Farewell, Triogenius Readers

To people who have read my blog for all or part of the last 7 years, thank you! Pageviews were slow at first but then grew and grew, and that inspired me to keep writing.

I hope I have educated and entertained, made you want to know more about some things, and made you consider stuff you never would have thought of before—that was my goal. If we could laugh and have fun in the process, so much the better. 

But, alas, 364 posts and almost 100,000 page views later (so close!), my position here has been eliminated, and so the blog will come to an end with this post. I’ve very much enjoyed writing for you, and I hope you continue to wonder and find out about all sorts of things. Some parting thoughts:

Education is power. You can receive it in many forms, and you can give it in many forms. Every moment is a teachable moment.

Write. Read. Write. Read. Read some more. 

You can live with many different types of people and respect many kinds of philosophies without agreeing, but you cannot be a human being of value unless you have empathy and compassion for others. And just as you need to give respect, you also need to call out moral wrongs.

Try new things. Challenge yourself. Seek answers when you need them. Stay curious!

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting battles you know nothing about. And be kind to yourself as well.

Thank you, readers!!

You (Might) Belong In The Zoo

Have you ever thought about working at a zoo??

The obvious career at the zoo would be a veterinarian, one who specializes in zoo animals. Sometimes a zoo vet will further specialize, working with reptiles, large cats, raptors, swimming mammals, or animals particular to a certain environment. Vet Technicians are always needed to assist these veterinarians, as well.

Veterinarian getting some digital images of a tranquilized tiger.

There are a lot of other roles to be played in a zoo. Here is a list of some of them:

• Animal curator-this is someone who keeps track of the collections in a zoo; so this person might be a curator of mammals, reptiles, aquatic animals, birds, etc.

• Curator of Education-Zoos usually have educational programs for students of various ages, who can come and visit to learn about animals in an 'up close and personal' way.

Here is a docent helping educate students using a skull skeleton.

• Curator of Exhibits-This person helps to create the exhibits in such a way that is healthy for the animals but still allows the public to view them safely.

• Conservation Biologist or Zoologist-These are scientists and biologists who assist in the management of the collection, and who also do research and concentrate on the conservation of wildlife (being aware of endangered species).

• Zoo Keepers-these are the people responsible for the day to day care of the animals, including making sure each environment is kept clean, noting when an animal needs veterinary care, and also managing the food for the animals.

• Registrar-This person tracks the collection and keeps an 'inventory' of every animal in the zoo.
• Director and Assistant Director-These are the people responsible for the management of the whole zoo.
• Directors of Research-Research is needed on which animals to obtain and what kind of environment they need.
• Docents-These are people who volunteer to share their knowledge of animals with zoo visitors.

                         This man is a docent, talking to guests about birds.

• Personnel and Volunteer Coordinators-These people track the records of people who work and volunteer at the zoo.
• Operations and Maintenance-Many people are needed to keep the zoo running, which includes the power grids, utilities, security, landscaping for the grounds, keeping the buildings in working order, repairing broken fencing, and replenishing supplies.

Cleanup never ends in a zoo.

• Special Events Manager-When the zoo hosts a special event, such as 'Zoo Boo' at Como Park Zoo, this person would be in charge of the event and would make sure it happens successfully.
• Gift Shop Manager-Most zoos have gift shops and need people to run them.

Releasing a rehabbed eagle to the sky

As with any business, there is a need for public relations and Marketing; fund-raising; accounting and Chief Financial Officer; membership managers; and records management.

Check out this video of a student who had an internship at the Houston, Texas, zoo: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video+zoo+intern&&view=detail&mid=1D00343D58D3F256F3691D00343D58D3F256F369&rvsmid=02E970F244A60D7C61C202E970F244A60D7C61C2&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSRV

We are so lucky to have two great zoos in the Metro area: The website for the Minnesota Zoo is here:  http://mnzoo.org/
And for Como Zoo is here:  https://comozooconservatory.org/

When you want fish but it's slippery

If you love the zoo, think about one of these careers!

If You Give a Graduate a Diploma

If you give a graduate a diploma, she's going to be proud of her achievement.

If she shares her pride in achieving, people will suggest she continue to achieve.

If she wants to keep achieving, she's going to want to go to college.

If she wants to go to college, she's going to need guidance, stubbornness, and optimism.

If she takes guidance, stubbornness, and optimism to heart, she's going to register for college.

If she registers for college, she's going to start classes.

If she starts classes, she's going to work very hard to finish them and get her best grades.

As she finishes one semester of classes, she'll move on to the next, and then the next.

Once she has completed all her classes, she'll realize she has gained knowledge about the world and about herself.

If she learns more and more about the world and about herself , she's going to find out what she's passionate about, and that will be the thing she is good at.

If she finds out what she's good at, she's going to find a way to make a living doing it.

As she makes a living doing what she loves, she's going to keep concentrating and learning forever.

If she graduates and makes a living doing what she's good at, she's going to want to share her knowledge with others.

If she shares her knowledge with others, she's going to inspire others to go to college like she did.

If others go to college, they're going to get diplomas.

If others go to college and receive their diplomas, they'll share their pride in achievement.

Here's a shout out to everyone graduating this year!

Biomed Careers

If you're interested in engineering and biology, or medicine, a Biomed degree may be right for you.


What is Biomedical Engineering? It is...
Applying engineering and design concepts to medicine and biology for health care purposes.

                                                            Imagine designing something to help people walk again.
Here are the different types of BioMed degrees:

• 2-year Associates Degree: BioMed Technician - Generally, someone with a Biomed Associate of Science will be given the responsibility of troubleshooting medical equipment.  The median income for a Biomedical Engineering Technician is about $45,000.
• Bachelor of Science/Biomedical Science, or /Biomedical Engineering - Someone with a 4 year degree usually does laboratory research. The median salary is about $53,500.  
• Masters of Science/Biomedical Informatics, Biomedical Science - Someone with a Masters degree may do research, and in Informatics may deal with patient population and administration, as well as studying how hospitals can seek out ways to treat patients for the best result. With a Masters, positions median salary is about $67,000.  
• PhD (Doctorate) of Biomedical Information - The average salary with a PhD is about $77,500. Those with an advanced degree may become managers or heads of departments.

*statistics from CareerTrend.com

                     There are lots of machines present in hospital rooms and surgeries. They need to be running perfectly at all times.


In the Biomedical field, you may work for a hospital, clinic, research facility, rehabilitation center, public health division, or in forensics for a law enforcement agency.
The Mayo Clinic describes the education involved:

https://college.mayo.edu/academics/biomedical-research-training/phd-program/tracks/biomedical-engineering-and-physiology/

Medtronic is a Minnesota-based company with locations worldwide, and is one of the largest manufacturers of medical devices. Here is a job description at Medtronic with the job title Biomedical Technician who would work in research: https://jobs.medtronic.com/jobs/biomedical-technician-51661
Here is a job listing for one who would work  in an advanced setting. Note a Bachelors is required, but a graduate degree is preferred. This position asks for quite a lot of experience:  https://jobs.medtronic.com/jobs/principal-biomedical-engineer-49181

There is a long list of areas in which a Biomedical Engineer might specialize. As you pursue your degree, you may find you have strong interest in one of these areas:

• Clinical Lab Technician
• Public Health Specialist
• Forensic Science
• Prosthetic Devices
• Designing, improving, and repairing medical devices such as insulin pumps or pacemakers
• Hospital Administration
• Research
• Toxicology
• Surgical robotics
• Medical Devices-development and function
• 3D Printing of organs

                                                          Check out this robot suturing up a grape. Yes, a grape. Delicate work!

 

Some people who obtain their Biomedical degree go on to finish an M.D. (Medical Doctorate) so that they can practice medicine, or to accrue more knowledge to help in research.

                                                             Forensic scientists work with crime scene evidence.
 
 If you're into figuring out how things work, problem-solving, creativity, and science, then Biomedical Engineering may be a good fit for you.

Attorneys

If you have considered being an attorney, here are some facts for you.

 

Education-How do you become an attorney?

• First achieve an undergraduate/bachelor's degree. This degree does not have to be in a particular major; in fact, some say it's wise to choose a major you are passionate about in case you do not wind up being an attorney after all. Knowing a second language can always help as well. 

An exception to this is if you choose to practice property law. In that case, your major must be science-related such as Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Biology.

• Next, pass the LSAT, the exam to be admitted into the law school of your choice.
• Once you have completed law school, you're granted a J.D. (Juris Doctor) degree. Law school can take up to 3 years to complete.
• You must then pass the MPRE, the Multistate Professional Responsibilty Exam
• The next step is to pass your bar exam. This is a difficult exam; on average, 70% of applicants pass it the first time. In order to be an attorney, you must pass the bar exam.

Here is the University of Minnesota pre-law website: https://www.law.umn.edu/admissions/minnesota-pre-law-scholars-mpls-program
University of St Thomas: https://www.stthomas.edu/law/
Mitchell Hamline:  https://mitchellhamline.edu/

What's the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Most people use the term interchangeably, although technically, a 'lawyer' is someone who is educated in law, but an 'attorney' has achieved his or her J.D. and passed the bar exam, so is qualified to give advice on legal matters.

Not every attorney practices courtroom or trial law. There are a large number of specialties in law:

• Corporate law, or In-House Counselor, for a company
• Civil Rights
• Personal Injury
• Probate (these attorneys handle the legal matters of deceased people for their families)
• Public Defender (an attorney assigned to defend someone accused of a crime when the accused cannot afford to pay his or her own attorney)
• Criminal Prosecutor
• Worker's Comp attorney
• Family Court (dealing with divorce and the welfare of children)
• Lobbyist (one who promotes a cause)
• Drafting legislation (you would write new laws)
• Law professor
• Bankruptcy attorney
• Working for a non-profit organization
• Judge
• Attorney for a government agency
• Patent attorney: If you have an invention and need to see if it's been invented already, and if not, to protect your rights to produce the product
• Trademark law
• Entertainment industry, involving contracts, copyrights, and liability issues
• Medical attorney: for example, who holds the rights to frozen embryos if the donors don't?
• Internet law: What constitutes an invasion of privacy online? What rights to people retain to things they've shared online?
• Advertising law

A good amount of information about becoming an attorney can be found here:  http://legalcareerpath.com/becoming-an-attorney/

You may be interested to read about the Innocence Project. Attorneys and investigators working with this project help overturn wrongfully-convicted people by use of DNA evidence. https://www.innocenceproject.org/


*Did you know? We say someone has a law 'practice' or a medical 'practice' because they are continually working to know all they can about their field. Thus, they are practicing, much as you keep practicing to learn an art or play an instrument: you're never fully done learning it.

Visit the Farmers Market This Summer!

There are lots of Farmers Markets during the summer in the Metro area. There are the larger ones in Minneapolis and St Paul in permanent locations and smaller ones in local communities often simply held in the parking lot of a church or business.

 

What is a Farmers Market?
It's a space where local farmers can sell directly to you, the consumer--basically, an outside grocery store. There's no admission fee, just walk around and enjoy the experience!

What's the advantage of buying from a Farmers Market?

• Your food will be much fresher: sometimes, the items were just picked the morning of sale.
• In most cases, your food has only traveled 50 miles or less to market, not thousands of miles from another country. The food that travels so far has to be treated with preservatives to last long enough to get to the store. Farmers Market food doesn't need that.
• Farmers can choose to grow produce to sell that doesn't need a lot of 'treatment,' thus giving you new varieties to try
• The money you give the farmer or his helpers, mostly goes directly to the farmer (they are paying a small fee to have a stall at the market)
• Often the food sold is organic or pesticide-free
• The sense of community in a Farmers Market is a very important factor: You and others in your community are buying things grown by neighbors.

• You will almost certainly find things at a Farmers Market that you won't see at a supermarket.
• Education: The farmers can tell you all about the things they're selling. A supermarket clerk might not know much about tomatoes or cucumbers or which types keep well, for example. The vendors are more than happy to share knowledge with you-Just ask!
• Sales at Farmers Markets may encourage farmers to keep farming, thus preserving farmland
• Farmers can get to know each other and help each other at the market
• Remember, if prices seem high, these farmers are pricing according to the relatively small amounts they're selling. They aren't selling a hundred acres worth of corn to a supermarket, but a couple of acres worth directly to the community. They've figured in what it has cost to produce it and then make a profit. You'll notice most of the farmers there will have similar prices.

 

 Some excellent explanations of whys and hows about Farmers Markets:  https://farmersmarketcoalition.org/education/qanda/

 

Interesting facts about farmers:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/07/24/10-mega-myths-about-farming-to-remember-on-your-next-grocery-run/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.58f55d1028b2

 

Where are Farmers Markets around here?

 

Here's a great link giving locations in the North Metro:  http://nfmd.org/mn/minneapolis/?z=55434  There are 139 Farmers Markets in the Minneapolis area!

 

What do they sell? Each Farmers Market has a different selection, but you may find:

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Cheese
• Bread
• Honey
• Herbs and spices
• Baked goods: Breads, pies, and other treats
• Freshly grown herbs
• Meat (sometimes)
• Beeswax candles
• Homemade soaps
• Flowers: Buy a bouquet at $7 or less

• Seasonally available things such as apples, squash, pumpkins in fall
• Potted plants: Bedding plants, vegetables, perennials
• Maple syrup
• Local products: things grown more often in Minnesota than elsewhere, such as blueberries, wild rice, cranberries
• Sometimes local craftspeople will sell jewelry, art, or other handmade items as well
• Some vendors sell breakfast or lunch as well, and sometimes there are food trucks
• Often there are musicians performing at a Farmers Market

I encourage you to visit a local Farmers Market this summer: There's nothing better than fresh!!

Goodwill: Not Just a Thrift Shop

Have you ever shopped at a Goodwill store? Donated to them? Wondered how it works? Did you think their only 'mission' was to hire people to work in their retail stores? That's not the case-you may be surprised to see all the services they offer.

 

Goodwill was founded in 1902 by a minister, Reverend Edgar Helms. He collected items discarded by wealthy people, and had poor people repair or mend them. The items were then sold and money given to the people who had fixed them, or the items were given to people in need.


However, Goodwill Stores do not have any religious affiliation. They are a nonprofit organization.

Today, Goodwill has 164 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Their headquarters are in Rockville, Maryland. They receive grants, donations of money, and some government funding in addition to donations of clothes and household items from ordinary people like us. A major 'facelift' to stores several years ago makes them more appealing and easier to use than ever.

 In 2014, they had sales of $3.94 billion. They served 26.4 million people by providing them with these services:

• Education, including English as a Second Language, math, and computer skills-2 million people received some form of training through Goodwill in 2014. Here is a link to courses offered:
• http://www.gcflearnfree.org/
• Transportation
• Child care, so parents can pursue education and training
• The philosophy is, "A hand up, not a hand out."
• Training people for work including careers in..

• Banking
• Information Technology
• Health Services
• 318,000 people were placed in employment in 2014
• Here is a link to their job search resources:
• http://www.goodwill.org/find-jobs-and-services/

Online services include

• Job search
• Financial advice
• Career path planning
• Financial planning assistance here:
• http://www.goodwill.org/blog/career-and-financial-advice/career-and-financial-advice-for-may-2016/

Goodwill's website suggests these apps to help you in job search:

http://www.goodwill.org/blog/career-and-financial-advice/find-a-job-on-the-go-with-these-mobile-apps/

Or to help you complete your GED: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phucnguyen.education.vocab.gre&hl=en  and https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gre-vocab-genius/id380833751?mt=8

To donate, simply bag or box up your items and take them to the nearest Goodwill store. Most of them have drive-ups with assistants to unload your items, and you get a coupon to use when shopping there the next time. If in doubt about what they'll accept, call or check online for a list. Here is info about donating: http://www.goodwill.org/donate-and-shop/donate-stuff/

Shopping at Goodwill can unearth lots of treasures-don't forget to look over the shoes and clothing; some retail stores donate items that didn't sell, including clothing and furniture used to stage houses for sale; also, people buy things they never wear and then donate them, so you can purchase things new with tags at a great reduction in price in addition to items that are 'like new.'
*Interesting: Employees are not allowed to purchase items sold in their own stores. This makes it fair for anyone to find treasures.

Did you know Goodwill has an online auction site similar to Ebay? You can find rare, vintage, collectible items there as well as ordinary things you won't see at a walk-in store. http://www.shopgoodwill.com/

Need a suit or suit coat for a job interview? You can probably find one at Goodwill. What about a good winter coat? A belt that doesn't cost $20? Sports equipment? Picture frames? Books? Dishes? Toys? Many items were barely used and then discarded, and you can benefit from that.

An interview with a Goodwill CEO about what they do: http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/economic_opportunity/interview_with_jim_gibbons

Can you help Goodwill continue to offer all of these services by donating or shopping at a Goodwill store? Can you use some of their services? Check it out!

 

More End Of Year Advice: A Top Ten

Whether you're graduating from high school or college, or have just completed another step on your way to a degree, the end of the school year is fast approaching. You've probably heard words of advice before...so here are 10 more:

 

• 10. Realize that your advisor is really proud of your progress.

• 9. What were you doing in 2012? Annnnnd boom, four years went by.  If you think another 3 years of high school, or 4 years of college, or even 2 or 1, is an impossibly long time, just remember how fast this year has gone by, and the past four years.

• 8. When a class, or a teacher, is tough, realize that you can get through it and learn anyway.

• 7. Be grateful to the people who helped you, and continue to help you, achieve your goals: parents, grandparents, friends, mentors, advisors, teachers. You have an army of people on your side helping you out. Ask them when you need help: That's what they are there for. And if you are graduating, keep in touch!

• 6. When life is just getting on your nerves, hug someone, or a pet, or have a cupcake. The rough patch will pass. Trust us.

• 5. Appreciate and value your friendships. Be there for them and they'll be there for you. Always think before you speak when you are angry. Once you've said it, no amount of "I'm sorry" is going to erase it. Oh, and PS: Spend some 'real' time with friends, not just on Facebook or via texting.

• 4. Make a plan. Stick with it unless you see a better way.
• 3. Be able to bend when you need to.

• 2. Respect others, and respect yourself first.
• 1. Relax. Celebrate. Revel. Be proud of yourself. Smile. There are more amazing things coming up in your life than you can even imagine. Because you are awesome.