The Group Can't Wait For You!

Class time is not always confined to the classroom. I love it when professors decide to shake things up and hold class somewhere new to provide hands on learning. I have recently come to understand the importance of being prepared with more than enough medical supplies on top of research and materials for on site classes.

As an English/Education major I spend a lot of time in high schools observing teachers and students. Sometimes I do this independently to meet the required observation hours, and sometimes it’s arranged and led by my professor. One of my best friends is a Pre-Pharmacy major and her zoology class once spent a day in the creek looking for critters. Another friend of mine gets credit hours from training in hospitals for her nursing degree. Any and all majors will have the opportunity to get outside of the classroom. So listen up.

No matter where your class meets or what kind of learning excursion you go on, chances are the whole group has a plan and is moving. And you cannot ask them to slow down.

Here in London, one of my classes meets in the British Museum. We research artifacts that connect with biblical history throughout the week, then present them to one another in the museum on Mondays.

One day at the British Museum I was listening to a friend present on ancient coins used in the 1st century B.C. I looked at my Dexcom and found that I was dropping...fast. Luckily I had plenty of glucose (more than I normally would) and we were spending most of our time in a single exhibit so I didn’t have to walk around the museum too much.

As I chomped on tablet after tablet I got to thinking about how I would handle the situation if my blood sugar fell to a point where I couldn’t keep up with the class at all. I would hate to be disruptive and need the professor to modify the class period so that I could regain my strength.

Then I thought (hypothetically) about what I would do if I hadn't brought enough glucose. The museum had a cookie bar near by but it would be so inconvenient and disruptive to ask someone to go buy one for me.

In the past I would leave my dorm with just a tube or maybe ½ a tube of glucose tablets. That amount has usually worked for me but I cannot expect it to always work in the future. Whenever you are going somewhere new or especially if you are going somewhere with a class for an academic experience, it is essential to over-prepare with glucose. Make sure you bring more than you normally need. It’s better to be safe than sorry. You don't want to look like the bust pictured above.

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On the topic of being prepared: I have yanked a site out unintentionally more times than I could count. I like to bring an extra site too just in case that happens. You wouldn’t want to be an hour away from campus and have no way to administer insulin! (As obvious as that sounds, it’s worth mentioning….something like this happened once. But that's a story for another blog post…)