During my time at UMR, I have found that group work and collaboration can be frustrating. One will somtimes get a group where the members aren't participating and then you must step up and take on all the weight. Other times your members are so dominating they won't let you contribute any ideas or work on any of the interesting stuff. They divide up course work and don't care about your opinions about the project because they only consider it their own. There is definitely both ends of the spectrum. Both are equally frustrating. I began viewing the world and the US in a more negative light. I saw political campaigns, financial instability, and arguing. I gained a negative idea about community engagement and our world.

This class has helped me step away from that and really appreciate the power that a community can have on the world. There really is a power in numbers. It has encouraged me that my activity in the community matters. I have hope for the future of UMR, the US, and my society that I live in. I joined leadership positions that I may not have joined without this course These positions have driven me straight into a sea of problems at times, but I feel more empowered with hope for change and improvement.

If only these skills can be challenged, developed and cared about then we could all work to better our future in the way we deserve. Whether it's a social issue, family issue, political issue, economic issue, work issue; working with other matters.

My advice to future students is to keep an open mind and be willing to learn. There may be hidden messages throughout you classes that may not be obvious but can develop a person. A lot of us have had past experience in working in groups and collaboration. Look for ways to improve yourself as a person in order to better serve your community.

By now everyone has at least been through one round of finals this year. So I don't have to mention how stressful they are, but I can give you some tips about what you can do to avoid all that stress you are experiencing.

So when you are stress there are a few different routes you can go on, stress eating or stress relieving. If you choose to only read one option, I wont judge, weve all been there before.

Stress eating:

So for all of you who have walked out of that exam feeling terrible and just thought to yourself, cake would make this all better. I would consider you a stress eater. Now if you choose to solve your stress problems that way, be my guest because it's just another way to deal with your emotions and the frustrations you encounter. So I am going to share my favorite foods to stock up on for finals week.

1. Goldfish
Now these don't just have to be cheese flavored, I opt for the chocolate chip and smores flavors most times. But I also like the pretzel ones too! They are just so handy and easy to munch on when you are studying.

2. Chez Mix
I love chex mix! It is so easy and it also has so many different flavors and pretzels, wonderful right?

3. Cookies
Any cookies will do, but chocolate is my go to. I like to know that after I feel like I cant study any more, there is that little burst of energy waiting for me which tastes good too.

4. Pasta
This is one of my favorite dinner type foods to make during finals week. Mainly because it gives you a little time to take a break when you are cooking it. Also those carbs are great for energy and keeping you going during those long nights!

5. Pizza
I would choose to have some spare pizzas around mainly because they are so easy to make, and you can just put them in the oven, set a timer, and keep studying!

Stress Relieving:

So if you are less interested in eating your feelings and more interested in getting rid of that stress the healthy way, here are some tips for you to improve your study habits!

1. Eat breakfast
The most important meal of the day, weve all heard that right? Well its true! You need that energy in the morning, especially if you are going to be studying all day! So eat something high in protein to get your body jumpstarted for the day!

2. Exercise
I think that it is very important to stay active throughout this stressful week. At times it just gets to be a lot to take on for your body and working out can really help you loosen up and take your mind off of the studying for a little while.

3. Sleep
It is so important to make sure that you are sleeping each night. I know that you might be tempted to stay up until midnight to finish that module, but make a realistic cut off time for each night. Trust me, you will be so much more able to study effectively if you give yourself breaks.

4. Go Outside
Now that the nice weather is finally back, go outside! It is important to get a little bit of sun, it will make you feel happier too! Also think about all that vitamin D, I'm sure your skin and small intestines will appreciate it!

5. Relax
Take a much needed break! Spreading out your study times is really key to remembering information. There is no way that you can retain all that material if you don't take a second to slow down and realize what you are doing.

Well, hopefully these tips really help you with finals week! Don't forget about all the food that will be at Usquare! That will help save you some time!

Happy Finals!

Courtnee

As many of you pre-med undergraduates know, first comes the MCAT then comes the AMCAS/AACOMAS applications. For those of you just deciding on medical school there are two types of doctors, MD and DO. MD doctors attend allopathic schools and DO doctors attend osteopathic schools. The main differences between these two professions is the focus on the patient. While both professions are focused on curing the patient and accommodating them along the way, there is a significant difference about the views of a DO doctor. A Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) is able to perform many tasks that a MD physician is able to do such as prescribing medications, specializing, performing surgery. However they are specially trained in the musculoskeletal system which is considered manipulative medicine. This is hands on training that teaches students how to examine both the mental and physical body in order to diagnose the patient.

If you want to read more I have found this information here: http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-dos/what-is-a-do/Pages/default.aspx, http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-dos/about-osteopathic-medicine/Pages/default.aspx

I have a personal connection with DO programs through the diagnosis of my cousins autism disorder. I have noticed what a difference it makes for people to sit down and listen to the whole story rather than just prescribing medication from one 30 minute appointment. I think that it is important to have a holistic approach to medicine because the patients stories are often a crucial detail that I think can be very easily overlooked. While working in the admissions office at school and volunteering as the receptionist that the Gift of Life Transplant House, I have learned that listening to histories is important. At times there are moments where the people I talk to are nervous and apprehensive about decisions that they will be making, I think that this is an important aspect to consider when determining which path is right for you to go down.

Enough about me, and more about the application...

So it was supposed to open on May 1st, but then I went to the website and they moved it a week to May 8th. For someone like me who is a strategic planner, this is not a good thing to do at the last minute! Although I am happy that it was moved back because now I can focus more on the essays that I am going to have to complete for the application and I can take my time in receiving my transcripts to use throughout the process.

Although I have not seen the application yet, I have been doing my research and there are some significant differences between the MD and DO application services so make sure that you are aware of these when you are getting ready for your year!

These applications are open for about a month before you can begin submitting, so I would suggest to do your research and writing before hand in order to get those applications in on time. Most admissions are on a rolling basis so the sooner the better. Also you will have to list each class that you have taken, so you should get some unofficial transcripts for yourself so that you are prepared for when that time comes. I also know that I broke up the application into parts and decided about how many days of the month I would allow myself on a particular section. This is not an application that you want to take lightly people!

As for now, this is all the information that I have. Next fall I should have some great insight on the whole application and also maybe some comments about an interview or two (Ill keep my fingers crossed for those).

I just have to keep telling myself that I can do it, and you can to!

Happy almost last week of classes!

Courtnee

The summer is a lively time here, and is becoming more lively every year. This year there will be the popular and recurring Thursdays on First and Third where vendors come from all over to set up shop in the downtown area every Thursday throughout the summer. This is a wonderful opportunity to see what the community has to offer since the vendors are from every background and come from all over the state while the people attending the event are always great fun to meet and talk to. I, personally, will be spending as much time there as possible.

But wait, there's more to Thursdays on First and Third than just vendors! There are also live bands and shows playing in the evening. These can range from an amateur rock band, to a well-known acoustic band, to a performance featuring break-dancing, juggling, and drums. I only got to see a little bit of the last one, but I wish I could have seen the entire performance.

Long story short, if you're looking for something to do on a summer Thursday in downtown Rochester, you're not looking anymore.

For me, my capstone is to take courses at UMR in the fall to finish up my liberal education requirements as well as an internship in a lab and a research project with a faculty member. In the spring I will be doing an internship program in London as well as volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House.

Although I did complete all of the required paperwork and additional forms, sadly my capstone was rejected. This was pretty devastating, but once I realized the mistakes that I made, which were minor, it made sense.

As a matter of fact, I would like to think of myself as a trailblazer. Through my capstone rejection, I made up a new category that will be used during the review process "conditionally approved" which basically means that I had a small error (I apparently cannot add correctly). This will be used in the future, so it just goes to show that sometimes mistakes are a good thing.

It was some easy corrections to make, but it is a very serious issue. So I would suggest taking as much time as possible to review your capstone with everyone before you submit it the first time.

I also started my capstone proposal early. I began writing responses to the questions in a word documents in the fall semester of my junior year so that I was ready to complete the proposal. As far as the spring semester goes, it comes up really fast. I would suggest getting your ideas and beginning to answer those questions in the fall so that you don't have to spend so much time cramming in all of the writing and researching at the end.

If you have any questions or need any help with making a timeline, let me know!

Courtnee

The end of the year is approaching quickly. So I thought it would be good to share with you some of my favorite educational apps that I have on my iPhone.

These are also apps that you could probably get on android devices, iPads, or iPods. They come in handy when you are waiting in line for coffee, trying to cram in a few extra study minutes before that exam, or in a situation where you wish you would have brought your notes with you but forgot them.

My most used and helpful app is for OneNote. It automatically syncs with my OneNote program on my computer so it is really helpful for me because I use OneNote for basically all my classes since freshman year. I can access all of my notebooks too so it is a great app!
Here is the link to get it from the iTunes store, its completely free!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246?mt=8

I also have an app that is called Evernote. This is a desktop application that you can sync with your device also. You can pull screenshots or sections of webpages into your Evernote on your computer and have access to them at your fingertips. This would be beneficial if you were at the grocery store and wanted to try out a new recipe that you clipped from the web.

Here is a link from the iTunes store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8

Being a UMR student, you all know how much we use the Google applications. So you can get an app for Google Drive. This helps you find your Google Documents easily, I actually used mine the other day when I was buying supplies for the talent show skit that the Rochester Student Association is performing in. (By the way, that event is Tonight 7:30 pm at the Civic Center in the Auditorium, if you don't know the way there follow the balloons in the skyway!)

Here is the link to Google Drive: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-drive/id507874739?mt=8

Another app that I use for my personal use and also for my research group that I am involved in is Dropbox. This is an application that you can download from your computer, access on the web, and also access on your personal devices. I keep persona files separate from my research files of course, but for me it functions like an additional portable hard drive. I only keep my current semester files on there, but it automatically syncs when I make changes and goes right on the web. So you don't have to worry if your computer crashes again because that paper will be saved right on the Dropbox and your phone! I also like to use Dropbox to upload the photos that I take with my phone to my computer. Personally I think it is faster than the Photo Stream that my iCloud suggests.

The link to that app is: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropbox/id327630330?mt=8

An important app that I use for my classes is Quizlet. This is an online website that allows you to make notecards. You can then access those on your devices and you can sync when you make new notecards.

Here is the link to the app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quizlet/id546473125?mt=8

For those of you who follow my blogs, you should remember that I went to Panama last summer. For that trip I found a few medical Spanish and emergency Spanish apps that were really helpful for me. They could also be beneficial in Spanish III here at UMR because it is a course based on healthcare terminology.

One was called MediBabble: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/medibabble-translator/id355398880?mt=8

The other was Emergency Medical Spanish Guide by Mavro: https://itunes.apple.com/app/audio-medical-spanish-emsg/id297917901?mt=8

I also used a few apps for my MCAT prep. They were BenchPrep, MCAT Question of the Day, and MCAT Smart Vocab. The last two are self-explanatory, but they are great practice and helpful to keep you on task with studying. I tried to do a few vocab a day and at least one question of the day. They do keep a record of all the previous questions, so you will never run out of practice. As for the BenchPrep, I signed up for a course through the BenchPrep website and then was able to access it from my phone and online. It was really helpful when I wanted to get through a specific topic in a day.

Here are the links :
BenchPrep- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gre-gmat-lsat-sat-more-benchprep/id424804771?mt=8

MCAT Question of the Day- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mcat-question-a-day/id501600370?mt=8

MCAT Smart Vocab- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-vocab-mcat/id351289435?mt=8

One of the most recent apps that I added is called Frommer's. This is the brand of a book that I borrowed from the study abroad coordinator about London. Some great features that I have noticed are the currency converter, a tip calculator, time translator, guide to the city, suggested apps for travelling... and the list goes on!

Here is the link to the app (make sure to check to see that the city you are travelling to is included!): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/frommers-travel-tools/id366011058?mt=8

Hope these help you as much as they help me!

Courtnee

This will be my third year at UMR. My first year, I lived at 318. I would suggest any new incoming student to consider living here first. One really gets to develop a relationship with those in their class. During your first year at UMR, everyone has the same classes. So, just down the door is another student studying for the same organic chemistry test or if there is a paper due everyone has the paper due at the same time. It's a great environment with helpful RA's for any roommate conflicts. The amenities are wonderful and you don't have to worry about monthly bills and getting them paid on time. This is one thing I really miss. Early in the morning at 318 one can just walk downstairs in pajamas to attend class. Posters and RA's at 318 always keep you updated into what events are happening at UMR. The people that live at 318 are always first to know.

The downside is that on campus housing is expensive and at least in my case I was looking to become more independent. I found an apartment called Civic Square that has two bedrooms that worked perfect this year for my roommate and I. It has to be furnished which wasn't a problem for me with my family moving and downsizing. I looked forward to carpet, my own furniture, and a homey feel. The part one doesn't realize is how quiet it can be. My roommate and I have different schedules and work at different times. We stayed here in the summer to take CNA classes at RCTC. It was a great experience as well. The place was very often quiet though. We didn't have random visitors or students knocking on or door for help with homework or just to talk like we had often at 318. The quiet was a blessing, but also kind of lonely at times. It was really nice to get away and work on the hard projects that sophomore year provided. The quiet apartment, gave us a break from campus life. Coming into March though, we decided to pursue other options. With tons of furniture in my name, pots and pans galore, and a closets full of everything I own, I set out to find a different option for my housing for next year.

To begin looking is a little bit scary. At first I panicked thinking no one would take me. Then I realized that there were tons of people doing the same thing and trying to fill spots in their own housing situation. Everyone started asking everyone what their plans were. It is amazing to me how much is changing from 2nd to 3rd year in terms of who is living where. I began first by looking people to potentially live in the 2nd bedroom in my apartment. I was really fearful about the move with all the stuff I have. My family is really busy and will not be able to come down to help. But then I had offers to live at other apartments and other homes. A group of four of my friends have a roommate moving out of there five bedroom house. It looks like at this point I am going to go there.

Possible negative changes that I will have to face by moving into a new house include sharing a bathroom with two other girls. I also will have a lot longer walk to school and work. Over the summer I will have to help mow the lawn. In the winter, I will have to help clear the snow. There is storage space to myself, but tons that we can share. I may not be able to add my furniture into the house the way I want. There are a lot of opinions in the house that may override my own.

Bonuses include the house will not be as quiet and lonely. I will get to live with my friends and build closer friendships. It's cheaper about half the price that I pay to live in the apartment I have now! It's across the street and a block down from more of my friends. I will now have access to cable television. It will feel more homey then an apartment. It has a larger kitchen then I have now. There is a lot of communication between house members. This house in particular makes a point to hear everyone's opinion and talk through any conflicts. There is also one person that will collect and handle the bills which it won't be me anymore. I also will get an experience that I have always wanted. And besides college, when else can I live in one house with four friends?

So the adventure continues as people finalize their plans for next year. It is amazing to me how even through this process how much of a family UMR has really become for me. I have had many offers from many people to help me move. They don't care about how long or how much work it will take, they are willing to take a day off to help me get where I need to be. It isn't just a few friend, it includes a list of about 8-10 people that I know that I could possible contact to help me. Some of these people include past roommates, future roommates and good friends. Everyone has been very understanding and trying to help everyone find the best fit for them for next year. Whether it's 318, an apartment or a house, it will all work out and come fall we will be ready to learn.

To start this weekend, my aunt and her twin daughters came up to visit me for the whole weekend. Friday night they got up pretty late so we just ate dinner that I made, settled in and got caught up on each other's lives. The next morning we got up early and headed to the mall. It was my third time and the first time for all of them. My twin cousins are 12 so it wasn't abnormal for them not to have been there as they live 5+ hours away, but my aunt is 40, so it was cool to take her to MOA for the first time. They really had no idea how big the mall was, however they did know about Nickelodeon Universe. My aunt bought all day passes to ride rides, but we did go shopping first. When we started, we were overwhelmed and didn't know where to begin. We eventually started walking and found some neat stores. Some of our favorite stores were Garage, Flips, Pac Sun, Harley, and the Peeps Candy Store. After a lot of shopping, we headed to the rides, which were surprisingly quiet and unique. I live fairly close to Great America, so finding unique rides is hard to do. These definitely surprised me. We stayed in Nickelodeon Universe riding rides, shopping and eating until it closed when we went on the adventure to find my car which took significantly longer than expected. Who knew it would be so difficult to locate a car at a mall with parking ramps. We eventually got to my car, then home by 12:30 am, about an hour after expected.

The next day we all slept in really late (about time...) then ate breakfast. I gave my family a tour around the skyways and streets of Rochester. It is honestly a pretty unique place and has some pretty cool places, even though Rochester is basically closed on Sundays. After they left, I had to resume the typical college weekend life and clean the apartment, eat some food and avoid homework until the last possible second when I wish I hadn't. Although the weekend flew by, I had so much fun!

Circle K club is also joined by the Kiwanis. They are a bunch of enthusiastic people that have the same outlook as Circle K. This outlook involves giving back to the community and lending a helping hand. The club motto is "Live to Serve, Love to Serve." This is Circle K's first year at UMR and the turnout has been amazing for a club so new to campus! There are about 70 students in the club and a good majority of them are freshman. Anyone can join the club and I guarantee it will be the best choice you ever make! I am so happy that I decided to join the club because it is a life changing, great experience of what it is like to work with others, and a lot of fun.

March 14, 2013 was a big day for Circle K because we were inducted into the Rochester Kiwanis Club. Every student in the club got a certificate and made a promise to the Kiwanis's that we will be responsible and great future leaders in the community! Not to be biased, but Circle K is the best club ever and I couldn't be any happier being in a club filled with great people sharing the same passion to help the community. If you have Facebook, head on over, take a look, and don't forget to "Like" it! https://www.facebook.com/umrcirclek?ref=ts&fref=ts

1. Moving to Rochester, MN from Waunakee, WI. This is a pretty obvious change. I gained so much education, many friends, the experience of living in a city. I learned to be independent, saw places of MN I probably would have never seen otherwise and lived in a town that had already changed my life. Although I miss my family, I really do love living here and having such a different experience every single day. The skyways are amazing, the food is different and so readily available, and everything you could possibly need (except my family) is right here. This is nothing like living back home and it's so nice to live something different. I'm not saying it is or isn't something I'll do for the rest of my life, but I'm so glad I got the chance to try it and say I did, and maybe I'll live in the city for part or the rest of my life.

2. Varying my friends. I'm the kind of person who likes to have many friends who like to do a variety of things. Sticking with one group of people may be the best for certain people, but that's just not my thing. I also like to be around positive, active people who treat others respectfully. Surrounding yourself with people like you is the best way to stay happy and motivated in my opinion, so that's what I try to do. When friendships aren't working out, don't force it. Maybe that's just me, but forcing something isn't worth the time, effort or strain. There are plenty of similar people in the world, find them and be yourself.

3. Getting a car. I've always been a fairly do as I please person, especially being as involved as I am. Having as car has allowed me to attend more volunteer events, get groceries easier/on my own and go home when I need to. I wrote a blog about all the benefits of having a car called "Having a Car at School," so check that out for more details.

4. Eating habits. Being able to choose my own food has been super nice for me, as well as made my life generally healthier. I tend to eat things like fruits and vegetables as snacks, rather than pop tarts and rice krispie bars that my mom would buy for my brother. Not that there is anything wrong with occasional junk food, but overall, people really should be eating healthier. And let's be honest, when you go to the doctor, who are you going to trust with your health: the fat doctor who clearly cannot follow their own advice/gives bad advice to begin with, or the fit doctor who knows how to properly maintain themselves? The fit one, obviously. So with that, I want to start being fit and maintaining a healthy life sooner rather than after it is too late and becomes a chore to be healthy.

5. My study habits. In high school, I was the student who showed up to class, paid attention most of the time, did my homework, but that was about the end of school and studying. There was no "studying." When it came to exams, I could work my way through enough of it to pull good grades, especially balanced out with the high homework averages. College completely changed that. Some of the things I do to study at college are completing all of the homework, going to nearly all of the help sessions, going to the necessary JustAsk hours, doing all optional review guides and practice exams, working through problems with friends for complete understanding and re-reading chapters from text books. And when I say I re-read the chapters, that means I read the chapters to begin with, which is more than I did for most classes in high school. Learning how to study in college was rough and a quick learning curve, but definitely is starting to pay off.

6. Careers. I came here determined to be a pediatric neurologist. I was going to go to med school then do 11 years of residency and spend the rest of my life helping kids with neurological disorders. Then I wondered when I could have a family in there, so I changed my path to physician's assistant in neurology. Since then, I've thought about being a surgical first assistant, clinical neurophysiology tech, nurse anesthetist and back to med school. As for now, I'm pretty settled on PA, but I know that can change, and I'm open to the opportunities I'm presented.

College isn't easy, and change is always happening, but it is so worth it in the end. I have gained so much here from friends to knowledge to self-understanding. I now know who I am so much better and I think I know more what my priorities are in life.

Sunday was the day I was looking forward to the most! We visited the 2013 Auto Show in Minneapolis! I am a huge fan of cars, especially Mercedes Benz, BMW's, Audi's, and the one and only Volkswagen. After a long previous day of moving boxes and furniture, it was a day to relax and not move heavy things. I went to this event with my family and my two baby cousins. We saw many amazing cars like the ones pictured below. When we got tired of looking at cars, we all headed over to Mall of America to do some retail therapy. My spring break was all about catching up on sleep. Best spring break ever!

In this past month we competed in the annual competition, and we dressed to impress. We donned our flowing gowns, slinky dresses, and gentlemanly tuxedos and paraded onto the dance floor, devoted to the idea of showing our best effort. Let me tell you, we exceeded that effort in almost every dance (I had to learn one of my dances 5 minutes prior to competing). We had couples placing in almost every criteria and even those who did not place did very well. On top of it all, we looked magnificent and had a wonderful time. I had more fun those two days of competition than I had at any of my other sports competitions throughout my entire life. I am a very firm supporter of the UMR Ballroom Team and look forward to the incoming freshmen next year!

In Chicago we slept in a YMCA gym that had lights that didn't shut off. That morning we got up and went to a nature reserve and cleared invasive species. After a few hours of cutting and chopping we got back on the bus to make our way to Detroit. As we traveled through the city you could see that it was a ghost town. Detroit was the most eye opening city we traveled to. We stayed in a church that served us Corn Beef for dinner and breakfast the next morning. We volunteered at a veteran's homeless shelter. That was an amazing experience. Some of us served breakfast and lunch while the rest of us made bags of toiletries and organized some storage areas. One of the men there came up to us and thanked us for going to school and going into the medical field. He told us to keep the nation healthy and keep up our good work. They sent us on our way to Canton, OH with snack bags that had hand written thank you notes.

In Canton we got to explore down town which had a really cool art district and an adorable coffee shop that we went to. That night we stayed at another YMCA that had lights that turn off! There, we prepared for our service activity, which was teaching 2nd and 5th graders Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement is about businesses and how they work so being health sciences majors this was a little challenging. When we got there all of the kids were happy to see us and learn about the things we were teaching. I taught a 2nd grade class and it was so fun. I'm glad it was only two hours though! Gained a lot of respect for elementary school teachers! After that we got back on the bus to travel to Beckley, WV! Beckley was the first city we went through that had weather above 40 degrees. It was like summer! We stayed in another church that night. The next morning we did service at a hospice care center doing various tasks. Some worked around the grounds and I worked on a mapping project, mapping the placement of memorial stones. They fed us lunch of Chick-fil-A, macaroni and cheese, and salad. I had never had Chick-fil-A before and it was so good! Then we set off for Knoxville!

In Knoxville we got to explore the city and eat dinner. A big group of us ate at Jig and Reel which was a Scottish Pub. It was pretty good! Then went to our housing cite which was a huge church. There was a band practicing there when we got there and they played for us. Then we played Sardines, like reverse hide and seek, in the giant, 4 story church. That morning we were volunteering with Keep America Beautiful cleaning up garbage around the city. In one little area we cleared out 15 bags of garbage! Then we filled on the bus to make our way to Atlanta, GA! In Atlanta we got to stay in hotel which was really nice after sleeping on the ground for a week. The first night we all went to a Waffle House; one of my favorite places ever. The next morning, all 160 of us from the 4 buses went to a park to help there. We all did different jobs, planting trees, building a fence, clearing a pathway, or cutting out invasive species. My friend Erica and I worked on clearing a path to an area that would be used by the local boy scouts. When we were finished we all ate lunch together. That night we had our celebration with the other 3 buses we met in Atlanta. We took the next two days to travel back to Rochester, staying in St. Louis on the way back.

Overall, STLF was the greatest experience I have ever had. I have done a lot of volunteering in my day but this has been the best opportunity, by far! This trip helped to open my eyes to many new things and I made 37 new friends out of it! I would totally recommend this trip to anyone that loves to volunteer and wants a little bit of adventure in their spring break! Yeahhhhh buddy!!!

So as you already know from my previous blog I spent a day over spring break making cookies with my grandma to use for a blog. But what blog is that? Well I can finally reveal the big secret, one of the cookie choices was healthy and the other was a recipe taken from the bag of chocolate chips, a well known Hershey's brand recipe.

I set up these two types of cookies in the Admissions Office on Monday March 25th and had everyone that walked through sample one of each cookie and then rank their favorite based on taste. But before I announce the results of the test, lets back up..

So I first found some healthy chocolate chip cookie recipes on Pinterest while browsing one day and thought to myself, that I love cookies and it would be great if I would eat a healthier version so that I wouldn't feel so guilty. So I then proposed the question, do they taste different?

In order to answer this question I knew that I would need more than just my opinion, so I decided to make it a test.

The healthy recipe was referred to as choice A throughout the testing and the recipe is located here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/basic-whole-grain-cookies-recipe. Rather than oats I used oat flour, so that it had a smooth texture, and as you can see they didn't look very different after they were baked (which was good because I didn't want people judging based on the ingredients).

The Hershey's brand of cookies is located on the back of the bag but also here:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1358370.

Here is a comparison of the two types of dough, you can definitely tell why one is more yellow (it's a whole extra stick of butter than the first recipe).

Then once the cookies were made we froze them to keep them fresh until I would come back to school to have the testing.

Then I set them up in the admissions office with some simple instructions:

When it was all said and done, the two choices came out dead even. So in conclusion, the healthy cookies do not taste any different than the normally prepared ones, but they are less calories and less content of ingredients.

Here is a comparison:

Personally I liked the healthier cookies, but that was based on consistency and texture of the cookie as well as the taste. I also like the fact that I would be able to eat about two and not feel terrible about myself!

Have any other questions that you would be dying to have tested? Let me know! I'm always up for baking ideas!

Email me at: heydu007@umn.edu

Courtnee