During the week of July 25-July 29, 2011, junior Samantha Varney traveled to the University of Missouri in Columbia for a Maps in Medicine Seminar.  Here is what she told The Educator about this wonderful opportunity.

“I stayed on the fourth floor of the Discovery residential hall. I was the only student there from Willow Springs. Other students were from St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, and other large cities. There were about 30 students total. Our day and night counselors were college students. There were four day counselors, so they split us into four groups.

We got up at 6:30 a.m. and were out of the dorms by 7:30 a.m. We didn’t return to the dorms until 11 p.m. We took showers, called home, and went to bed at 12:30 or 1. There were two people per room except for the suite rooms which had four people because there were two rooms and a sitting room. After dinner, the counselors switched and the four night counselors would sit in the halls to make sure everyone stayed in their rooms with lights out.

I was a little nervous on the first day because I didn’t know anyone, and I had no clue who my roommate was. After a while, it was not so bad and the students and counselors became good friends. Our problem-based learning instructors were med students.  There were classes, videos, dramas, dinners out at cool places like Shakespeare’s Pizza, and volleyball games. We played volleyball with five Mizzou volleyball players. Afterwards they answered questions, and we got a signed poster from them. On any free time, we went to the Mizzou bookstore or back to the dorms to rest for a few minutes.

There were many opportunities to learn about viruses, but one of the most interesting activities was a science activity that was divided into four sections, mixing the teachers and the students. Section one was a lung PowerPoint. Section two was dissecting a real human lung! Section three was putting the organs where they belong in the body, and section four was looking at x-rays of lungs that had something wrong with them. On each of these sections we had to fill out worksheets. The whole room stunk because of the lungs, and we were all really tired by the time we were done, but we had fun!

I had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people on this trip. I made some great new friends, and it was a wonderful experience, even though we had to walk everywhere! Not only did I get the chance to learn about science and medicine, but I was able to experience college life. We also got tips on college planning, financial planning, and preparing for the ACT. In the end, each of us received some great memories to take home with us!”