The most influential coursework I have completed since the start of my freshman year has been a combination of Biology and Thermodynamics. It may sound odd, but between these two classes, I have been offered the most compelling contradictions I could ever imagine. On one hand, biology has taught me about the organization of life, the mechanisms by which everything that makes this planet has come to be. It has shown me how life spontaneously organizes itself and the environment around it. Meanwhile, a study of thermodynamics has shown me that these kinds of formations simply do not occur. There are spontaneous processes and non-spontaneous processes and I now know enough of both subjects to understand that life should be a non-spontaneous process.

I understand that billions of years of perfect conditions have lead to the super-organization of Earth today, but I can also now appreciate just how unlikely all of this was—how energetically unstable every cell of every organism on this planet must be. Sustaining life nearly defies physics. One mistake and it’s over—organisms die, cells decompose, and the universe approaches an ever-delayed equilibrium.

In short, these courses, together, have taught me that life is a miracle. I have gained an increased spirituality from the most unlikely of sources. Most importantly, I have touched upon the most fundamental challenge of medicine: sustaining the billions of entropically unfavorable processes that make up life. There’s nothing unnatural about death. Death is merely the allowance of a system to come to equilibrium. Preventing death is working against every force in the universe to sustain the most intricate and improbable of cycles.  There could be no greater challenge than the practice of medicine, and of course none more important.

I usually see myself as being pretty independent. I pay for my own school, I drive myself to get all of my tasks accomplished on time, and don’t typically allow other people to heavily influence my decisions. But yesterday I realized one aspect of my life where I have always really depended on my mom.

I have only ever had my hair “professionally” cut a handful of times in my life. Otherwise my mom has always kindly cut my hair for me. I don’t think I’ve ever really shown her due appreciation for that. (Usually I rebel against getting it cut in the first place.) Yesterday, thanks to Style America, I gained a new level of appreciation for this. I cannot stand my new haircut. (I’ve included before and after photos which show that pretty well.) I’ve been wearing a hat for the last 24 hours. To make things worse, I got this haircut right before taking a new banner photo taken for this page. (It should be up soon.)

There are a few things everyone takes for granted in their hometowns: hairstylists, doctors, dentists. Moving always requires finding new people to fill these roles. That’s never a comfortable process, but usually you find that the new people are even better than the old. That was not the case here. I think I’ll be wearing my hat for the next month or so, or at least until I can go home for damage control.

Went sailing last weekend. The weather was awesome. The sun was out (I have a nice life-jacket burn to prove it) and there was a ton of wind. There were some casual races going on which were really fun. I’m really glad I joined the sailing club. Even more, I’m glad I joined the sailing team. As a team, we get to travel to other schools in the Midwest and race in huge regattas. There’s always a really social atmosphere. It’s really cool getting to see what students from other universities are like.

Desks, futons, boxes full of unnecessary junk, you name it, I’ve moved it in over the last week. I moved in last Thursday and that was a pretty easy process. My futon had already been in my room all summer and I didn’t have a whole lot of other stuff to worry about. I kind of just brought things in whenever it was convenient for a few days. It was pretty chill.

I cannot say the same for my other move-in experiences this week. I spent most of my day Friday, Saturday and Sunday helping friends moving in to the house or apartments. (Not complaining; it was great seeing everyone again.) On top of that, as an “On Iowa! Student Leader,” (something I’ll discuss in a later post), I was required to work two four-hour shifts moving the fresh meat into the dorms. (Of course I say “fresh meat” with the most adoring intentions). I will say though, even though I was getting a bit tired of the whole helping-everyone-else-move-in thing, my shifts with the freshmen went very smoothly. Thanks to thousands (okay, maybe a few hundred) volunteers and a newly designed move-in process, parents who may have spent hours parked outside residence halls in the past were in and out in about 30 minutes. In fact, I just found out that we moved in two students per minute throughout the day. Students were glad and parents had nothing but praise and thanks. I’ve got to say, I’m a little mad this wasn’t available last year.

-DN

It’s been two weeks since I’ve had to take a test, go to a lecture or open a text book; I’ve gotten more sleep in the last 14 days than in the previous semester; I’m finally back with all of my old friends; I’m free to go wherever I want without having to wait for a bus; and it seems like forever since I’ve felt overwhelmed by a to-do list. Yet somehow, I already miss school. I miss all of my friends in Iowa City. I miss sailing and date-parties and all of the other activities that kept me even busier than I liked to be. Honestly, I even miss going to class; I miss studying and learning and meeting friends at coffee shops. Most surprisingly, I miss the little closet of a room I used to live in – the couple hundred square feet where I slept and dressed and lived and studied, and shared space with someone else doing all of the same things.

I had quite the life last year. Enough routine to keep my sleep pattern in order but enough friends and unexpected events to ever keep me from getting bored. Enough space to survive and an organizational scheme that made it comfortable. It’s taking some adjusting to go back to life as it was a year ago–an adjustment probably aggravated by the fact that I’m not the same person I was last summer. I’ve built new time-management skills, new study skills, new leadership skills; and it’s frustrating to not be practicing them anymore. I’ve made a life at Iowa–I have a network of friends a comfortable routine. Truly, I have a home in Iowa City, and after just two weeks, I’m already homesick.

I’m not sure if this is the case at other universities, but there seems to be a growing trend at Iowa of politically ignorant people masquerading as well-informed party members. This is something I’ve noticed throughout the year, but this week, all of Iowa’s most loud-mouthed, intolerant students are “coming out” and the tension they’re causing can be seen throughout the university.

I have no problem with anyone’s views so long as they are their own. Though I may disagree, I believe that everyone is entitled to come to their own conclusions and form their own opinions. What drives me insane is listening to the same BS I hear from the most politically extreme t.v. and radio show hosts repeated verbatim by classmates who have no idea what they’re saying. I can’t stand listening to rants from people who have never heard, let alone considered an opposing point of view. This happens on both sides of the political spectrum and I can’t stand any of it. I don’t stay very well caught up on current issues, so I usually keep my mouth shut. Continue reading Community lashes out against protest

In five minutes, I just doubled the number of blogs I’ve posted this semester.

Going to eat Buffalo Wild Wings with my dad, three brothers and two nephews. By that, I mean my pledge dad, his other three pledge sons and their pledge sons. Another fun thing about being greek!

Just got back from Riverfeast. (Actually, it was a week ago.) Anyway, it was awesome. I know this seems like a good place for a more in depth description, but I’ve gotta get away from my habit of writing 1000-word blogs. So I’m starting here.

If you’re a prospective student in the Iowa area, you may have been to a seminar near your home town where a bunch of admission councilors came and talked about things like applying for housing, financial aid and a new program called On Iowa (oniowa.uiowa.edu). There would have also been a student panel answering questions about student life and rudely making noise in the back of the room during the other parts of the presentation.

If that sounded really awesome and you never attended one, I’m sorry because I just got back from helping with the last one. I know, I should have warned you all ahead of time. “Warning: Once-in-a-life-time opportunity: ask your own questions of the one and only Dillan N, world-famous student blogger for the University of Iowa.” Once again, sorry.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank the university for the awesome time I had. This trip was an opportunity available to anyone in the organization STAR (Students To Assist Recruitment.) [I know, “to” shouldn’t have been capitalized, but it probably shouldn’t be in the acronym either. I guess no one would want to join it if they called it SAR.] Back to my more sane train of thought: STAR is open to anyone who would like to apply. On top of these trips, we also help on Hawkeye Visit Days [HVDs in the buiz], serving on panels or assisting tour guides; and with other events for prospective students. I’ve enjoyed my involvement so far, and this trip added a lot to that enjoyment.