Now, now guys.  Before y'all get worried.  The brain scan was for....RESEARCH PURPOSES! My brain is still intact.  All is in good order.  There's nothing to worry about.  Life is  still good!  Still healthy and hailing here at Cola Gamecock Country.  Nothing to fret about. 

Remember that research program I was talking about yesterday?  Well, Dr. Amit Almor, the head advisor of the program, was in dire need of a pilot for the experiment, and since I expressed interest about the research he thought I might be interested in joining the crew and be tested with the fMRI.  In all honesty, after I thought about formally getting all the paperwork in to join the research as an independent study student, I realized that I'd be putting in about 10 hours per week at the Language Lab.  That's 10 hours.  TEN HOURS OF MY FREE TIME GONE!  (Less Wii time, less "What I Like About You," less naps, and well y'all get the idea!)  Also, when exams and such begin...I might be too busy to handle such a load.  It kind of freaked me out, and I was just slightly overwhelmed...I'm afraid I might not be able to make the full commitment.  So, I decided to just go and see what exactly it was that they did and maybe from there decide whether I can be "passionate enough" to convince myself to put in the time required.  So, I went along with Dr. Amit and one of the grad students in the department, and I became their guinea pig for the day.

Let me tell you, those fMRI machines are really no fun.  An annoying buzzing/beeping sound just kept going and going, and even with earplugs and headphones you just could not tune it out.  Laying in that confined space for about an hour was also just BORING!  LOL!  On top of that, laying confined in a tight space reading sentences over and over again was slightly mind-numbing...BUT BUT BUT!  Don't get me wrong.  It wasn't all bad...besides the fact that it did just take long and well it got boring...the experiment was interesting.  Someone explained to me how the fMRI worked and how it used magnetic fields (which I just learned about this morning in my Physics class) and protons and such (which I'm learning more and more each day in my Chemistry class).  It was neat to see practical usage of things I'm learning in class, which I always think are just useless information.  And well, ultimately, the coolest part of the entire experience was...GETTING TO SEE PICTURES OF MY BRAIN...and 3-D pictures at that.  It was pretty cool looking...and no, contrary to what my friends said and my MOM...my brain is bigger than a peanut!  Dr. Amit promised to e-mail me when I can go by the office and pick up a CD of all the pictures...I'll probably post some up on the site as soon as I get them...I promise they look cool!

Anyways, I'm still not quite sure if I want to really go ahead and make the commitment.  I'm kind of worried that I might be stretching myself too thin if I do...I'll have to think about it over the weekend and just make a decision soon.

As for y'all...time's a ticking and I just realized (likewise for myself but more importantly for y'all) I haven't reminded y'all about getting your FAFSAs in.  There's still lots of time, but make sure to get it all filled up ASAP!  Well...that's my mommy-tidbit-reminder...For now, I'm going to bounce out guys.  Don't have much else to say, but can y'all believe it's the weekend again?!?  Hoorah!!

There's lots in store for the weekend for me.  There's an opera that I'm dragging the gang in to (I'm getting them culturized.)  Of course, it's also Super Bowl Sunday...with the COLTS!  Oh, and my boyfriend and I are starting a Saturday Cola tradition--every week, we're going to go around town and check out different places and such.  It's just we're starting to feel some cabin fever from staying in too much at MaxcyPad, so we're going to explore the city!

Anyways...like I said.  I'm going to bounce out now guys.  Have a fantastic weekend and catch y'all on the flipside, future Gamecocks!