Not for the Faint of Heart

I'm not a medical-type person, as you may have read earlier (not much has changed since then). I get light headed at the smell of emergency room cleaner, I barely made it through first-aid class (taught in my home by my grandfather), and after my own morning in nursing school watching presentations I didn't think I could eat for a week. However, medically things intrigue me. I'm interested in how the human body works, what sort of things go wrong, and how people have discovered a way to fix them. Though I could never sit and watch a transplant surgery, even on a movie, I find myself interested in it as I peak little looks through my fingers.
Maybe it was this interest in medical things is what got me to pick up and read the book Stiff by Mary Roach. Well, no, actually, it was my sister who started it. She was assigned the book as reading for her high school biology class. She brought it with her when she came down to help me move in and, on our 3 hour drive, she read me the first chapter before I could protest the creepy picture on the cover. The introduction and first chapter caught my attention and, over the next few days, I found myself thinking about it more and more. Finally I decided to check it out from the library and read the whole thing. I really enjoyed the book because it was very interesting and informative on subjects I'd never really thought about. Also Roach's humorous, yet respectful, way of discussing human cadavers was quite entertaining.

Saturday morning, before going to help with Preview day for high school students, I finished the book and realized that I was more comfortable and interested in the scientific side of cadavers than I'd ever been. I guess I never really thought about it before but if I had I would have thought them creepy and gross. However, a few hours later, when they asked for volunteers to take perspective students to visit the new Cadaver lab on campus I excitedly volunteered! I couldn't believe I was actually going to do it but I thought; 'hey, this is a once in a life time opportunity, why not?'. A couple of hours later I was standing in a chilly room surrounded by 15 sheet clad, partially dissected human cadavers. I couldn't believe it.