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March the 7^th started like any other day. I got out of bed around six o’clock that morning. I usually get out of bed really early on Thursdays. I play the violin at Monticello High School for their spring musical. This year, they’re putting on Fiddler on the Roof, which allows me to get many solos throughout the play. After the musical rehearsal, I packed up my violin and drove to Piedmont for school. It was a very beautiful day. The temperature was hovering around freezing in the morning, but warmed up to seventy degrees by the afternoon. According to my professional weather station, it warmed up to exactly 69.2 degrees Fahrenheit that day (Stanley). The sun was shining, and it was a very good day to go run around outside.

However, I had to go to Calculus. Day after day, I struggle to understand that class. After Calculus, I was supposed to go right next door to biology class. I take Biology 102 with Mr. Willis. Mr. Willis is a wonderful teacher. He makes his lectures so interesting by making you laugh. This was the last week before spring break, and I had taken a test just the class period before, so since there was only one class left before the holiday, Mr. Willis canceled class that day. However, the day I took the test in biology, I signed a form to go see the cadaver in the Anatomy and Physiology lab next class period. I had never seen a dead body—not even during a funeral. The thought of seeing a dead body did not gross me out, and I thought it was a good way to rack up on biology project points. I have to get fifty projects points by April 9, or my grade will drop one letter grade. Seeing the cadaver would get me ten project points, and I would only have to see the cadaver for ten or twenty minutes. I thought the experience would be an easy ten project points.

After Calculus class, I went to the student lounge to gather with the rest of the biology students who had signed to go see the cadaver. We all ventured over to the Anatomy and Physiology lab. I was somewhat nervous then, because I didn’t know what to expect. My brother takes Anatomy and Physiology this semester, and so he has to see the cadaver everyday. He said that the cadaver had all ready been dissected, and you couldn’t really tell it was a human body anymore. The group of us who were going to see the cadaver had to wait outside the lab, because the lab student who was going to do the tour of the cadaver wasn’t ready. We talked about how we were all scared since we didn’t know what to expect, and I took comfort in the fact that everyone was probably as nervous as I was.

Finally, Dr. Walsh opened the door and showed us all into the lab where the lab student took over the tour. Dr. Walsh, one of the Anatomy and Physiology professors and my academic advisor, sat at one of the lab desks and graded papers during the tour of the cadaver. There was a funny odor in the lab that day. I had never smelled it before, and I was not worried because of the smell. The lab student passed around a small jar of Vick’s vapor rub so that we could put some underneath our noses to keep some of the smell away. The vapor rub helped a little, but I could still smell the funny odor. The odor was the smell of formaldehyde. The cadaver is a couple semesters old, so in order to keep it from decomposing, “the principal chemical used to preserve the cadaver is formaldehyde” (Shupp).

In the southeastern corner of the laboratory, there were some medical curtains drawn. Since I did not see the cadaver anywhere else, I assumed that the body was behind those closed curtains. Finally, it was time to start the tour of the cadaver. We all walked to the other side of the curtains where there was a large metallic case. The case reminded me of a coffin, although I had never actually seen a coffin before. The lab student lifted the coffin door, and there was a small gasp from the biology students. All I saw was a blanket in the coffin, but then the lab student took his hands and slowly uncovered the cadaver.

According to Denise Brokke from Montana State University, models can be good representations for learning the anatomy of the human body, but there are concepts that you can comprehend only by seeing the anatomy firsthand (Brokke). I agree. Seeing the cadaver was a sight that I have never seen before. It was the sight of a dissected human body. I could easily distinguish the fact that it was a human cadaver. The lab student pulled out the cadaver’s arm, which had been shredded to expose the muscle and bone of the arm and hand. What frightened me the most was that the cadaver still had finger nail polish on her finger nails. I can not tell you why seeing her finger nails was so creepy, but I did my best not show any emotion during the tour. After examining the hand, the lab student quickly opened up the cadaver’s chest simply by folding over the skin. All of her body parts were exposed in her chest, and the lab student started to take the body parts out of the chest cavity. Ever so easily and without any effort, he removed her ribs and set them on her legs. He then took out her heart and set them next to her ribs, and that is the last I remember of the tour.

By that point, I could not stand the sight of the cadaver anymore. I could feel my body rejecting what it saw. My head was swimming, and I could no longer concentrate. My heart rate jumped to an enormous pace, and I could feel my skin tense up. I began to sweat and over heat quickly. Throughout all of this time, I was trying my best to keep calm and keep a straight face, but it was way to late for that. I decided that it was time for me to go—to hell with the ten project points. I discretely turned around and went to the other side of the drawn curtains. I walked to the front of the lab, picked up my backpack, and walked out of the lab door. As I was walking out the door, I remember Dr. Walsh asking me something from his lab table. I did not comprehend by that point, so I don’t remember what he said. Later on, I figured out through my brother that he asked me, “Are you all right?” If I could talk when I was walking out the door, I would have said no. So, instead of answering him, I started to walk down the hallway where nobody was present. As I was walking, I could feel my condition worsening. I thought to myself that I needed to lay down, but it was too late. I could feel myself passing out, and I did.

All I remember about me passing out in the hallway was that my glasses flew off my face, and I was on the floor. One second I was walking away from the lab, and the next second, I was staring at the black, rubber trim along the floor. As far as I could tell, I was out at least a few seconds. Once I regained consciousness, I knew what had happened and where I was. I thought that I had laid down on the ground since I wasn’t feeling very good. The next thing I knew, Dr. Walsh was staring down at me and asking if I was all right. I can’t remember what I said then either, but along with him was a medical woman. I’m not exactly sure what her occupation was, but she was related to Piedmont in some way. She must have been some sort of a nurse or something. Dr. Walsh and the woman tried to sit me up, but I told them once I was sitting up that I was feeling very light headed and couldn’t stand. Even though I couldn’t exactly stand up straight, I kept telling them that I was fine and that I just need to drive myself home and rest a while. I tried to make the situation humorous by saying over and over again how embarrassing it is to pass out at school and in the hallway. Dr. Walsh said that he didn’t find it humorous. In fact, even though I was the first person in Piedmont history to pass out after seeing the cadaver, first year medical students pass out all the time. He said that there was nothing embarrassing about it. Then, Dr. Walsh said that I had a pretty nasty gash on my chin (Walsh). I reached up to touch my chin, and when I brought my hand back down, it was covered in blood.

Apparently, I must have fallen to the ground instead of laying myself down. My knees were really hurting, and I put the pieces of the puzzle together. When I passed out, I fell to my knees, and then I fell forward with my head up and slammed the underside of my chin to the ground. That’s when I realized my glasses had flown off my face. The nurse woman said that because I had a head injury, I couldn’t take myself home. She and Dr. Walsh decided to call the paramedics.

After some time, the paramedics arrived. There were two guys who helped me onto a backboard. One of their names was Bob, but I can’t remember the other guy’s name. They put some sort of a neck brace on my head and started to bandage me up. For the past half hour, I had been staring at the ceiling. Because my head was braced, I could only look upwards. The ceiling came closer to me when the paramedics picked me up. The only thing I could see were the ceiling tiles quickly rolling by with a florescent light every third tile as the paramedics carried me out of the door on a gurney. The bright sun shinned in my eyes once I was outside, and the sun quickly vanished when the ceiling of the ambulance covered up the blue sky. Before I knew it, the ambulance was on its way to Martha Jefferson hospital.