Colorful urine

Urinalysis, very first topic I remember learning in Basic Clinical Laboratory Science. The picture below brings me back to my past and how much excitement I had about beginning this journey as a medical laboratory science degree student.

The beauty of science and how the basics still brings me to awe.

 

credit: Heather West. Only a week to assemble for medical laboratory scientists at Tacoma General Hospital in Tacoma, Wash. 

Urinalysis is one of the most common tests performed because they are readily available, simple to perform, and  the test is done at a cheap cost.   

What are the 3 parts of a typical routine urinalysis protocal?

1. visual/ physical properties: volume, odor, transparency

2. chemical analysis

3. Micro sediment exam

Nothing wrong with giving up on a dream

When I was at Grand Rapids Community College I was taking classes toward Biomedical Engineering, but there was a poster that caught my interest every time I past it in the Biology Science building heading towards anatomy lab which was an advertisement for becoming a Laboratory Technician. I really enjoyed lab work and kept it in the back of my mind as a back up plan, but first I wanted to try to become an engineer. It was my dream since 10th grade of High School. It wasn't until I transferred to Michigan Technological University I realized getting a degree in engineering was not for me. At MTU I saw a bulletin board with the title Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) and it caught my eye because it was biology related along with learning laboratory skills. Three months in my first semester at MTU it was too late to drop my engineering courses even though I switched my major to CLS at that time. Once I switched my major I didn't care about my engineering classes and stopped going to them. It was the worst decision I made during my college career because since Spring 2011 I am struggling to raise my GPA to a 3.0 and looking back I kick myself for not listening to my gut feeling right away. One good thing that came from the experience is that I now know I am really passionate and committed to Clinical Laboratory Science.

Life lesson: Listen to your heart/ gut feeling and don't worry about your past dreams, go with the flow and let it happen because that is when you truly become happy and successful in your classes. Just because you have to let a dream go doesn't mean you are a failure. If you can't drop your classes that will not count towards your major still do your best because it will always be on your transcript and affect your GPA.