This week turned out to be slower than I anticipated  (not complaining, well kinda).  I spent most of my time getting organized and doing admin requirements.  I am in the process of deciding on a minor of study. So my official program so far is:  majoring in Nutrition and Health Science with a specialization in Community Nutrition and Health Promotion.  I am leaning toward minoring in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition (if cleared by my adviser, Dr. Carr and the department)

I really want to have a well rounded experience and learn about the internal workings of the body as well as how we function in our environment as a community and psychologically/emotionally.  I will get to take behavioral courses and work with people as part of the dietetic internship so I think it’s important to back that up with a great understanding of molecular nutrition.

Today was my first experience in Dr. Carr’s lab (who I received my assistantship with).  I learned how to use a gas chromatograph!  It’s used to separate different molecules and measure their respective amounts in a solution after the solution has been vaporized.  This machine is really more of a robot.  All you have to do is load your samples into the tray that is numbered and set up your methods on a computer and this arm will grab them one by one to get analyzed, wash its syringe between samples, record the results in a table, and then put them back in the tray!

So tonight while I am sleeping the gas chromatograph will be working tirelessly and in the morning we’ll transfer the data to a pdf file and take all the credit, buahahaha.  It was a good first day at the lab. Something not too complicated yet interesting.  Dr. Carr is a great teacher and I look forward to the semester in his lab.