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Since early November, I have been silently agonizing over when my college acceptance letters would arrive. I electronically sent them out and it really became a hurry up and wait kind of situation.
Even as I sent out the applications, I found myself nervous-ing over where I’d end up. Would it be well credited Ball State in Indiana? Or chic and modern Northern Kentucky? Or would I stick with my roots, my hometown, and go to the University of Cincinnati? That became my own personal $64,000 question.
It seemed as I become more insecure about my choice, the more people felt the need to ask me. When time allowed I was on each individual schools site, browsing the latest, hoping that I’d find that spark of hope, perhaps even an answer. Part of me even felt that as long as I got accepted, where I went meant only a bit.
Somewhere in late November, before Thanksgiving, my first letter arrived-it was from Northern Kentucky. I was in Florida at the time of its arrival and wasn’t all that excited when told it had arrived. But I’d been accepted on conditions, which basically means that I had to attend a transition course. It was then that NKU was no longer an option. I wasn’t excited about going there, it wasn’t my glass slipper to wear.
More time crawled by, but then,Ball State sent an envelope. Part of me hoped it’d be a rejection letter, so that my choice was no longer a source of inner turmoil. But that turned out to be false-I had been granted full acceptance to Ball State University. BSU and UC where my two main schools from the start and as luck would have it, they still remained as such. My decision was at a complete standstill.
Weeks and weeks went by, yet no word from UC. Every day, without fail, I checked the mail, hoping for a letter. As each day passed, I became more impatient, more on edge, and dangerously close to going completely bonkers. As people around me got accepted, I could only wonder why my letter hadn’t arrived. And then, as if a gift, I received my letter the day before Christmas Eve. At last!
It didn’t take me but seconds time to decide where I was going to school. My top choice all along. The most obvious of answers.
I will be a freshman at the University of Cincinnati this Autumn as a Journalism major. Now, due to my math disability and not so hot SAT scores, I will have to go through a transition program, but that’s no sweat.
Mainly out of loyalty and appreciation of the new and improved campus, UC was really always my choice. BSU was more of a fall back, in case I didn’t get accepted at all. Now that my decision is made, I get to worry about financial aid..and where to shop to decorate my dorm room. 
As many of you may or may not know, I have decided to run the Flying Pig Marathon this Spring in honor of my Mom and other cancer patients/caregivers. I also decided that I will/am trying to raise a minimum of $5,000 dollars for the Wellness Community here in Cincinnati, a local cancer care center.
I spoke at the Wellness Community’s board meeting this past Wednesday and it’s produced amazing results. Julie Isphording, an Olympic marathon great, has offered an amazing invitation for me to speak on her show here on 91.7, on January 7th. Words cannot express what an absolutely amazing experience this is going to be and what an impact it’s going to have overall. Julie is also the powerhouse behind the Thanksgiving 10k Marathon I ran in November.
If you’d like to find out more information about Julie, you can read a very good interview here:
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/11/18/loc_loc1boly.html
Also, I would like to extend the opportunity to anyone who stumbles upon this, friend or family, or generous stranger, to give a donation or help out this Spring, if you’d like. Simply shoot an email or comment my way, and I’ll get in touch with you as soon as I can.
Email: Stephiie@gmail.com
There is a strong force of new scientific knowledge on the horizon, a emergent prevalence known as genetic testing. Common diseases are now being understood on a deeper level, diagnosed more efficiently, treated faster than before, and in many cases- predicted.
Genetic testing, done in specialized centers, is the identification of changes in chromosomes, genes, and proteins. Testing is used to find change within any disorder, involving examination of a person’s DNA. Over 1,300 tests are now available for a variety of diseases, testing being able to start at the earliest stages of life. Scientists believe that testing for type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and depression may be available by 2010. Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute says, “We are on the leading edge of a genuine revolution”. A major goal of the movement is to create new therapies that hone in on a biological glitch, then fix it.
But as with anything, science and business go hand in hand and revolution must balance with reality. Many families are wary of fraud testing and are concerned that genetic testing may put health insurance and job security in harm’s way. For some, genetic testing is not the answer. Testing fraud scars the truth and ethical complications are steadily on the rise.
