Run and Tumble

Man, I was nervous going in.   Heart pounding, wobbly kneed nervous.

Would I find out I liked reading about bugs a lot more than formally learning about them? Would I confirm that I suck at listening to lectures, regardless of interest?  Would I be surrounded by kids and feel like the weird beardy non-trad student that I am? Would it be all about just clinical microbiology with none of the other interesting stuff?

No worries on any of those points.

The prof is new this year, and she is awesome. She’s got the kind of enthusiasm usually seen only in new teachers or those who refer to their profession as ‘a calling’.  It’s hard to not get excited along with her.

My lecture slot skews older than normal. The class  starts after 17:00, so it’s accumulated a lot of people with day jobs. It also attracts professional nurses who are working towards a higher certification. I definitely don’t feel weird about my age.

The professor comes from a biotech background, rather than a medical one. She definitely makes sure the nurses learn what they need, but she doesn’t discount other interesting bits as unimportant.

As far as the actual lecture material goes, it was what you’d expect from the opening lecture of a fundamentals course. Even though it was probably the umpteenth time I’ve heard about Redi and his damned flies, this will be the lecture I think of when I recall it.