Hello #12...Brains?

Mom!  Guess what?  We got to look at brains today in class! The gears in my head started moving almost instantly.  I thought to myself.  Brains?  What?  (gears speeding up)  Ok, maybe they dissected a frog or something.  Then my son chimed in, “Yeah, a human one!”  (record scratches)   Wait, WHAT!  My mind then kicked into overdrive and I started to think of all the CSI episodes I had watched in college.  My oldest proceeded to tell me more.   I listened further.  “Mom, did you know there is a protective coating around the human brain and a sheep’s brain is really small."  The wheels in my head were still moving.  I had always heard sheep were dumb.  Turns out the all grade levels had a chance to view and touch the specimens. The fourth grade all the way down to the preschoolers had their chance to learn about the brain and got to experience them hands on.  I say this tongue-in-cheek, they were all grossly fascinated.  I was too.  “Tell me more, I said.”  I thought to myself, I have got to meet this woman!

Dr. Brenda Houck-Wolff is a research neuro-scientist and professor who specializes in the brain.  At the time of this interview she worked in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado Anchutz Medical Campus.  She has since moved and has accepted a position at the University of Wyoming.  Brenda is a mother of two.  Thankfully she says her schedule is flexible and she is able to tend to them if they need anything extra.  She says balance without a doubt is the most difficult thing about motherhood.   The balance between doing her career and enjoying it, time for kids, and taking time for herself is difficult at times.  Aside from those things, she says “you also have to make sure your marriage is working.”  Sometimes guilt sets in.  She loves to work out because it helps her stay sane but often thinks of her kids when she’s away.   

Through all of it, Brenda really likes being with her kiddos and hanging out with them.  She likes to see them grow and learn new things.  As a scientist she finds she is constantly analyzing their behavior.   A couple of things people may not know about her is one, she bought a baby-sitting business to pay her way through college; and two, she accomplished four Iron-Man triathlons.   How awesome is that!  Have a wonderful day!