Triumph Over BNR 320

I love Anatomy. Ask anyone I associate with and they will tell you that I am a full-on NERD when it comes to the human body. I am convinced that in another life I would have been a physician, I love it that much.

But there is one feature of anatomy classes that I have DREADED my whole life.

Cadavers.

In BNR 320 there are eight dead bodies preserved in formaldehyde and dissected in order to see the various organs of the human body.

For the first several weeks of the semester they stayed nice and zipped up in their black bags while we studied the bones.

This week was muscles week. This week was the real test to see if I could survive.

Taking extra precautions I entered the lab, along with a few other scared individuals, and two muscle cadavers were unzipped for the day's lecture. The teacher began pointing out the various muscles--poking things and moving things--and I waited for panic to set in, or at least some realization to happen.

I looked down at the intact hands and noticed that her fingernails were painted pink. Strangely enough I thought, "That's cute." I looked at the sign hanging above the table and it said, "Crystella--67, neoplasm of the breast" (breast cancer). I think it's adorable that a nearly 70 year old lady painted her fingernails.

For some reason I was able to recognize that this was a human and be OK with it. I honestly don't think it's a "person" because their spirit has left. It's just a leftover glove that they have given to help me learn.

I did get queasy ONCE when a fellow student who is apparently very comfortable with this situation started sifting through a pile of...discarded materials. But that was only once and for a brief moment. I feel accomplished for beating this great fear of mine.

Let it be known that Taylor went to cadaver lab, didn't faint, and didn't become a vegetarian. All is well with the world.