Hi friends, I know it's been awhile.
I wish I could tell you that my lack of blogging has been due to a betterment of my study habits, but I'd be lying. Block I for this third semester has been my worst block in awhile. I didn't start studying until 5 days before the exams so it wasn't really a shock to see how much I fell off from the type of grades I was getting last semester.
I certainly didn't plan for this. When I got back to the island for round three I still felt absolutely exhausted from all the went on at the end of semester two. I had a sort of mental lapse in my last month of school and it really spoiled all the excellent grades I had achieved prior. The result was a demoralizing 86.6% for my final overall grade of the semester. I was a lousy 0.4% points away from Dean's list. Not only that but I cost myself the opportunity to honor both MCB II and Immuno. I was fractional points away from that sexy "H" on my transcript. Ah well... it's not a huge deal but I still feel sad I didn't achieve my goal I set for myself. This has all really taken a toll on my motivation to study, hence my less-than-stellar block 1 performance.
But I'm going to stop complaining now. I'll stop feeling sorry for myself. I need to just shut up and get back to work, because med school really is the worst place to stall. After this first week, I've stayed caught up in Med Micro and I've been spending the majority of today catching myself up on pathology. I'll spend tomorrow morning working on physio and spend that rest of the day watching football.
Oh football how I love and hate you.
Fantasy Update: I'm in four leagues and I'm currently 2-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-1. Players that I have in the majority of my leagues- Larry Fitzgerald, Beanie Wells, Rob Gronkowski, Santonio Holmes, James Starks, Darren Sproles.
I'll update you all with my Block I exams when the final grades come out:
Pathology I-
Average: 83%
Me: 77%
Physiology II-
Average: 86%
Me: 79%
Med Micro-
Average: 80%
Me: 72%
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Football is Taking Over my Life...
...And I realize the season has hardly started. Packers-Saints are playing tonight and I couldn't be more excited for the football season to finally be underway.
If I wasn't trying to be a doctor right now, I honestly would be doing an internship or something over at ESPN in the Connecticut offices to try and get my foot in the door in sports journalism. I could be one of those side line chicks who chase after the quarterbacks at the half/end of the game and get a few meaningless quotes. Kidding.
I would actually HATE that, because there is nothing more useless than those women. And I feel bad for them because I'm sure they do know a lot about sports, but they get relegated to that role.
I started up a fantasy football league at my school. That's what's been taking all my time. Since I came to the island 3 days late, it really was difficult running around spreading the word about fantasy football. Not only am I a heinous/very nervous public speaker, but the person I was going around with who actually does a decent job with speaking to large groups knows absolutely nothing about fantasy football. Our announcements left a lot to be desired. So I am very appreciative of those who did sign up (mostly the third semester and the fourth semester students). This whole fantasy football thing was supposed to be a means for raising money for the third semester class. The money is meant to go towards our 5th semester party next summer. And I'm happy to say we made $700, so that's great. A chunk of that money will be going to the winners of each fantasy league, but if I win the two leagues that I'm in, I plan on donating it all back to the class (my fantasy teams are looking good at the moment).
As for school..... I don't think it surprises anyone that I'm behind once again. Pathology has taken most of my time, so this weekend will be spent catching up with Physio II and Med Micro. I guess there won't be a better weekend then this one since Tropical Storm Maria is coming to town! I've been warned by my cleaning lady that I should not leave the house Saturday. She wouldn't leave me alone until I promised her that I wouldn't so now I definitely won't.
I'm sorry this post was a little eh. I know it sounds rushed and I feel rushed right now. We have Phi Chi interviews for the new set of pledges tonight and I need to get some more work done before I leave for that. I hope you guys are doing great, I love you all, and I'll post again soon.
Lastly, GO PATRIOTS!!!!!
If I wasn't trying to be a doctor right now, I honestly would be doing an internship or something over at ESPN in the Connecticut offices to try and get my foot in the door in sports journalism. I could be one of those side line chicks who chase after the quarterbacks at the half/end of the game and get a few meaningless quotes. Kidding.
I would actually HATE that, because there is nothing more useless than those women. And I feel bad for them because I'm sure they do know a lot about sports, but they get relegated to that role.
I started up a fantasy football league at my school. That's what's been taking all my time. Since I came to the island 3 days late, it really was difficult running around spreading the word about fantasy football. Not only am I a heinous/very nervous public speaker, but the person I was going around with who actually does a decent job with speaking to large groups knows absolutely nothing about fantasy football. Our announcements left a lot to be desired. So I am very appreciative of those who did sign up (mostly the third semester and the fourth semester students). This whole fantasy football thing was supposed to be a means for raising money for the third semester class. The money is meant to go towards our 5th semester party next summer. And I'm happy to say we made $700, so that's great. A chunk of that money will be going to the winners of each fantasy league, but if I win the two leagues that I'm in, I plan on donating it all back to the class (my fantasy teams are looking good at the moment).
As for school..... I don't think it surprises anyone that I'm behind once again. Pathology has taken most of my time, so this weekend will be spent catching up with Physio II and Med Micro. I guess there won't be a better weekend then this one since Tropical Storm Maria is coming to town! I've been warned by my cleaning lady that I should not leave the house Saturday. She wouldn't leave me alone until I promised her that I wouldn't so now I definitely won't.
I'm sorry this post was a little eh. I know it sounds rushed and I feel rushed right now. We have Phi Chi interviews for the new set of pledges tonight and I need to get some more work done before I leave for that. I hope you guys are doing great, I love you all, and I'll post again soon.
Lastly, GO PATRIOTS!!!!!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
First Day Back--Third Semester
I don't really know what was going on today in class. But that's what you get when you miss the first couple days of lecture. I had trouble focusing and when I actually managed to pay attention, nothing was making too much sense to me. I definitely need to dig deep and force myself to do some studying later tonight even though my mind is saying "no, let's watch TV, eat, nap, or skype instead."
The classes one must take for third semester include: Pathology I, Physiology II, Microbiology, and ICM 3. I haven't bought any new textbooks this semester, but a couple of students I've spoken to have encouraged me to get the Robbins and Cotran "Pathologic Basis of Disease." But I'm also thinking of buying Goljan's Rapid Review Pathology instead because it is the best USMLE review book out there for pathology. I'll let you guys know which one I go with.
My first impression of third semester so far is that the classes are finally beginning to look like they are medically relevant. We are learning material that we will need to recall when we are in clinicals and potentially for when we are doctors. Pathology focuses on what's wrong with the body and microbiology discusses the viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi people can be exposed to. The material is nothing I've ever learned in college and I think this is the case for most of the students in my class. Overall it looks like it will be a more interesting semester, but a harder one too.
I hope football season doesn't get in the way of my studying too much this semester. I'm also helping my class raise money for our fifth semester party by organizing a few fantasy football leagues for the AUC students. By next Wednesday, I hope I can finally be done stressing out over this. I hate chasing people for money, and I especially hate speaking in front of large groups of people.
The classes one must take for third semester include: Pathology I, Physiology II, Microbiology, and ICM 3. I haven't bought any new textbooks this semester, but a couple of students I've spoken to have encouraged me to get the Robbins and Cotran "Pathologic Basis of Disease." But I'm also thinking of buying Goljan's Rapid Review Pathology instead because it is the best USMLE review book out there for pathology. I'll let you guys know which one I go with.
My first impression of third semester so far is that the classes are finally beginning to look like they are medically relevant. We are learning material that we will need to recall when we are in clinicals and potentially for when we are doctors. Pathology focuses on what's wrong with the body and microbiology discusses the viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi people can be exposed to. The material is nothing I've ever learned in college and I think this is the case for most of the students in my class. Overall it looks like it will be a more interesting semester, but a harder one too.
I hope football season doesn't get in the way of my studying too much this semester. I'm also helping my class raise money for our fifth semester party by organizing a few fantasy football leagues for the AUC students. By next Wednesday, I hope I can finally be done stressing out over this. I hate chasing people for money, and I especially hate speaking in front of large groups of people.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
I've never seen such darkness
No joke, I live in the middle of the woods and I can't see any stars or the moon. The sky must be overcast tonight.
I think the entirety of Lincoln, RI has no power. I can't even see my neighbors house across the street.
Check that, half the state of Rhode Island is in darkness tonight. My dad and brother went out to check on my grandparents house and they said all the traffic lights are off, the street lights are off, everything is off.
I think the entirety of Lincoln, RI has no power. I can't even see my neighbors house across the street.
 |
| our house |
 |
| our neighborhood |
Check that, half the state of Rhode Island is in darkness tonight. My dad and brother went out to check on my grandparents house and they said all the traffic lights are off, the street lights are off, everything is off.
Boo National Grid-- No Power
Rhode Island is a state of one million residents and so far 155,000 households have no power. We happen to be one of those households. We lost power at about 8:30 this morning and have been without it for the last 5 hours. For awhile my parents didn't feel like using the generator we bought yesterday, but finally they decided to hook it up to the fridge. Good decision, guys. Once they started the generator, we also discovered we could hook up our Verizon Wireless router thing into the outlet and get internet . Other than those two things, we have no power. Lights are out, water is limited, and we are all just chilling in the family room with our dog.
It's been raining intermittently throughout the morning, but the wind has been pretty fierce at times. I'm glad our trees are so old and huge, because I'm pretty sure anything else would have come crashing down at this point. Despite all that, I've been thoroughly unimpressed with (the now) Tropical Storm Irene. A lot of hype for a lot of nothing. Sure we lost power for a few hours, and to be honest, I'm surprised we have even lost power for this long. Right now the weather outside is calm. There's no rain and hardly any wind and yet we still have no power. I think National Grid must be making its rounds pretty soon.
For food, we've actually been grilling! My dad just grilled some Sea Bass he brought home last night and we also ate like 5 tomatoes. August is tomato season after all. We are defrosting a couple bacon and cheese burgers for a little later. I'm also enjoying a lovely Coffeehouse Porter from Berkshire Brewing Company. Other than that, folks, not much else is happening. My flight for St. Maarten isn't till Wednesday and classes start Tuesday. Maybe I'll do the unthinkable and actually try looking at some slides or BRS Path since there's not much else for me to do today. I hope everyone is healthy, happy, and safe. Talk to you again soon.
It's been raining intermittently throughout the morning, but the wind has been pretty fierce at times. I'm glad our trees are so old and huge, because I'm pretty sure anything else would have come crashing down at this point. Despite all that, I've been thoroughly unimpressed with (the now) Tropical Storm Irene. A lot of hype for a lot of nothing. Sure we lost power for a few hours, and to be honest, I'm surprised we have even lost power for this long. Right now the weather outside is calm. There's no rain and hardly any wind and yet we still have no power. I think National Grid must be making its rounds pretty soon.
For food, we've actually been grilling! My dad just grilled some Sea Bass he brought home last night and we also ate like 5 tomatoes. August is tomato season after all. We are defrosting a couple bacon and cheese burgers for a little later. I'm also enjoying a lovely Coffeehouse Porter from Berkshire Brewing Company. Other than that, folks, not much else is happening. My flight for St. Maarten isn't till Wednesday and classes start Tuesday. Maybe I'll do the unthinkable and actually try looking at some slides or BRS Path since there's not much else for me to do today. I hope everyone is healthy, happy, and safe. Talk to you again soon.
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