Route 66

"I no can believe it!" But at the same time, I can!!! As of today it's official! I took my very last psychology final for my bachelors degree, fulfilling all requirements for graduation. Can I get an "Amen"?! I was sweating bullets as I walked the long, dark corridors of the Psych building post-test. I was trailing my professor to the Psych office, where "the machine" would gobble up our scantrons, spitting out our resultant fates. I needed a 65% or better on the test to pass the class. (aka to have at least a "C" average for all tests taken during the semester)... I sat pensively, at the edge of my chair- Dr. D walked through the doorway, stopped and smiled when she saw my troubled brow, then said that blessed number, "66". "You're serious?!" I was shrill with glee! I jumped up, threw my arms around her and shook her like a willow tree on a gusty summer's day. Of course, graduation will hit next May as I am doing a minor in Fall and Spring- but technically if I needed to, I could go (graduate) at any time now!

Reason to Smile.

I'm studying for my Physiology of Behavior final. I wanted to share the results of a study conducted by Zajonc, Murphy, & Inglehart (1989) who proposed that smiling precedes the experience of emotion. They found muscular contractions that produce smiling cause blood to drain from the face into the cavernous sinus, which lowers the temperature of the brain, producing positive emotion. On the flip side, frowning causes the blood supply to pool in the face, increasing the temperature of the brain, which produces negative emotion. All the more reason to turn our frowns upside down, and smile our cares away. :)