I apologize for my arrogance and deep thinking.

I apologize for my arrogance about my score on the lab exam. I really didn't expect it to be that easy so I was a bit exuberant, some would say, obnoxious.

This Friday I have my first lab practical which is basically a test over everything we have done and learned in lab. It's worth 100 points and I doubt it will be anywhere near as easy as the lecture exam. This is where all the labeling of parts and defining of functions will come in. This will be full of open ended questions and the answers will come strictly from my brains. And from what I hear, one cup of coffee runs out after 3 hours. That means I will be dumb by 10am like the guy in Flowers for Algernon. (High-five on the obscure reference...anyone?)

I'm good on the naming of organs, regions and cuts. I think I am also up to speed on cell parts and functions, including cell division. The trouble area that I have not prepared enough for is identifying tissues from the slides and identifying parts of the skin. I will spend the next few days working on that.

In lab last week, my friend Terry (the non-traditional student I've mentioned before) and I discussed mortgages and taking our kids to the zoo. Two young girls at my table mentioned randomly that they were wearing their boyfriends' shirts.

Really?

I have felt like a kid my whole life because I assumed that I have never really lived. I've often wished I could go and do things over again and fix those things I regret (different classes, different friends...). But in that moment, I realized that I never want to be a kid like that again. I don't know exactly how to describe it but I feel that the highs and lows, problems, joys and monotony of my life finally have some significance. (Did I mention monotony?) Maybe they did back then as well but I am just now seeing how the pieces fit together in the puzzle. Either way, my point is that those girls just had no clue about life and I am starting to see that I do and could never go back to that time and lose all those intangibles that I've gained in the last 10 years. I guess I just needed the contrast to see how I've changed. Thanks, college.

How will I see things differently when I'm 40? I'll look back and say, "Man, I was an idiot when I was 30." Then I'll go put on one of Jason's shirts.