So, I am undergoing a Summer Project at the minute with my tutor, Dr. Tim Bates and four other students: mes amino Sam, Luke, Corinne and Lee-Anne.
We’ve been honing our skills as well as learning very important things you wouldn’t typically learn during a laboratory practical at University. All these skills will hopefully make me more employable in the future, depending on what I decide to do with myself in the future.
We’ve been dealing with COSHH (Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health) forms which are an important requirement when it comes to laboratory work. Many chemicals and substances used in labs, can be harmful, such as Hydrochloric Acid, HCl, which can cause burns and can irritate the respiratory system. The COSHH forms highlight precautions that must be taken when handling the substance as well as what to do if it makes contact with the skin or eyes or it is inhalated. Trust me, it is all very VERY important!
To fill in these COSHH forms, you must check the MSDS of each of the substances that are requested/ordered. The MSDS has all the information you need to fill in the COSHH forms.
Here is a little look at the paperwork we had:
Fig 1: COSHH and MSDS forms, ready to be sent off in prep for the labs next week.
So, needless to say, it has been tiring and many alterations have been made to the COSHH form, as well as ironing out the odd hiccup here and then, but we have managed it! We signed the MSDS and printed all off and we are ready for the labs next week!
Fig 2: Signing the important forms.
Of course, I should end this with the rest of the team! We are all a lovely bunch of people and the world is starting to learn I will only smile in photos, when I am being a big silly in the photo. It’s what I do best!!
Fig 3: The Summer Project Students: Corinne, Lee-Anne, Me, Luke and Sam.
I won’t deny it, for I have been quite silent other the past few months. This of course, has been due to a multitude of reasons which indeed would take me all night to type up and to be quite frank, I want to sleep for a week right now, maybe even a month, or hibernate until 2016 is over.
It has been a rough year, I cannot even begin to deny that; not just for me has it been rough, but my family as well.
In March, my Grandma passed away due to lung cancer metastasis to the brain. It is thanks to my Grandma that I am where I am now, with a house, in university and with prospects of a good career and future, so it hurt a lot. One of the last things I spoke to her about when she was in the hospital was my dissertation and what I wanted to do as a personal project: Diabetes Awareness and Support for Type 1 Diabetics. Since that conversation with her, this is now my dissertation project and I know she will be proud of me for following it through to the end.
Me and my family when we went to visit Grandma in January.
Recently, my family has had another knock… I found out yesterday that my Grandad has now passed away. It’s been about 3 months since my Grandma, so the blow is pretty harsh, albeit, I am getting by. I still don’t know why he has passed away but I have my own ideas. He was also a type 1 diabetic like myself, so with another in the family, it wasn’t such a lonely world.
Grandad and Me: When I was a tiny weeny little Keita.
I won’t deny this, I will be honest… but in all fairness, I guess I have not yet grieved for my Grandma: I have been so busy all of the time that I guess I just have not had the time to do so, or been able to. When I do, it will be bad, I guess. I still speak as if she is still here and I know I am doing it as well. And now, Grandad is gone too. Maybe I am being selfish, but alas, I cannot help but feel that I am way too young to not have any Grandparents left at all. It seems odd to me, I am only 27. Or is it because I feel guilty that I haven’t been able to go and see my Grandad for about 2 and a bit years or so now… I am really not sure. And I don’t think my brain is ready to even process anything at all yet.
One thing I am certain of, although I am not sure if it is even possible, is that if I am allowed to dedicate my dissertation to anyone, it would be to both my Grandma and my Grandad: Grandma because I told her I would do this and she was very proud of me and how far I have come along and the fact that it was one of the last things I spoke to her about; Grandad because he was like me with type 1 diabetes and I know he would support this fully to the end.
And even if I can’t dedicate the dissertation to them, I know deep down, that I will be. Because in all fairness, it is not just happening because of me, but because of them as well.
My Grandad and Grandma a few years ago.
So, here is to the future, long may I continue to make both of you proud.
… as I am rather aware that I have been quite absent!
I shall try and rectify this this Summer holidays! Maybe, I may even express some creativity here, or exciting dissertation prospects, or perhaps my cat… who knows?
So, blooging will be back soon! I hope! Providing I am not too busy that is…
No… I didn’t buy the stationary today, I actually bought it when the loan went in at the start of January however, due to using the cheapest shipping, it only arrived today! The happiness I felt when it turned up though. I swear, sometimes Japan really know how to make their merchandise dazzle and shine! You certainly (well at least, I have yet to see) cannot buy some of the things that they have over there… even their CD packaging for their Jrock bands are just truly, TRULY stunning… then again, I did used to be a Graphic Design student and I did get an A in Graphic Design and an A* in art and I love packaging so so so so so so much…
ANYWAY.
Japanese Star Wars goodies are with me at last! They are beautiful, so so so beautiful.
Fig 1: A collection of Star Wars goodies from Japan. Not that I needed any more…
So… what did I order? (Using the top photo of everything):
A BB-8 hand towel
A BB-8 vinyl sticker
The Force Awakens slim ring bound notebook
A BB-8 ring bound notebook
Mechanical pencil
Pen
Good guys page markers (droids, Chewbacca, Rey, Finn and Poe)
Bad guys page markers (Kylo Ren, Stormtroopers, Kylo and Stormtroopers, Captain Phasma and Flametrooper)
BB-8 sticky notes set
I am not actually going to use the hand towel, which was bigger than I thought: I’m going to pin it to the wall of my office! Also, The Force Awakens notebook I am going to give to my sister for her birthday because she loves Kylo Ren as well. But the thing I am most excited about.
STAR WARS PAGE MARKERS!!! I love them so so so so much. I am always marking out chapters in text books to read and the one thing that always stand out in my stationary themes is the lack of characterised merchandise in regards to page markers… therefore, my stationary life is now completely and totally complete and I am so so so so so so happy.
Now I need to tidy my office and sort things out.
Eventually.
I guess I’m technically blog procrastinating as I have two very much University life related blogs to come soon in regards to future choices with career and studies as well as dissertation worries. So… for now… HAPPY STAR WARS STATIONARY DAY!!!
Well, yesterday was the BIG presentation day for Fundamentals of Pharmacology and Toxicology. I have heard that a lot of people didn’t particularly enjoy Pharm and Tox as a module however, I have been looking forward to this module for so so so long, since well, before I joined the uni… probably due to the fact Toxicology can play a key role in well, the role of working in a morgue doing Tox screens on bloods on unknown deaths so, of course I am going to enjoy this module! And… it’s interesting to know how drugs actually work in the body. I feel like now, I know a lot about paracetamol that I didn’t know before haha
This piece of coursework was worth 30% which may not sound like a lot… but in reality, in my head anyway, it is a huge amount of a lot! I am not a particularly huge fan of presentations: I may seem confident but in reality, I am the most nervous and anxious wreck known to man! I feel I have to know something as deeply and thoroughly as I can before I present it, and forced knowledge of a subject for a presentation is just the most daunting thing known to man, since forever! The one presentation I have done that I enjoyed, was for College in 2014 when we could pick any topic, so I chose my cat… and took her to the presentation as well as a show-and-tell piece. I think having her there, helped a huge amount.
SO, this presentation!
Basically, it was split into Case Studies, of which we could choose. Me and Chris desperately wanted to do the Paracetamol Overdose one… don’t ask why, we just had to do that one. And then Ruari joined us too and we got it! Luckily, a lot of paracetamol information had come up in lectures which helped, but we truly had to dig through everything and as it is university, use our initiatives, to come up with a conclusion for ours. It was hard work, but worth it.
Basically, a young woman with a history of anorexia nervosa has taken an overdose due to an argument with her boyfriend. They gave her a treatment of something named N-acetylcysteine and lab results were obtained two days later.
And that is all we had to work with. But… we all have brains and we pulled out a rather snazzy presentation haha
Lets just say, through much research, this girl was not going to do particularly well… we were certain she would be dead within a few weeks due to her history and the lab results. And sadly, because of that, I felt the presentation needed to be lightened up from start to end… with a cute little guy named Peteacetaminophen (aka, Pete the Paracetamol, renamed by mes amino, Sam Jones).
And that is were this cute little guy joined in the party!
Fig 1: A compilation of Pete the Paracetamol, to make things a little happier!
So, as I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I keep being told that drawing for any kind of poster or presentation is a very good idea… and I guess, as well as drawing important diagrams and pathways for metabolism, I wanted to put my little mark on the work. Hence Pete. I think everyone liked him… including the lecturer who marked it, who was also called Pete. I think you can see what mes amino did there with his name haha
And my group were all cool with it as well which was truly wonderful! They really let me go to town on all our diagrams and illustrations and I must admit, it felt pretty cool announcing that I drew them at the start of the presentation!
My group were fantastic as well! We all definitely knew out stuff and we all worked super hard together! We met up loads, Ruari brought us cake and chocolate and Chris slipped in a lil funny joke in regards to knowing what he would prefer to drink 12 drinks of instead of instead of the nasty rotten egg tasting antidote! And with how the presentation rolled out, I am hoping for once I am actually right in thinking that we have done super duper well, because we were told we definitely undermarked ourselves, people outside the room that couldn’t hear it but see it, said it looked fantastic and some people gave us super high marks! It’s crazy, considering how much I was panicking about messing the whole thing up!
Fig 2: From left to right we have Christopher Scott, Peteacetaminophen, myself and Ruari Blake.
This was taken before we did the presentation and we were pretty happy and smiley afterwards so fingers crossed, for once I am right in thinking we have done well! (Usually when I think I have done well, I have done bad, and when I think I have done bad, I have done amazing haha).
I absolutely loved working with these two and I would more than happily work with them again too!!!
So, that is it for assessed presentations for this year! Shocking!!! (I do have another but it is not assessed.) Just three assignments and some online questions to go and then begins the excessive over-revising panic when nothing sinks in!
OH, and because this is not just a University blog… let’s just say… all the cool people go and watch awesome movies after a presentation and let’s just say, I have seen Deadpool twice now, and will more than happily see it again! Me and Ruari took Peteacetaminophen with us too, for he totally earned it after all his hardwork on each and every slide of our presentation!
Fig 3: A great end to a pretty good day!
Well, that is it for now! Everyone go and watch Deadpool! It will brighten your day tremendously!!!
