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“Goodbye,” “No, it’s see you all later”

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As I begin to write my last blog, thousands of emotions and feelings are rushing through my head such as excitement, sadness, happiness, nerves etc. As I look back on my three years I cannot believe the relationships I have established not only with my fellow classmates and soon to be colleagues, but also the professors who have influenced me to be the best nurse I can be. We have come extremely far these past three years and I am ecstatic to see where each and every one of us will go and how we will each blossom in our careers.

In regards to critical care, at the beginning of the semester I was extremely excited about it because I thought I could see myself working in an ICU, however as it is ending I now have realized that I really don’t want anything to do with the ICU haha. I think this feeling ultimately comes from inexperience because I think I would enjoy it more if I had a more stable foundation in nursing. Experience comes with time…. One thing that I really enjoyed during this semester was the ER. If I could be an ER nurse right out of school, I would take it and run. The teamwork aspect of the ER is what I think draws me to it the most and of course the fast pace and the ability to see a variety of different patients from babies to elderly. When I was working in the ER, I didn’t want to leave clinical. I love being able to utilize all my skills in the ER with the support of the other nurses and doctors. Overall I loved the ER and hope that one day I can have the opportunity to work there.

As of now I will be interviewing for a labor and delivery position at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital actually this Wednesday (maternal and child health is also one of my passions) and we will see what happens there. I am nervous, but deep in my heart I know there is a plan and if it does not work out then I know it wasn’t meant to be. I can’t wait to hear all of the stories that my classmates will share about their first day on the floor… it is exciting and I know deep down that everyone of you is a nurse I would want caring for one of my family members and with that cheers to the class of 2015, WE FREAKING DID IT!!!!!

 

XOXO Stephanie

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CI Students to Present at SAGE Student Research Conference

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Camarillo, Calif., May 1, 2015—CSU Channel Islands (CI) undergraduates have been hard at work researching everything from cancer to mercury levels in fish to internet addiction.

On Saturday, May 9, the collaborative work of 30 faculty-student teams will be on display at the Sixth Annual Student Research Conference from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the John Spoor Broome Library on the CI campus.

Nearly half of all graduating seniors take part in some form of research or creative activity. Among the projects at the conference are the results of an elaborate screening of more than 100 potential anti-cancer agents conducted by a team of four undergraduate and three graduate Biology students.

The screening isolated six chemicals that show promise in inhibiting and slowing the invasive properties of several women’s cancers including breast, ovarian, uterine and cervical cancer.

“We will show data as to how some of them impact invasive cancers,” said the group’s faculty advisor, CI Associate Professor of Biology Nitika Parmar, Ph.D. “If they drastically reduce growth and invasiveness of the cancer cells, it’s a potential lead.”

Sage Research ConferenceOne member of the team is Stephanie Soriano, 22, who developed a passion for biotechnology when she joined a group of CI students on an international trip to India led by Parmar in January of 2014.

Soriano was in her last semester at CI, set to graduate with a degree in psychology, but the trip to India changed her life. When she came home, she decided to take on a double major in psychology and biology, which delayed her graduation until spring 2016.

“I always had a passion for science, but it was the practicality of the problems the research institutions in India were addressing that intrigued me,” Soriano said. “Just looking through a microscope and seeing thousands of particles that can’t be seen with the naked eye is spectacular.”

Parmar was impressed with Soriano’s courage and determination to go for a second degree when she was so close to graduating.

“People don’t do that,” Parmar said. “She could have gotten her degree in psychology and moved on. She was very confident about what motivated her.”

Just as passionate about her field of study is chemistry major Amber Kramer, who is analyzing mercury levels in seafood with her equally enthusiastic project partner, Corie Hill.

Kramer and Hill knew mercury levels in the atmosphere and water were rising because of coal-burning emissions, but they wanted to see how much of the mercury was winding up in local seafood from Ventura Harbor to Long Beach Harbor.

The duo is in the process of comparing current mercury levels with records from 30 and 40 years ago, but they have already come across intriguing findings.

“The shrimp and salmon we consume in the U.S. is often farmed,” Kramer said. “The farming industry has cut the mercury levels drastically, because mercury accumulates over time. When they are farmed, they grow the fish so fast, the mercury doesn’t have time to accumulate.”

Kramer is one of CI’s many non-traditional students. She attended community college, took 10 years off, then returned to get her degree in chemistry. After graduation in two weeks, she will pursue her Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Oregon.

The team’s faculty advisor, Professor of Chemistry Simone Aloisio, Ph.D., says Kramer is exemplary in her work ethic.

“Usually when non-traditional students come back to school, they’re more determined. They hit the books and put in the work necessary to get a degree,” Aloisio said.

Each CI department can award two students program honors. Kramer is one of those students. She will graduate May 16 with program honors in chemistry.

The SAGE Student Research Conference is sponsored by SAGE Publications and CI’s Division of Academic Affairs.

Other research areas at the conference include: the effects of the Springs Fire on plants; electronic cigarettes and smoking cessation; internet addiction risk profiles; the link between ozone levels and Camarillo weather and the impact of storytelling on students’ ability to learn math.

To register to attend the event, click on http://go.csuci.edu/src.

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One Final Blog

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It is officially one more week until out pinning ceremony. It all seems quite surreal. However, looking back at this course and all we have learned this semester in addition to all of our previous semesters, I feel that I am ready. This course has helped me to bring everything together. In patho we learned patho. In pharm  we learned medications. However, in critical care I feel that I learned how all of these previous courses work as one to help us become competent nurses. Through this course I learned how to look at everything on a whole (labs, ABGs, test results, assessments) to see how it makes these patients with their specific diagnoses. I am excited to put the knowledge I have learned in this course and all of our others to work in the filed of nursing.

What?! I need a portfolio?

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So you are close to graduating. You are getting ready for interviews and NCLEX studying. You are planning family time to celebrate pinning and graduation ceremonies. Then you are asked if you are bringing your portfolio to your interview?!

What portfolio? What should I include? What’s too much?

Where do you start? Here’s some tips:

Have a clean, edited CV

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Hello world!

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Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Jerry Hsu

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Closing in on the end of the semester!

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Over the last two weeks, our team completed the ROV education and mentoring module of the NOAA sponsored “Crossing the Channel” outreach program. It is embedded in the respective Marine Science Academies at Channel Islands High and Frank Middle Schools. The students successfully designed and piloted eight different PVC ROVs! 20150420_160858 20150413_123310 20150414_124338 20150414_124334

For the final module, both the high and middle school students took a two day trip to our Santa Rosa Island Research Station! Last Friday our team went to pick up the students from the island aboard the NOAA research vessel, the Shearwater.

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Once the students were aboard, our team worked with the crew of the Shearwater with the goal of collecting preliminary research on fish behavior using our OpenROVs. Unfortunately the weather did not co-operate, we had to anchor just off shore of the island, instead of in the Santa Barbara channel, which we had planned. Despite the wind, we were able to launch two of our units. We demonstrated how we use the ROVs in research, and then allowed the K-12 students to get some hands on experience piloting!

Our ROV Control Center
Our ROV Control Center.
Students observing the data collection process.
Students observing the data collection process.

After about an hour, the surge and wind started picking up. In order to find fish, we were diving the ROVs near kelp beds, but the conditions and diminishing visibility resulted in kelp entanglement! We attempted to recover the ROV by navigating through, but in the end, we had to send down a diver to retrieve it. The ROV made it out unscathed; luckily we had a very experienced diver. The trip was a great experience for the middle, high and undergraduate students alike!

The semester is quickly coming to a close, there are roughly two weeks left, and the team still has a lot of work to do! The senior members of our team are preparing to present their projects and findings at the SAGE Student Research Symposium. In addition, they are working furiously to complete their final capstone project papers.

In exciting news, we have begun to collaborate with Dr. Mike Allen and his master’s student Guy Trimby, a team from Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which is located in the United Kingdom. They are working on methods of specific biological molecule detection near coral reefs, using ROVs. We hope to aid them with their OpenROV modification and development, and in the future, with data collection. We are also preparing for our upcoming trip to the Cook Islands this summer, where we will be characterizing some of the reefs surrounding the islands!