Ahhhhh...nature.

On Monday my nerves were completely shot from not sleeping the night before. Alas, school had begun again. When I originally decided what classes I was going to register for, my main goal was to get a few prerequisites completed so I could move on to bigger and better things. Usually, I talk to people that have had classes from a certain professor before to find out a little about the class and teacher to see if it would be a good fit for me. Well, since I changed majors at the last minute I didn't really have the opportunity to do this and honestly it hasn't turned out all that bad. To begin with, my first class is genetics. Due to my nature of not being late for anything I arrived about 10 minutes early for class the first day. There was only a few people in the classroom, and not recognizing anyone I just found a seat on the second row. I got all my stuff ready and then just sat there and watched the people come in. First of all I was surprised by the age of this group. The majority of students looked mid to late 20's. This is good. Next I noticed that the vast majority of guys in there either shaved their heads or were completely bald. This is okay. Next I noticed the teacher. He looked about my age and was also bald. So being the observant person I am, I have concluded that you have to be an older student and/or bald to take genetics. When the teacher walked in he took a quick glance over the class and then began to talk. He told about himself and his credentials and why he is a molecular biologist etc. Now, while listening to this blah blah blah I did catch few words. They were 4 letter words that begin with an "S". I won't lie. I found it hilarious and yes I've gone back for more.

Next up 9:00 evolution. I've had this teacher before and knew that he was good. Again, I'm early to class, mostly because it is about 100 feet from where I just was. I sit down in the front row, get my stuff ready and observe. Again, mid 20-year-old men, not so many bald this time. The teacher walks in and tries to get the computer ready. It's not working. He leaves to get his laptop and comes back. He glances up and sees me. We say hello and he looks over the class. His next comment was something like "Oh look, your the only girl." I quickly turned around and sure enough I was. The teacher then made several comments about me being the only girl and divorcing Jeff. At some point when he was looking down, another girl walked in and sat down. It took him a few minutes to realize that I was no longer the only girl, but he did take note and teased her also. Even better, her name is Amber too, so I never know who he is talking to, or about. I think that I may have been renamed "married Amber" at this point.

10:00 Biology II, I tried to be really early, but the building is 2 blocks away, my short stubby legs couldn't go any faster. I was still on time and forced to sit in the front row. This class is one of those "required classes" that tend to be a little tedious and was fairly uneventful.

11:00 Ecology, why oh why can't they have an ecology major at Dixie? I get to class on time, not early, because I have a 2 block walk back to the science building. I sit with the people at my table and begin to chat and chat and chat. Finally someone goes to see where the teacher is. Evidently, he didn't get the memo about the time change. He apologizes for being late. What was that? Was that an accent? Holy cow it was an accent. South African. Nice. I could listen to this voice all day long. He explains what we will be doing in the class and leaves it at that.

2:00 Ecology lab. Wow! Same teacher. He explains that we will not really have any labs in the actual classroom. Most of our time will be spent on sugar loaf (a hill here in St. George) doing some basic experiments. We also may get the chance to watch condors in Zion National Park as well as count fish somewhere, if he can get it all set up. He also is going to schedule an overnight camping trip sometime in the near future so we can do more field work and get to know our classmates better.

I left school feeling so good on Monday. Don't get me wrong I know that I have a huge amount of work in front of me, but just the thought of doing field work is relaxing to me.