Poul 3150 Writing Assignment 1

In anticipation of our first dissection lab this week I have worries on the subject but I also have aspects that I look forward to and am confident in my ability to handle. Having dissected before in other classes and also as a part of my job I feel confident in my abilities to not let the sight of blood or the smell of dead chick affect me, but I am glad we are starting dissections sooner rather than later because there is a lot to know and the sooner we start digesting this information the more time there is to learn and practice. I look forward to being able to be able to look at parts and be able to name the part as well as the function. Wanting to go into research and development in my career being able to correctly dissect and identify anatomy is part of the job. Chickens may have small bodies but the amount to learn is very large. From past experience I recall that body parts are very hidden and hard to find in chickens as well as things look different from human anatomy (i.e. three lobed kidneys ands one lobed lungs) so the recognition is something that worries me. As much as I am looking forward to starting so soon another thing that worries me is the huge amount of information there is to know. If the endocrinology section of our notes has taught me anything it is that details are everything in this class and Dr. Starkey loves details, but details are what make you learn things not simply memorize. Details like knowing scientific names of all the parts and not the slang terms will be a challenge especially when it comes to the lab practical. Looking ahead to the lab practical where we have to dissect birds in ten minutes efficiently and also be able to name parts with the correct scientific name as we go puts the pressure on to learn things quickly and to do things the right way. As much as I am excited about dissection there is so much that worries me. I have confidence in my abilities to learn the material, but confidence only goes so far. What really matters is if I am willing to put the work in required to learn this material. Well it has come to the point where either you do that work or you fail and failure is not an option at this point.