Form and Function

First things first, my introduction. I graduated in 1997 with a B.S. in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University. I worked for the U.S. Forest Service doing GIS (Geographic Information Systems) work and a tiny bit of field work and wildland firefighting from 1997-2001, first in Minnesota, then here in Colorado. I moved to Fort Collins in 1999 to start a Master's at CSU in remote sensing and GIS, but after finishing all my coursework and with my thesis staring me in the face, I had something of a career crisis and began considering moving into a different line of work. My thesis languished for several years until I finally committed to not finishing my degree, and in the mean time I trained and began working as a doula (professional labor and birth support person). I continue to work as a doula today and now also teach a childbirth preparation series called Hypnobabies and breastfeeding classes as well. I have been with my husband Matt for 6 years and do not have children.

As for why I'm taking A&P, that's an excellent question that frankly I'm still asking myself. As much as I love working in the childbirth field, every so often I give some hard thought to the irregular work and low-paying nature of the job. Recently I looked into what it would take for me to become a nurse through the UNC second degree program, and A&P is the first step in that process. So for the moment I am starting to work my way through the prerequisites and will make a final decision about pursuing nursing, or perhaps midwifery, on down the line.

My greatest strength and greatest weakness as a student are probably the same: I have already spent a lot of time as a student. I am willing and able to do my work, study, I generally get good grades, etc. No mysteries there. But it is definitely weird to be going back to undergraduate classes after spending 3 years in graduate school and having left my early 20's far behind. And general chemistry and biology were are looooong time ago, so I'm glad we're doing a review.