After delivering a game-tying RBI against VMI, sophomore shortstop Stephen Bruno will look to bring the same tenacity against ECU. Photo by Grant Mathews

Virginia and East Carolina will meet at Davenport Field this weekend in an early battle of unbeatens.

Both teams enter the three-game set coming off huge weeks. Virginia (4-0) swept through its opening weekend at the Auburn Tournament and downed VMI Wednesday behind a late, go-ahead RBI double by senior left fielder John Barr. East Carolina (3-0), meanwhile, handily took three straight from Youngstown State last weekend.

“I feel as good as you can feel going into the series, but this is why I like to play East Carolina,” coach Brian O’Connor said. “They’ve got a very good baseball program, as do we, and I think that will be great for both clubs.”

The teams are no strangers to each other, as the Cavaliers took two of three against then-No. 11 East Carolina during last year’s opening weekend. Pirate senior pitcher Seth Maness, the Conference-USA player of the year, took the opening day loss after allowing a disappointing six hits and four earned runs in 5.2 innings. Maness’ pitching improved in this season’s opener, however, as he threw seven innings of one-run ball. When Maness takes the mound this afternoon against Virginia’s ace, junior Danny Hultzen, he will be searching for his 30th career win.

Virginia and East Carolina followed similar paths last year, finishing their respective seasons earlier than they had planned. East Carolina was ousted in the C-USA semifinals while Virginia, which held the No. 1 rank for most of its season, lost in the NCAA Super Regionals to Oklahoma.

Through its first four games, Virginia has demonstrated a pattern of starting slowly, failing to score in the first three innings during three of its four games thus far. The team is determined to break out of that habit, though, and believes the remedy could be simple.

“We just need to stay aggressive and get pitches to hit,” sophomore shortstop Stephen Bruno said. “It’s all about pitch selection … The two things you can control as a hitter are pitch selection and the strike.”

The Cavaliers’ defense largely has carried the team to its unblemished record. In four games, Virginia has committed only two errors, and its starting pitchers have allowed only four earned runs while recording 26 strikeouts in 24 innings. Virginia’s bullpen also has steadied the team, as sophomore reliever Whit Mayberry pitched 2.2 scoreless innings Wednesday to keep his team afloat against VMI.

Mayberry’s “got great stuff, and you can tell his confidence is through the roof,” Barr said, “I think everybody on this team has all the confidence in the world in Whit.”
East Carolina’s strength also lies in its pitching staff. The team’s starters have allowed just one run and recorded 13 strikeouts through 17 innings this season.

The Pirates have taken care of business at the plate as well, scoring 23 runs during its first three games. Junior infielder Corey Thompson hit .400 during the weekend and leads the team with four RBIs.

After its strong start, ECU is receiving votes from the Baseball America poll, and a strong weekend could propel the team into the nation’s top-25.

“This weekend against East Carolina is a huge series, they’re a top 25-type club every year … and they’ll be very good on the mound,” O’Connor said.

Entering a series that potentially could be dominated by pitching and defense, the team knows patience at the plate and tenacity will be key.

“[Wednesday] we struggled getting pitches to hit and were a little too aggressive,” Bruno said. “We battled down those last couple of innings [though]… and came through. That’s all that matters in the end. We never give up until the last pitch, the last out.”

When the No. 12 Virginia women’s lacrosse team travels to No. 8 Syracuse Sunday, the team will have its first opportunity of the year to build a winning streak. After beating Richmond 23-13 Wednesday, the Cavaliers (1-1) hope to carry momentum into their third consecutive road game.

Starting the season with a three-game road trip has not been easy for a team that graduated two All-American midfielders, Kaitlin Duff and Brittany Kalkstein, last spring. During the season-opening loss to No. 13 Loyola, the team lacked cohesion between the defensive and attacking ends.

“Our transition game needs to get much cleaner so that our attackers have more opportunities to do their thing,” coach Julie Myers said after the loss. “They need to learn how to do it a little more on their own in the flow of a game.”

The Cavaliers quickly showed the signs of improvement Wednesday, however, and scored its highest number of goals during Myers’ 16-year tenure as coach. The team matched its best offensive performance since a 23-3 win against Dartmouth in 1987, as 10 players chipped in at least one goal and five recorded hat tricks.

Against Syracuse, the Cavaliers will need to take extra care in monitoring their own goal. In its first game of the season, the Orange blasted Colgate with a 19-goal outburst. Syracuse senior Tee Ladouceur led the way with six goals and an assist, while senior Lindsey Connell and sophomore Michelle Tumolo also tallied five points apiece.

In a back-and-forth contest against Stanford Sunday, the Cardinal held the Orange’s offense in check, winning by a final score of 11-10. The Cavaliers will rely on an experienced backline to do the same. The Cavaliers have caused 27 turnovers during their first two games and will attempt to keep the pressure on Syracuse.

“A lot of the leadership comes out of the defensive end,” senior defender and co-captain Marghi Walters said.

If the Cavaliers are able to protect sophomore goalie Kim Kolarik, the game could turn on how efficiently the Cavaliers set up their attack after defensive stops.

“Doing the little things in practice, setting up plays and then doing it in games is [key],” junior attacker Charlie Finnigan said.

The Cavaliers have received solid performances from an ensemble of attacking players who could provide plenty of firepower as the season continues. The Virginia attack returns four players who made critical contributions last year and has a chance to become one of the most feared units in the perennially strong ACC.

“We’ve all started at least a year,” redshirt junior attacker Ainsley Baker said, referring to fellow attackers Finnigan and juniors Julie Gardner and Josie Owen. “I think we’ll be the leaders and foundation of the attack.”

During last year’s home matchup with Syracuse, Finnigan scored the decisive goal for Virginia with 1:33 left. The Cavaliers held on for a 14-13 victory in a contest that included seven tied scores. The Cavaliers will look to equal that success on the road, Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

In just one week’s time, the Virginia women’s tennis team toppled two of the nation’s top 20 teams at the ITA National Indoor Championship and vaulted 14 spots to earn the program’s highest-ever ITA ranking at No. 9. Now, armed with faith in themselves, the Cavaliers travel to Montgomery, Ala., to compete for the first time in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic.

“Obviously our first-round win [against then-No. 3 Baylor] was huge because we know we’ve put in the work to really have that confidence to show the country that we can compete with the best of them,” sophomore Erin Vierra said. “I think we’re all really pumped up to have a lot of confidence going in.”

The Cavaliers (8-1) enter the weekend tournament as the highest seed in a field that includes five teams ranked in the top 50 nationally.

“The field is very strong, which is great because it gives us a lot of opportunity,” coach Mark Guilbeau said. “We’re going to have to be ready for some really good teams. I think that we can compete to win it.”

Virginia first will face off against No. 48 DePaul. The Blue Demons (7-4) also arrive at the event brimming with confidence. Since losing three consecutive matches during the final week of January and the first week of February, DePaul has edged its opponents in five out of its last six matches. During their most recent performance, the Blue Demons earned their first victory against a ranked opponent — then-No. 48 Iowa — by a 5-2 margin. Freshman Kelsey Lawson claimed her 18th singles match of the season with a 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 4 singles position.

Junior Lindsey Hardenbergh, meanwhile, leads the Cavaliers into Alabama after earning ACC Tennis Player of the Week honors. Hardenbergh rallied from a 5-1 third-set deficit against Baylor to clinch the deciding point in Virginia’s 4-3 win.

Hardenbergh’s victory helped strengthen the team’s confidence.

“First you have to believe in yourself and then it goes to the next of level of believing in your team,” sophomore Maria Fuccillo said. “I think that helped us in our success last weekend, and it all came together. It was definitely a good weekend to head into this weekend.”

Should Virginia down DePaul in the opening round, the team will move on to face the winner of today’s matchup between No. 43 Ohio State (5-2) and No. 64 Auburn (2-4).

In 2010, the Buckeyes handed Virginia its second loss of the season with a 5-2 victory. The Cavaliers and the Tigers have never met.

Virginia has one other foe to face this weekend — moving from indoor to outdoor courts. That enemy may not be listed on the event’s slate, but the Cavaliers will need to adjust to the different surfaces quickly in their first outdoor matches of the season.

“It might be a little slower outside, and [there] may be a little bit longer points,” Fuccillo said.

Despite the challenging court change and stiff competition, both Fuccillo and Guilbeau expressed a resolve to continue building on the impressive start to the season.

Guilbeau indicated the team’s confidence will aid the team both at the Blue Gray Tournament and down the road.

“They’re showing both collectively and individually that their confidence is based on doing what they need to do on the tennis court,” Guilbeau said. “When you really believe and you really have confidence, you get good results.”

The University has frozen salaries since December 2007 in response to the economic downturn, but planning has allowed it to avoid refrain from layoffs. Photo by Thomas Bynum

A recent study by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that college senior administrators’ salaries across the country have increased by an average of 1.4 percen during the past year.

According to the Administrative Compensation Survey, a collection of salary and demographic data for select positions in college and university administration, however, the past year’s slight economic recovery has benefited primarily private university employees, whereas senior administrators at public universities experienced little to no increase in wages.

“Data show that increases occurred more frequently at private institutions than public institutions,” a CUPA-HR press release stated. “For public institutions, the median salary increase was again 0.0%; for private institutions, the median increase was 2.0%.”

The University has frozen salaries since December 2007, according to its compensation website.

“All you have to do is look around at the economy,” said Susan Carkeek, University vice president and chief human resource officer. “You can see that the public sector is struggling, and oftentimes we’re supported by tax dollars.”

Although the current financial situation may be frustrating for faculty, the University has remained stable relative to other institutions, Carkeek said.

“If you look around the country at what a lot of other employers and even universities are doing to manage during these economic hardships, a lot of them have had to resort to layoffs or furloughs,” Carkeek said. “We’ve been lucky and have managed proactively and planned so that we haven’t had to do any layoffs. But it’s a difficult situation for all of us to be in.”

Carkeek said the state legislature, which is currently in session, likely will pass additional budget cuts, potentially jeopardizing academics at the University.

“I think we’re nervous about losing our best faculty,” Carkeek said. “We don’t want them to get discouraged or get recruited away. Not being able to recognize and reward them is frustrating. We’re just doing the best we can under the tough circumstances.”

Despite the salary freezes, the University still employed 36 individuals who made at least $300,000 in 2010, according to the Collegiate Times’ database of public university salaries. Additionally, President Teresa A. Sullivan currently earns $485,000, Carkeek said.

Although raw salary numbers are important to consider, rising living and commercial costs also must be taken into account when evaluating pay raises.

The annual Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers in 2010 was 1.6 percent higher than in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Therefore, the median salary increase of 1.4 percent was slightly less than inflation for all institutions combined. Salary increases for administrators in private institutions exceeded inflation, however.

The Image Awards highlighted outstanding community members who embodied the night’s theme of the importance of “Perservering Towards Excellence.” Photo by Thomas Bynum

The fourth annual Image Awards were presented yesterday during the closing ceremony of Black History Month at the Special Collections Library.

The ceremony was sponsored by the University’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter, the Black Student Alliance, the Black Leadership Institute and University Dining.

The event was organized to “recognize the dedicated efforts of University community members, both students and faculty, that work towards uplifting the black community at the University,” said Dion Lewis, assistant dean and director of the Luther P. Jackson Black Cultural Center at the Office of African-American Affairs. Lewis was the faculty member who oversaw the organization of the event and has been involved with the awards since they were founded, said third-year College Brittany Flippen, a member of the ceremony’s planning committee.

“It’s the one sole instance where the largest and most influential African-American and diversity organizations come together and recognize the who’s who of the community,” said Jonathan Bryan, vice president of the University’s NAACP chapter.

The theme of the night was “Persevering Towards Excellence.” During the opening speech, Ceremony Chair Erica Washington emphasized the theme’s importance.

“Without perseverance, there is a good chance that we would not be sitting here today on the grounds of Jefferson’s university,” she said. “It is only through perseverance that we can fight the wrongs of the past and those to come in the future.” Washington added the ceremony was a way to acknowledge achievements of the black community. “We forget to stop, breathe and recognize our own successes, big and small,” she said.

Patrice Grimes, interim associate dean of African-American affairs, gave the keynote address, stressing the importance of leaving behind a legacy at the University. He emphasized it is important to “honor the past and anticipate the future.”

Kimberly Leonard, founder of the Image Awards and a 2008 graduate of the University, presented the awards. There are four student awards, which include Stand Out First Year, Silent Inspiration, Outstanding Student Leader and College Career Award. There is also a faculty award, The Black Community Advocate. They were awarded to Corinthia Evans, Victoria Tucker, Reginald Benbow, Ryan Hicks and Associate Prof. Claudrena Harold, respectively.

The College Career Award honors a fourth-year student who is involved in community service and has made an impact on the black community. The winner must “have a great social, cultural and academic college career,” Lewis said.

Benbow is a recipient of a Harrison Grant for Undergraduate Research and a University Judiciary Committee counselor, as well as the only black student living on the Lawn.

“It’s a very inspiring event,” Flippen said. “It gives motivation to the rest of the black community that we are doing good things for the U.Va. community … It’s just another way to unify us all.”

The award-winners are nominated by the community, which includes faculty, staff, undergraduates and graduate students, Lewis said. The nomination process began in November and the candidates were reviewed in January. Nominees were then judged by students of the sponsoring organizations, Lewis said.

“It’s a great way to culminate [Black History Month] by celebrating some of the heroes in our community,” Lewis said.

The members of the Board of Visitors met yesterday to discuss the expansion of both the student body and academic programs at the University through legislative support from the state government.

In the preliminary Board of Visitors meeting, President Teresa A. Sullivan, Rector John O. Wynne and the Board considered Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Virginia Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011, which was announced in January. The bill strives to create a roadmap for issuing 100,000 additional degrees during the next 15 years. McDonnell will focus on developing regional strategies and partnerships for research and economic development, implementing innovation and cost containment, and increasing financial aid and workforce training.

The bill specifically suggests expediting degrees and boosting undergraduate degrees in science and technology where skill shortages exist or are predicted.

The current legislative session closes Feb. 26, but the bill is backed by bipartisan support. If passed, McDonnell would appropriate $50 million in funding.

“We’re fortunate the governor and the legislature are supportive,” Sullivan said, noting that the University and the governor have identified the same areas of need.

“If the state wants excellence, we all have to understand what that means, so this work is critically important,” Wynne added.

Amid discussion of boosting degrees and expanding programs, Wynne noted the state is committed to funding those new students. “The template is there,” he said.
Considering the possibility of the bill’s passage with caution, Wynne made clear his opposition to any change in the student-to-faculty ratio, saying the Board would not allow it increase.

Overall Wynne believes building blocks are being placed to sustain a relationship with the state government. “For the first time in 20 years, both the governor and legislature are … dedicated to higher education.”

“End of Life” Founder Bryan Doerries created the show to depict death as acceptable as birth. Photo by Thomas Bynum

The biomedical ethics and humanities department of the University Medical school used ancient Greek theater last night to demonstrate the emotional problems that accompany death.

The show, titled “End of Life,” is part of a series of programs sponsored by the department in its continuous “Medical Center Hour” efforts to connect medicine and society.

End of Life founder Bryan Doerries said his motivation for creating this show was to popularize death in society as being as acceptable as birth.

“I wanted to create a forum where people who were engaged with process of dying could be heard,” he said.

Marcia Day Childress, director of programs in humanities for the department, said the purpose of the program was to “talk about a subject that often isn’t talked about in public, which is the experience of witnessing pain and suffering of a fellow being.”

The play consisted of two miniature drama presentations of segments of Sophocle’s tragedies, “The Women of Trachis” and “Philoctetes”. Both segments contained the theme of human pain and suffering, in addition to showing the perspectives of the non-afflicted. Following the acts, a panel of four University Medical Center employees shared their thoughts on the play, as well as their own personal experiences with death.

The discussion then opened to members of the audience as a forum to share their own personal experiences and thoughts about both the plays and their own emotional problems related to terminal illness.

Upon hearing dramatic expressions of emotion, audience members feel more open to expressing themselves, Childress said. The voices, language, sound and poetry of Athenian theater “unlocks people and evokes in them some memories [and] emotions that they feel compelled to speak about.”

Graduate Nursing student Heather Saxby, who studies in the Clinical Nurse Leader program, said she felt the event created an interesting environment to focus on the issues her program discusses so frequently. “It was a great way to get people talking about [human suffering] all together [from] different interdisciplinary areas,” she said.

Such events also help Nursing students prepare for the reality of caring for those in suffering, said Graduate Nursing student Mollie Bush, who is also studying in the CNL program. “I think it provides a safe environment to have the conversation but at the same time feel the discomfort,” Bush said.

Today the program will be held again as part of the third-year Nursing and Medical students’ curriculum. Students will collaborate “to talk about play and what stories … they [have] taken away from their year [with hands-on hospital experience],” Childress said.

In our busy and stressful collegiate lives, there are many issues that we briefly consider then forget entirely. To counter this apathy, individuals form awareness groups to teach us about important issues in our society. Autism Speaks U at UVA is one of these awareness groups.

Founded last semester at the University by President Monica Dominguez, ASU at UVA works to educate students at the University and members of the Charlottesville community about autism. The executive board, composed of Dominguez, Vice President Cristina Maldonado, Secretary Michelle Maiers and Treasurer Justin Pierce, just completed the constitution for their new contracted independent organization last semester.

The issue of autism affects Dominguez not only as the organization president, but as a sister.

“My younger sister was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when she was 8 years old,” Dominguez said. “When I found this out, I realized I had never heard of it before and wanted to learn more.”

Dominguez said she and the club’s two other founders, Maldonado and Maiers, also worked at summer camps for children and teens with autism. “It was a very rewarding experience, but I wanted more,” Dominguez said.

She came to the University hoping to find an organization where she could continue her service, but “I found nothing,” she said. “This was when I decided to start an [ASU] chapter at U.Va.”

Designed for college students, ASU is a program intended to support the national organization Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks seeks to positively affect the lives of those struggling with autism spectrum disorders and their families. It also is dedicated to improving the futures of those with autism by funding global biomedical research into the prevention, treatment and cure for autism. ASU specifically aims to engage university students across the country to increase awareness about autism and raise critical funds.

Some of Dominguez’s goals for ASU at UVA include hosting fundraising events, volunteering with the local community and raising awareness.

While the term awareness can often be vague and cryptic, Dominguez pinpointed how she plans to educate her peers.

“We want to increase awareness for autism by showing films, handing out flyers and hosting events so people can learn more about this disorder,” Dominguez said.
She said she wants people to understand a condition which affects more children than most people probably realize.

“It affects one in 110 children in America, and this year alone, more children will be diagnosed with autism than with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined.”

The CIO fills a gap on Grounds. Allison Anderson, director of the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center at Student Health, said the University does not currently have any specific outreach programs related to autism, though “the center is the resource that students who may be suffering from disabling symptoms of autism can turn to.” She also noted there are currently no specific programs for Asperger’s, but there may be some in the future. “As a need rises, we develop programs to meet it,” Anderson said.

While Student Health provides help for students dealing with autism or Asperger’s, ASU at UVA will continue increasing awareness of the diseases at the University.
With this CIO’s help, maybe one day soon more students will gain a better understanding of the seriousness of autism.

“Dad, did you get the PowerPoint I e-mailed you?” Yes, my sister Jennifer made my dad a PowerPoint, and yes, it contained the sound of a car engine roaring.

The Urban family debate that culminated in this PowerPoint had begun a few weeks earlier when I packed up the contents of my first-year dorm room and headed north on I-29 toward home.

After I began a full-time internship that required a 45-minute commute to Falls Church, my sister was relegated to having our mom pick her up after school in the minivan and drive her to work. Not only did this cost my sister cool points, but it also meant my mom had to waste time in rush-hour traffic. So eventually, my dad gave in and graciously bought us another car, which of course meant that I would be lucky enough to bring my car to Charlottesville this year. What else could I do to celebrate this exponentially increased freedom but go for a joyride?

I still remember the first time I went for a joyride. After nine months of driving in parking lots and religiously following the speed limit with my parents in the passenger seat, the day I got my license I hit the open road — OK, well, as open as the congested Northern Virginia roads can be. “God Bless Texas” was blaring on the radio, and I felt more free and in control than ever before. Of course, the nervousness of being a new driver led me back home within 20 minutes, but I eventually overcame my initial fears.

Through the rest of high school, when my friends and I couldn’t find something to do on a Friday night, we’d simply hop in a car, cruise down the winding roads of Thompson and Vale and talk about our futures. We’d scope out our future mansions in Great Falls. We would flip a coin to decide whether to go right or left and eventually wind up back where we started. We’d get lost out near Loudoun County and hope our parents didn’t notice how long we had been gone — or how much gas we had used.

My not-so-environmentally-friendly Friday night rituals often took me down the back roads, but I spent my last night before leaving for college taking a joyride on my favorite road of all: the Fairfax County Parkway.

Although most people might categorize their favorite road as something more scenic, such as the Pacific Coast Highway, or more adventurous, such as the Autobahn, mine is a thoroughfare that makes most commuters cringe. But for me, it is the road that takes me to all my favorite spots in the place I call home.

Whether it was driving home in the dog days of summer with my moon roof open as the humidity subsided for the night, or listening to the same song on repeat a little too loud with my sister as we drove to Fair Lakes Shopping Center, the Parkway was my conduit. Two left turns and two right turns away from my house, it’s a road on which I created a lot of memories.

Unlike other major thoroughfares, the Parkway is luscious and green with its grassy divider in the middle and tree lined sides. It doesn’t have an annoying number of stoplights. And with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour, it doesn’t take too long to get anywhere. It’s the ideal road for a joyride — and the only road I considered for my last drive before I headed off to school.

Now fast forward back to this summer when I learned I would be getting to take my car to school. I immediately began planning my joyriding routes. Although I love the University, sometimes it’s good just to explore greater Charlottesville and remind myself of the existence of the outside world. By the end of the first few weeks of school, I had taken a few rides to clear my head and even found a section of I-29 between Wal-Mart and Target that reminds me of my favorite road back home.

However, I soon discovered the cliché “there’s no place like home” rings true even when it comes to joyriding. So for now I’ll have to settle for the large picture of the Parkway hanging over my desk — the one my roommate constantly makes fun of me for since it’s featured more prominently than a picture of her. But only 93 miles and five days separate me from Spring Break — and the best road in the world.

Katie’s column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at k.urban@cavalierdaily.com.

In a recent meeting with my pre-medical adviser, I heard what is likely the most apt characterization of the pre-medical concentration yet: It’s a freight train.

What she meant, of course, is that once you start on the curriculum track, it’s hard to stop. The momentum builds: courses, grades, physician shadowing, hospital volunteering, MCAT studying. It’s an unrelenting push toward medical school, residency and beyond.

All I could think about, though, was Thomas the Tank Engine, the show I grew up watching.

The little metal conductors and fluffy diorama trees conjured up images of a happy, picturesque little world where there seldom was trouble. The most tension I ever remember seeing in an episode was when Percy, the little green engine, was caught in a flood. He rusted, but by the next episode he had a fresh coat of kelly-green paint.

The only unfriendly characters were the freight cars. They were boxy, gray-brown and ugly, their train-faces shaped into perpetual scowls.

Most were determined to make life miserable for the engines who were assigned to pull them. Somehow, though, despite the freight cars’ determined torpidity — and sometimes outright aggression — the engines got the job done.

Like many kids I knew, my brother and I had the magnetic connectable Thomas trains and a set of interlinking wooden tracks. We would spend hours making and playing with complicated ensembles containing an engine, a log car, freight cars, a milk car, a caboose.

The trains would start off quickly, easily — a single engine and a car or two would zip over the carved wooden bridges and past our conductor statues, around the tight turns and gaps in the track made by pieces we had lost.

As we kept adding cars, however, our problems grew. The train would tip over if it went too fast. Magnets would detach. Sometimes the logs in the log car would get stuck under the bridge. The colorful stretch of wood and wheels couldn’t always make it around the turns in the track.

A friend in high school once reminded me that not everything is a metaphor. In the pre-med freight train comparison, though, I saw my college self in the toy trains I played with as a kid.

During grade school or high school, or whenever it hits us that we want to be doctors, we’re that early toy train: an engine, maybe a car or two. The future is far enough ahead that we don’t think about courses or logistical burdens, and our unburdened wheels roll easily.

In our first year of college, we start adding cars. They’re colorful, exciting, even, but the weight begins to build. As we keep going through college, it becomes more and more difficult. The MCATs close in — the turns get tighter. The added cars of classes and research may mean a few mishaps — a few tips, a car left behind and then recovered.

For all the difficulty of the expanded train, though, the result is impressive. As a kid, I didn’t just keep to one train and a car or two because it was faster and easier. The more cars my brother and I could add to the train, the happier we were.

Adding more cars inevitably means a challenge, but if you can step back and see more than just the wheels that get stuck sometimes or the cars that detach and roll backwards down the bridge or topple over, you’ll see the result of all the hard work in the bright chain of cars.

Even the scowl-faced freight cars that are the worst of pre-med classes have their place in the ever-growing train. Freight cars, boxcars or passenger cars, it all rolls on toward med school.

Courtney’s column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at c.hartnett@cavalierdaily.com.