Seth Kinast’s Blog

I went to Newegg last week and bought a Corsair CMXAF1 fan for my RAM to keep it nice and cool. It worked well to keep the temperatures down… my RAM went from being hot to the touch (uncomfortably so) to feeling room-temperature. After I installed the fan (and my new eVGA GeForce 8800GTS 512MB!) I closed up the case and forgot about it.

Last night, though, when I turned on my computer, the fan started grinding like mad. Oh no, bad already? I contacted Newegg to ask for an RMA, and to ask if I could get a prepaid shipping label since shipping the fan would cost a good chunk of the fan’s value anyways. Rather than bother with an RMA, they just said “here, have a refund… throw the fan away or RMA it with Corsair, whatever you like.” Wow! So a free fan that I can pay a few $ to ship to Corsair. Sweet!

Each semester, every student meets with an academic advisor from their particular college to discuss what classes to take the following semester, graduation progress, etc. I had my meeting this week.

My major is in Microbiology, with the “Professional” option (higher requirements, but looks better when applying for research programs). Because I came in with so many hours, I could have graduated in two-and-a-half years. Instead, I added several minors in different areas of study: French, Computer Science, Chemistry, and the History of Science. (Minors have to be attached to a major degree; they don’t stand on their own. They’re a way of telling future employers / grad schools “Hey, I am a well-rounded and multifaceted individual.”)

Even with all the minors added and such, I was still struggling to look for classes to take next semester. It’s my fifth year, and all of OU’s degree programs are designed to graduate you in four years with one major and no minors (about 120 hours of credit). After this semester, I’ll be pushing 180 hours.

When I met with my advisor, I mentioned that I was completely running out of courses to take. He looked at my degree sheet for a little bit and then pulled some papers out of his filing cabinet. “Let me suggest something: why don’t you take these three classes… and get another major!” Wow! It was about 10 hours of extra work to turn my Chemistry minor into a full-fledged Biochemistry major. I can take one of the courses this summer, and then one each in fall and spring. However, after a little more looking, one of the courses conflicted with my preexisting Microbiology major. So we switched it to a straight Chemistry major, which is actually slightly easier on my schedule.

I went to the College of Arts & Sciences to let them know what I planned to do. My A&S advisor informed me that I actually couldn’t double major in Microbiology and Chemistry because I had too many hours. The solution? Earn a dual degree instead. It’s actually cooler; instead of getting a “B.S. in Microbiology and Chemistry”, I get two separate diplomas, and two Bachelor’s degrees!

I figure this is my reward for starting college early and coming in with so many hours. Instead of using that advantage to graduate early, I’m using it to do as much as I can during the short time here. Not too much time left at OU…

Sam has always told me that if I ever dated someone that was not nice / made me sad, then she would hunt this girl down and beat her up. Today McKinzie informed me that if I did not marry someone that was “adorable and perfect”, for example, if I married “a gold digger”, that she and Simone would hunt this girl down and kill her. A hit squad, I has it.

I love my friends.

Sam and I went to Oklahoma City yesterday on an adventure. I had bought some pillows from Linens ‘n’ Things (the first *nice* pillows I’ve ever owned) for in-store pickup, and Sam wanted to go to a jeweler to look at a couple rings she liked. Not only did we make it to both stores without getting lost, but we even saw Tommy and Sam Klepper (my old Couch RD and his wife) at the mall We got to eat at the food court with them and catch up on what they had been doing. It was lots of fun!

On the way back home we saw that a new Circuit City had opened up in Norman… a big contrast to having to always go 30 miles for one! I stopped in and checked on a FatWallet deal and got a bunch of Energizer batteries for 85% off. Yay FatWallet.

So no getting lost + got everything we wanted + saw friends = yay good adventure!

Part of a good application to medical school is showing that you have real medical experience. They want to be sure that you know what you’re getting into before you apply. I’ve been to Africa and Mexico on medical trips, have shadowed in Joplin’s ER, and followed a couple of Freeman’s doctors around, but wanted to get real volunteering hours as well. So I applied to volunteer at Norman’s hospital, NRHS, to do stuff in the Emergency Department. I had to go in for an entire afternoon of training, and take tests and buy a uniform and all sorts of stuff. I assumed I’d be making beds and pulling charts and such. But little did I know. I sent this e-mail off this morning:
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