Though I don't know if this is unique to my school, the curriculum that I follow at my med school is a fairly rigid and structured one. It's been good for me I think, because it forces me to be more organized as well and it does encourage a more organized way of thinking and planning. Medical school is as much about organization as it is about memorization and other skills.
This brings me to a point of some embarrassment. I live like five minutes away from school, 3 if I walk fast. I should be the eager beaver that is usually at class 30 minutes before it starts --- theoretically. But as in biology and in life, things rarely work as they should theoretically and it turns out that I'm usually dashing into the classroom either right as the lecture is starting or even later. Since this year, we have more students than we have seats in our lecture halls, this has occasionally resulted in me glumly being left out of a seat, the loser in the medical school musical chair rendition. Then I had to trudge my lonesome self to the "overflow" room, located in a far corner of the building, a sad little room full of other sad left out creatures who get to stare at a screen for the next hour or two instead of the live action the other early birds get to enjoy.
But that's okay, this smart cookie has managed to befriend a few young unsuspecting classmates of hers who would be glad to save her a spot should she need it. She still operates under the delusion that she doesn't need a spot saver, but very soon, she will learn the usefulness of such a gift.
In other news, I hope to take up yoga on a regular basis because I want to take a pre-emptive attack on this thing called stress. I was telling a classmate today how I wasn't sleeping very well lately and she sorta cocked her head to the side and said, "could Emily be experiencing something called stress?" I replied very earnestly, "yes perhaps, but it's kind of a foreign concept to me." But seriously, I do think I will need a good coping mechanism in the days to come and yoga just might be that feel good stress buster.
More later...I just want to not do below the mean for my upcoming first exam in medical school. How's that for setting the bar high?
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
First day of medical school
Well here I am, in medical school, sitting with all the other proud, privileged and most wonderfully earnest kids, heads up, shoulders straight, eager and bent to march down the road of selfless utility.
During orientation, I went through the usual meet and greets with everyone I met. Most people are so much younger than me, it's too depressing to inquire. I comfort myself that people usually have to ask me 20 questions before figuring out how nontraditional I am. It's all good though, we are all on the same path, though some of us are getting started a bit later.
So far, my school has done a great job of being welcoming, of being friendly and inviting. All the faculty and staff were smiles and cheers, hiding their gruffness for the sake of not raining on our parades. Just kidding, I don't know if they were pretending or not, but so far everyone has been uniformly nice, which, is truly pleasant.
But aah, we come to the first day of medical school. I arrive about 30 minutes before classes start (atypical of me, but hey, i'm in medical school!!) and I prepare my notebooks as is, I fold my hands and I sit primly to await for instruction. The professor started off congenially enough, giving us a run through of what to expect in the coming days. Very quickly though, it is clear to me that I am not going to just "play" at being a student. No siree, the message is, I will study and I will have to study damn hard. It is even more clear to me that I will have to do so simply to keep my head above the water, i.e. pass my classes. He proceeds to lecture for an hour on biochemistry, this hour being the equivalent of about 2 semesters of chemistry and biology in college. It's basically like being assaulted and battered by a tsunami of information in the biomedical sciences. And I have about 989 more lectures to go. =)
So here I am, blogging happily about my first day of class and already feeling psychologically behind. But that is no matter, I will plow on, I promise. Stay tuned!
During orientation, I went through the usual meet and greets with everyone I met. Most people are so much younger than me, it's too depressing to inquire. I comfort myself that people usually have to ask me 20 questions before figuring out how nontraditional I am. It's all good though, we are all on the same path, though some of us are getting started a bit later.
So far, my school has done a great job of being welcoming, of being friendly and inviting. All the faculty and staff were smiles and cheers, hiding their gruffness for the sake of not raining on our parades. Just kidding, I don't know if they were pretending or not, but so far everyone has been uniformly nice, which, is truly pleasant.
But aah, we come to the first day of medical school. I arrive about 30 minutes before classes start (atypical of me, but hey, i'm in medical school!!) and I prepare my notebooks as is, I fold my hands and I sit primly to await for instruction. The professor started off congenially enough, giving us a run through of what to expect in the coming days. Very quickly though, it is clear to me that I am not going to just "play" at being a student. No siree, the message is, I will study and I will have to study damn hard. It is even more clear to me that I will have to do so simply to keep my head above the water, i.e. pass my classes. He proceeds to lecture for an hour on biochemistry, this hour being the equivalent of about 2 semesters of chemistry and biology in college. It's basically like being assaulted and battered by a tsunami of information in the biomedical sciences. And I have about 989 more lectures to go. =)
So here I am, blogging happily about my first day of class and already feeling psychologically behind. But that is no matter, I will plow on, I promise. Stay tuned!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Cancun 2007
For months prior to my trip to this lush tropical island, I've been dreaming of azure landscapes, palm trees swaying in the breeze and of course, white sand lined ocean to lap at my feet. In July, this dream came true and I found myself standing in front of the gorgeous blue vista in front of me and literally not being able to believe that I was right there, taking in the gorguosity and feasting on the colors. My eyes were in heaven and I felt for a moment at least, sheer and utter aesthetic delight.
Wow, friends, it REALLY was this beautiful, it really looks like those travel magazine photography spreads, promising miles of beautiful blue water and white sand. It was a sight to behold.
Taking advantage of the fact that I'm not at an oceanfront resort every day of my life, I woke up early to greet the sun (very atypical of this lazy cat, i assure you) and everyday, in the early calm, I would find a few people, even locals just sitting there on the beach, gazing out at the majestic visage that spread before them, a centerpiece that demanded your instant awe and worship. And I wondered to myself, do the petty things in life seem to fade away when you are sitting there, gazing out at the sea? Do things seem at once more trivial but life seems at once more sacred? A bit of a paradox, since what is life but the sum of all those little things in it? Anyhow, it wasn't my desire to analyze philosophically the whys and wherefores that people feel compelled to gaze at the ocean, as if entranced. I was certainly mesmerized by its beauty. If there were sirens, they were very effective ones. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the ocean. I did so ever so reluctantly and only after I made myself a promise that I shall be back.
I have taken a lot of pictures. But even as I pride myself to be a relatively decent photographer, with the knack for finding the right proportions and compositions, I don't think my camera really did the place justice. All I can say is, the image that is seared in my mind is one that shall stay with me for a long time to come. The Cancun of my dream, the Cancun now, in my memory.
Wow, friends, it REALLY was this beautiful, it really looks like those travel magazine photography spreads, promising miles of beautiful blue water and white sand. It was a sight to behold.
Taking advantage of the fact that I'm not at an oceanfront resort every day of my life, I woke up early to greet the sun (very atypical of this lazy cat, i assure you) and everyday, in the early calm, I would find a few people, even locals just sitting there on the beach, gazing out at the majestic visage that spread before them, a centerpiece that demanded your instant awe and worship. And I wondered to myself, do the petty things in life seem to fade away when you are sitting there, gazing out at the sea? Do things seem at once more trivial but life seems at once more sacred? A bit of a paradox, since what is life but the sum of all those little things in it? Anyhow, it wasn't my desire to analyze philosophically the whys and wherefores that people feel compelled to gaze at the ocean, as if entranced. I was certainly mesmerized by its beauty. If there were sirens, they were very effective ones. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the ocean. I did so ever so reluctantly and only after I made myself a promise that I shall be back.
I have taken a lot of pictures. But even as I pride myself to be a relatively decent photographer, with the knack for finding the right proportions and compositions, I don't think my camera really did the place justice. All I can say is, the image that is seared in my mind is one that shall stay with me for a long time to come. The Cancun of my dream, the Cancun now, in my memory.
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