Out of all the things I would learn about at Governor’s School, I didn’t think bovine reproduction would be one of them. After standing in the pungent smell at the dairy farm, I couldn’t think of going through anything more gross. I nervously waited all week for elective courses to begin, and I wasn’t really looking forward to my bovine reproduction class.

I walked into the lab on the first day, and the walls were decorated with cow skeletons, models of organs, and anatomic charts. I didn’t think there was enough to learn about cows to have a whole lab dedicated to them. As the teacher went through the slides in his presentation, all of a sudden, bovine reproduction got more and more interesting to me. Being able to look at it from a scientific standpoint really helped me get through any fears or anxieties I had about the class.

We later got to perform dissections, look at ultrasound images, and use models to demonstrate certain procedures and reproductive technologies that are used with cows. I thought the hands-on aspect of the class would be the worst part, but it actually ended up being my favorite part. Tomorrow, we’re going to Kentland Farms to check for pregnancies in real cows, and even though I still feel nervous, I couldn’t be more excited!