Everything’s fine, the first sessions were pretty ok. I’m better with the microscope than I thought I would be at the beginning, but today we had to cut open the first animal: An earthworm.

The fact that we did everything with partners made me feel better. Fixing the dead worm was a small challenge since we were all still too squeamish.

After the animal was pinned and opened, it wasn’t so bad. Actually, it was even pretty interesting to look at the worm from inside.

For people like me there were thankfully gloves, and so the worm wasn’t just cut into individual pieces with the dissection instruments but everything was also touched and photographed. The earthworm is pretty small, but for our unpracticed artistic talent that was an advantage because the organs are very clear and you don’t have to look long for the gizzard, esophagus, etc.

Everything was sketched quickly for our own drawings, and the finishing touches were made with the Kükenthal*. We noticed right away that each specimen is different than the drawing, and that is exactly the point.

Sometimes the drawings in the book just can’t be compared to nature.

Jasmin, 1st semester, Biology

*Editor’s note: Zoology textbook