Shiga, WHAT? Rated: PG

For those of you who don't know, my major is Community Health. One of my classes I have to take is Environmental Health. We so far have been studying diseases that you can get from....the ENVIRONMENT! Ding, ding, ding!! On Monday we were all partnered up and were given a topic. My friend, Hannah, and I were assigned Shigellosis and Amoebic Dysentery. What is that? Basically it has to do with fecal matter. Gross, I know. So if you'd like to leave my blog now, feel free, it's just going to get worse and graphic. Each partnership had to present their disease to the class in a creative way. Of course, I first think of something to do with music. (If you ask me, Shigellosis sounds like a dance or rap song.) I decide we should write and song and present that and Hannah decides on making "Shig" cookies (sorry for the language). You have to understand that the symptoms are either chronic constipation or diarrhea. There are other ones, but those are the main ones. I told you it was going to get graphic. We get really excited for this; so I work on the song and Hannah makes her first-ever, No-Bake cookies...really, what other edible food looks like poop? On Wednesday, our teacher was a little disappointed that there was a lack of creativity in all the presentations and encourages those who present on Friday to really think of something neat to share. We assured him he wouldn't be disappointed. Fast Forward to today...we practiced the song once before together. I am like losing my voice (not that my original singing voice is any better), but Hannah reassures me she used to be in Choir! We were first up and the class loved it. We put the words up on the screen so everyone could sing along (the red lyrics are the ones we changed). The title: "Baby, I Wasn't Born This Way." To the tune of Lady Gaga's, "Baby, I Was Born This Way."

The cookies were a huge hit too:

Our teacher stood up at the end of class and said, "The most creative award goes to Shigellosis." We were pretty proud of our work. Now, when the test comes along, everyone will remember it because of the song and cookies. Thanks Hannah for all your help. Your cookies weren't too bad either ;)
*Shiga was the Chinese man who found Shigellosis...FYI