be studying Biomedical Engineering, but learning so much more. I hope to become a Pediatric Oncologist (doctor of children's cancers) one day. Enjoy my stream of consiousness. I am a writer and scientist, a student and a teacher. I love photography, drawing, science expirements, the outdoors, teaching preschoolers how to swim (aka torturing them), puzzles and pretty much anything unique or entertaining. I adore medicine and the human body, which is why I'm going into medicine. I am from all over, and while I'm a natural American, I love all cultures, especially French. I'll add to the collection of stuff about me as time goes on, but for now, you'll just have to wonder.