How the Olympics Helped Me Pass Anatomy and Physiology

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In January 2002, I was in my second year of college. As a health major, one of my required courses was a 300 level biology class: Anatomy and Physiology. In all honesty, I really liked that class. The human body is super interesting to me, and poking around a cadaver is also really neat to see how the parts work together, and to see what my insides look like. (We had 2 cadavers, a man and a woman. However, the woman previously had a hysterectomy so it was missing the lady parts. Boo.) I also really liked the professor. She was originally from Estonia, and had been teaching/researching in the states for a number of years. What was really hard for  me, was remembering all the names of the different muscles, tendons, bones etc. Memorizing stuff like that isn't my strong suit. It also didn't help that the class met at 8:00 am twice a week.

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What also didn't help was a serious case of insomnia I was dealing with. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn't get to sleep before 4 am most nights. 4am bed time+ 8:00 super hard class= no bueno.


The Winter games of 2002 were held in Salt Lake City. Being in Oregon, that meant most of the coverage was live, or pretty close to it. Not like this year where I have to avoid certain web sites so I don't see any spoilers.

Actually this one isn't as bad as my home town newspaper that shows the headlines of who won what race. Like the 400 IM with Phelps and Lochte. Grr.

Anyway, like I was saying, in 2002, most of the coverage was live, however some of events just don't get prime time coverage (or even day time coverage), and they get replayed at 2 or 3 in the morning. In the summer we are looking at events like cycling, badminton, race walking, shooting, etc. In the winter, the events you see in the middle of the night usually involve cross country skiing or shooting or a combination of those two events.

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Being that I wasn't sleeping anyway, I stayed up and watched a ton of these events. Estonia happened to be very good at these sorts of things. One morning after watching Estonia win the gold in some sort of skiing and shooting competition, I went up to my professor before class and mentioned how good Estonia was doing in the Olympics and that I had watched the big win. She said that she had stayed up to watch it as well. After that, the class didn't get easier, but she knew me, and always said "hello" after that. At the end of the term, I was confused as to why I had gotten the C that was on my grades, and I went to talk to her. She looked back at her records, and saw her mistake, and I was actually supposed to get a B-. As she was filling out the grade change form, she decided to make it a B+ for my troubles. I also believe it was because I watched Estonia in the Olympics that year.

Have the Olympics ever helped you out? Do you watch the middle of the night events?

My love letter to the Olympics

I love the Olympics. L.O.V.E. Every two years my life goes on hold so that I can soak in as much Olympic glory as possible. When I was little and we were living in southern California, the summer Olympics were in LA ('84). My parents went and watched some track and field events. They brought me back a photo of a bear going over the hurdles. That thing hung in my bedroom until I went away to college. I have know idea where it is now, but I will now be on a mission to find it.

It's hard for me to pick which games I like better: summer or winter. Like 99% of little girls, I wanted desperately to be a figure skater or a gymnast. I also loved watching ski jumping and the diving competitions. So pretty much, if there is flipping around, I love it. But don't worry sports without flipping, I will watch you too. Except basketball. I mean basketball is okay, but my attention span during the Olympics is short. A basketball game takes too much time. But, I will watch both indoor and beach volleyball.

I love the back stories of the Olympians. I love hearing about how they train, their families. I love hearing about the Olympic village. I especially love the opening ceremonies and when the athletes march in. I love seeing the countries that only have a couple athletes. I love the athletes that know they won't medal, but they are proud to be there and live out there dreams. I just love the Olympics.

Advisors Conference

I just spent the last 4 days at a conference for activities advisors in our state. (I have the lovely title of Activites Director as well as teacher for my middle school.) Now, the thought of doing any type of school work in July sucks, much less spending four days in-servicing. But this was the most fantastic conference/training/inservice I have been to.  I'm not sure how trainings are outside of education, but usually our professional development is forced on us and as we sit in the library wishing we could be anywhere other than there. These trainings usually happen on grading days, and all of us (I hope its not just me!) would rather be in our classrooms getting work done, because so much of our work can't get done when students are there. These trainings are usually met with cynicism and annoyance that we are asked to do yet another new thing.

It was such a relief to be surrounded by people that value student activities. I felt comfort knowing that there are other crazy people out there (just like me!). I am so excited to use some of my new lessons and try to implement some of the great ideas we shared! Especially the ones on service. I base my leadership class around community service and I have some great ideas on how to bring it out to the rest of my school. That doesn't mean I am ready to go back to work yet. I still have a good 3 weeks left before I need to be back and I will be enjoying as much of it as I can.

My Oregon Bucket List

I love living in Oregon. I've lived here for the majority of my life. (there was a brief stint in Southern California when I was a little) For all of that time that I have been here, there is plenty I haven't done yet. I guess I sort of take for granted all the cool things in my state, and figure it will always be here, so it isn't a priority when we have some vacation time.

1. Camping in a Yurt

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Yurts are a cross between a cabin and a tee-pee. They are mostly found at the coastal state parks, and people can stay in them pretty much year round. I have always wanted to camp in them, but I think its kind of silly to do now, because I really don't mind tent camping. This is a to do once we have littles.

2. Crater Lake

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I have never been here, and sometimes I can't believe. Crater Lake is a national park in southern Oregon, just north of Medford. You can stay in lodges around the lake, and I know you can take tour boats around the lake as well.

3. Crabbing in the Pacific

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There is a 99.9% chance this made it on my list because of Deadliest Catch, but whatevs. I like crab.

4. Goonies House

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Goonies was filmed in Astoria, Oregon on the northern coast. There are tours of the filming locations, including the house. Plus Astoria has some other neat things like the Astoria column.

Astoria column

5. Painted Hills/Fossil Beds in John Day

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Another national park, but this one is in eastern Oregon. I usually forget about anything east of Bend, but it is like a whole other world compared to the Willamette Valley.

6. Portland

Schnitzer concert hall (where we just saw Aziz Ansari!)/Japanese Gardens/Powell's Books/Voodoo Donuts/ The Grotto at Christmas/Rose Garden

I grew up in Portland, and I actually have been to a lot of these places, but I would love to go back as an adult. I have NEVER been to Voodoo, I'd like to go to check it out. There is also a ton more.

7. Mt. Hood Railroad

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This scenic railroad runs through Hood River, which is one of my favorite places. At Christmas time they do a special Polar Express train ride which I would love to do. Of course its weird for a 30 year old woman to go on a Polar Express train ride, so this is another thing that I should put off until I have a little.

8. Sunriver

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So, I've been to Sunriver before. It was actually the first vacation the Mister and I ever took together, but I love it and I want to go again. Sunriver is a resort community outside of Bend. It has tons of bike trails and is a great place to stay if you are snowboarding up at Mt. Bachelor. There is also some fantastic hiking in that area.

9. Riding ATVs in the dunes

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There are some serious sand dunes on the coast and people bring there ATVs and cruise all over them. I think it would be so fun to do at least once.

Have you been to Oregon? What was your favorite part? Do you have a local bucket list for where you live?