Student SPHere 2008-09

A month after the Monster Dash, the ladies of CHE (and some other SPHers!) were at it again -- this time the Turkey Run 5K at Como Lake in St. Paul.

A little chilly at the start, but not bad once we got going!

One of our friends' parents had us over for an amazing brunch afterward, and then I definitely went home and took a nap.

Next up for The CHE Running Club? The Reindeer Run 5K at Lake Harriet in two weeks and -- for a few brave souls -- the New Year's Day Polar Dash 10K. I'm a little scared of freezing to death, but I think it'll be a good time...

And school! Yes, I do still have classes in addition to all of this running fun. The semester is definitely winding down -- only a half week, a full week and a half week left of classes, then a couple of study days and a couple of finals. And I'm feeling pretty good about it at this point. I had a rough few weeks just after midterms with my journalism project and presentation, an epi exam and a bunch of little things filling up my schedule, but that means things are looking a lot lighter from here on out. Whew.

I've also been forcing myself to plan for next semester and even the summer. I registered for 15 credits in the spring, which sort of freaks me out, but I'm excited about my classes: the second parts of Biostats and Community Health Theory and Practice, Mass Communication and Public Health, Advanced Health Journalism/Computer-Assisted Reporting and -- most exciting -- the Star Tribune Practicum. It's actually an undergrad course that I'll be taking as a graduate-level directed study, and I'll be interning with the paper's health team about 14 hours a week. So cool.

And though it seems decades away, I've been starting to think about field experiences for the summer. So far, I'm finishing up an internship application for the Department of Human Services and am talking with some contacts at the Department of Health. Aaand I think I'm going to have to start making the back-up-plan list, too...

So, needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to having a few days off for Turkey Day and heading up north for food and family.